# So I finally got around to watching Star Wars... I regret that decision. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2011, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292 "2011-08-19T06:54:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/121 "2011-08-21T02:34:48Z")
Dear OP, You are 100% correct. I’m sure there are 3 pages of people telling you that the trilogy is great, that it’s meant to be stupid and trite and boring, that George Lucas was a brilliant director with a brilliant imagination. Still, I wanted to post in support of your dislike because George Lucas is a fucking hack and those movies are fucking terrible. If only there was a way to bring him to justice for his crime against culture and humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/122 "2011-08-21T03:12:37Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Dear OP, > > You are 100% correct. I’m sure there are 3 pages of people telling you that the trilogy is great, that it’s meant to be stupid and trite and boring, that George Lucas was a brilliant director with a brilliant imagination. Still, I wanted to post in support of your dislike because George Lucas is a fucking hack and those movies are fucking terrible. If only there was a way to bring him to justice for his crime against culture and humanity. Thanks for the contribution to the discussion. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/123 "2011-08-21T03:24:51Z")
I don’t think anyone’s said that if you don’t like _Star Wars_ then there’s something wrong with you, but it’s nice to know that anyone who _does_ like it apparently has no sense of taste. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/124 "2011-08-21T03:32:40Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Thanks for the contribution to the discussion. :rolleyes: Any time! Actually, I wasn’t “contributing to the discussion” because there’s really nothing worth discussing. In a fair world, the first movie would have failed like the POS it is, and that would be the end of it. Alas, we’ll be stuck with it and its fans for an eternity. I was more “responding to the OP” because I felt like we were kindred spirits, and I had a lot of sympathy for the time he wasted. I resent every single second of all six of those interminable crapathons. > [@](#): > > I don’t think anyone’s said that if you don’t like Star Wars then there’s something wrong with you, but it’s nice to know that anyone who does like it apparently has no sense of taste. Your words. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/125 "2011-08-21T03:33:11Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Dear OP, > > You are 100% correct. I’m sure there are 3 pages of people telling you that the trilogy is great, that it’s meant to be stupid and trite and boring, that George Lucas was a brilliant director with a brilliant imagination. If only there were some way for you to test this assertion. Alas! ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/126 "2011-08-21T03:40:02Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Your words. Actually, not his: > [@elfkin477](#): > > It helped me conclude early that people have generally awful taste in movies. Now, fine, I get that you all don’t like Star Wars. _De gustibus_ and all that. But when someone (like, say, the OP) asks: > [@Lancia](#): > > Anybody want to tell me what I’m missing? Then of course people who like the movies are going to weigh in and explain why they like it. Nobody’s getting oppressed or shouted down here. The OP asked for opinions from people who like the movies and got them. That’s hardly a reason to get snide and dismissive of people who like something you don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/127 "2011-08-21T03:52:41Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I resent every single second of all six of those interminable crapathons. And here I thought the OP was odd for persisting in watching three movies he or she hated, but you beat the hell out of that. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/128 "2011-08-21T04:14:06Z")
Yes, well, sometimes a person doesn’t exactly have a choice. Being married to a SW fan requires certain sacrifices (“Yes, dear, I’d love to drop you off at the theater for Phantom Menace…what’s that? You really want to see it with me? Okay, dear. Of course I want to go to the movies with you.”). By the third prequel, it was more spite. I was going to see that miserable, sorry excuse for a plot through to the end. Then my sister (a fan as well, what can you do) wouldn’t let me rag on steaming piles known as “the original trilogy” until I rewatched them–even with the rifftrax, I pretty much wished my life would end. On the bright side, my brain has made the executive decision to suppress all those memories. I’ve actually seen each of them 3 times (_shudder_) and I’m relatively unscathed because I managed to block the most tedious of the endless tedium (ie, 99.5%, I’m granting that a few of the light saber fights might be a level above tedium). ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/129 "2011-08-21T04:23:36Z")
