The folks in the Star Wars office over at Del Rey are probably in line for Sainthood at this point.
It’s been over four months now that they’ve been putting up with mountains of abuse and crass comments all across social media. Pick any post on their Facebook page since April 25th and I can almost guarantee you that there will be some sort of comment that either asks for Legends back or puts down the new canon with varying levels of rudeness that range all the way up to making me sick with how ill-mannered they are. And yet, at every turn, the team replies to comments politely and with the utmost class. It doesn’t seem to help though as the abuse continues day after day.
All of that needs to stop.
Now.
Way back in April, I had hopes that the fandom would collectively go through the stages of grief together for the Expanded Universe and then have civility restored within a month or two. I was so wrong. If you’re looking for an in depth perspective about this movement to “save” the Expanded Universe, Eric Geller at TheForce.net put up an excellent and thorough look at it across multiple mediums.
Here’s the deal folks: every time you are rude to the Del Rey people and every time you advocate for boycotting the new canon, you are not helping. You are making the situation infinitely worse and it is absolutely not going to bring back Legends. Do you really think that the people in charge of Star Wars are going to be eager to bring back an aspect of the galaxy far far away to appease a part of the fan base that can’t seem to find civility if it hit them over the head? Plus, Del Rey likely has very little control over whether they get to publish books in the Legends continuity right now. That power likely resides with Lucasfilm and the story group so you’re not even heaping your undeserved hate on the right people. (Not that I think anyone deserves this.)
I miss Legends. I really do. I will probably be 80 years old and still grumpy that we don’t have more books about Wraith Squadron or even that Shatterpoint sequel story about Nick Rostu and his adventures in the war as Mace Windu’s aide. The Legends books will always have a very special place in my heart and on my bookshelves. But I am not going to bombard the Del Rey people incessantly with my desire for more Legends.
Need another reason aside from common courtesy? Let’s talk business. If you’re in charge of a major franchise and lots of aspects of that franchise start failing, are you going to try and invest more time and money in it? Probably not. So by encouraging people not to buy books from the new canon (which they might actually be interested in) and by encouraging them to boycott Rebels and the Sequel Trilogy, you are doing everything in your power to hurt your cause.
And while we’re on the subject, stop comparing this toxic and hateful campaign to those advocating for more gender equality in Episode VII and in Rebels. They have been conducted in completely different manners and those wanting to see more representation for women absolutely have not rudely bombarded those who are just genuinely committed to trying to make the best Star Wars they can.
I suppose I should put a disclaimer in here. Yes, I understand that not everyone upset about Legends is acting like this. Yes, I think that some of the movement is infinitely worse than others. No, I do not want to minimize your strong feelings and love for the Expanded Universe. Clearly not all Expanded Universe fans are behaving badly but all of us need to stop tolerating the behavior of those who being uncivil. The incessant rudeness and abuse needs to come to an end. Please.
We can be better than this, fandom. I know that we can be better than this. Cut the crap and let’s get back to being Star Wars fans and not discourteous jerks to people who just want what all of us do: good stories told in the Star Wars universe.