Forcing something you don’t like down your throat is certainly another matter entirely. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/130 "2011-08-21T04:28:48Z")
So, you made the choice to sit through six entire movies that you hated with a flaming passion. Additionally, you know they are hateful and tedious even though you actually can’t remember anything about them because you have suppressed the memories. Except, apparently, the memory of wishing to commit suicide during the watching of one of them. See, now, personally if I were watching a film that literally made me want to _end my life_ because it was so bad – oh, let’s say, like _Patch Adams_ – then I would get up and leave the theater. Although since you mentioned rifftrax, I’m guessing you weren’t even in a theater, so in your case I’d probably just get up and go into another room of the house. I think your real problem isn’t the Star Wars movies. (Although I am starting to wonder if they aren’t stalking you through the streets like some sort of trenchcoated flasher, just waiting for you to turn a corner so they can leap out and say, “Ha, gotcha, pepperlandgirl! Luke, I am your father!” and then laughing hysterically as you burst into tears and run away.) Your real problem is that you keep agreeing to do things with family members that make you want to commit suicide and threadshittery, and frankly I’m not sure which is worse. Anyway, good luck with all of the above, and if I were you, I’d avoid dark alleys that have the faint sound of Wookiees coming from them. ETA: OK, I guess it’s not technically threadshittery since the OP didn’t like the films either. Although if you’re going to bitch that there are three pages of people doing something that pisses you off, you might want to give those three pages a li’l skim just to see if you’re completely talking out of your ass or what. Or put out some minimal effort and lie about having read the rest of the thread. I’m not asking for much here. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/131 "2011-08-21T04:32:26Z")
Just to note that I created a [pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=621210) so as to not further hijack this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/132 "2011-08-21T04:49:25Z")
So I just finished watching Avatar for the first time, and I think I’m beginning to understand Star Wars. Bottom line: you had to be there. I understand that the special effects were pretty unique, and the way Lucas put them together certainly made for a memorable movie (I’m trying to look at this point of view as if I am seeing it in the theaters during it’s first run). Apparently, Like Avatar, the special effects were what made the movie. As others have noted, the very basic plot in Star Wars had been done before in other genres, so something besides the story had to be the driving force. I think the special effects in Avatar will be remembered for for a very long time as state of the art for its time. Of course, Avatar has Michelle Rodriguez in a tank top, and thats a huge selling point right there. 😃 Edit: there are very few movies that I truly hate, and Star Wars isn’t on that list. It’s ok to like the movie, its ok to not like it. I just don’t understand the near-worship some people have for it. At the end of the day, good or bad, its just a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/133 "2011-08-21T04:49:52Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > The point is that if the lightsabers, blasters, spaceships, aliens, etc. were replaced with fantasy tropes, it would cease to be _Star Wars_ and would lose much of its appeal. Oh, sure. The _movie_ would look and be perceived very differently. But the _story_ would be pretty much the same. The characters would barely have to change at all. Anyway, **Bosstone** covered it pretty well. > [@SciFiSam](#): > > But there are very, very few science fiction films - even hard science fiction rather than space opera - where you couldn’t replace key elements with fantasy tropes,twist the story a bit and turn it into fantasy instead. Well, _my_ definition of “hard” science fiction specifically excludes this; a critical element of the _story_ turns on an element of real or plausibly speculative science. Going by the “Mohs” scale cited above, I don’t see movies in the 1-2 range as “science” fiction at all. I say this by way of clarification, not to make an argument of it. I don’t actually care if you think of space opera as science fiction; I just find that _ **I** _ like _both_ more when I keep them distinct on these terms. ---
**Author:** ![Stowed\_Bob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stowed_bob/32/3312_2.png) [@Stowed\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stowed_Bob)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/134 "2011-08-21T04:57:57Z")
I tried watching it from the age of five onward. I had heard the love my brother expressed for it, and during that time I wanted to believe the hype. I was willing to be converted. Never worked. Kept boring me to sleep. So even being of the right age isn’t enough for some of us. I did like Space Balls though. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/135 "2011-08-21T05:06:19Z")
I still say that the various elements just aren’t going to appeal to everyone. For some people, they will always hold appeal, while for others, never. I think Lucas was lucky in that, at the time, those elements had mass appeal, but that’s more a function of the late '70s zeitgeist than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/136 "2011-08-21T05:54:33Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > I still say that the various elements just aren’t going to appeal to everyone. For some people, they will always hold appeal, while for others, never. I think Lucas was lucky in that, at the time, those elements had mass appeal, but that’s more a function of the late '70s zeitgeist than anything else. QFT. Although I still don’t get the conventions, where normal people dress up as SW characters, or when people went to see the re-releases dressed up… I mean, even though I’m starting to understand the appeal of the movies for some people, isn’t dressing in characters and going to conventions a bit much? As I was growing up I had friends who’s parents did this with Star Trek. Boggles the mind. And I will admit that Lucas did do some pretty neat shit in the first movie. The opening scene with that big-ass ship is pretty cool. He is certainally not a hack. I thought the movie was boring, but most of the visual elements did work. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/137 "2011-08-21T06:00:16Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > QFT. > > Although I still don’t get the conventions, where normal people dress up as SW characters, or when people went to see the re-releases dressed up… I mean, even though I’m starting to understand the appeal of the movies for some people, isn’t dressing in characters and going to conventions a bit much? As I was growing up I had friends who’s parents did this with Star Trek. Boggles the mind. > > And I will admit that Lucas did do some pretty neat shit in the first movie. The opening scene with that big-ass ship is pretty cool. He is certainally not a hack. I thought the movie was boring, but most of the visual elements did work. You know what’s even worse? People do the same thing to go see _football games_. Though I haven’t seen anyone deck themselves out in pads and helmet yet, I’ve seen them wear the jerseys, put on bodypaint in their team colors, and they do all this _in public._:eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/138 "2011-08-21T06:11:20Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > You know what’s even worse? People do the same thing to go see _football games_. Though I haven’t seen anyone deck themselves out in pads and helmet yet, I’ve seen them wear the jerseys, put on bodypaint in their team colors, and they do all this _in public._:eek: > > 😃 My god. I forgot about football… you’re right, I think that is worse! Although, painting yourself and hollering like a lunatic at a bunch of football players might, just maybe help their team win the game. Cause and effect, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/139 "2011-08-21T08:11:13Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > You know what’s even worse? People do the same thing to go see _football games_. Though I haven’t seen anyone deck themselves out in pads and helmet yet, I’ve seen them wear the jerseys, put on bodypaint in their team colors, and they do all this _in public._:eek: Nice comeback. 🙂 Dressing up as a character doesn’t appeal to me, but it’s an excuse to be social with like-minded people. And while there are some pretty fanatical Star Wars fans, I don’t think there has been an actual riot over ‘Han shot first’. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292/140 "2011-08-21T08:17:57Z")
I think I like the idea of Star Wars more than the movies themselves. The universe is great, it has some wonderful lines, and a stereotypical (if relatively memorable and well written) plot. However, the movies can be a ridiculous snore, New Hope, in particular, just feels poorly paced and drags and meanders. Sure, they always have a goal, but there’s so much Indiana Jones improv going on with everything going wrong all the time it feels like nothing important is happening. Yes, I get giddy when Han shows up and saves Luke, but that’s like, one minute out of all of it. That’s not to say it’s not good, but I can certainly see how somebody can not like it. I really do like Star Wars, but it’s hard to sit through it if I’m just not in the mood, it’s not like Back To The Future where I can watch it any time, in any mood, and be reasonably entertained. I think this is one of the cases where the derivative works are often much better, the Knights of the Old Republic games, for instance, did Star Wars much better than Star Wars itself ever did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-star-wars-i-regret-that-decision/593292.md?page=8)