Star Warsseems determined to “play it safe” by rehashing the same kinds of stories and plot lines over and over again. The hero’s journey is a staple of the franchise, and while it has served them well in the past, it’s not the only kind of story that they can tell. After a while, everyStar Warsproject starts to feel the same, despite different creative teams and slightly different genres, because they all follow the same structure and seem resolute in their decision to stick to a certain moral code where good always triumphs and the heroes never sway from the light side.
Sure, certain characters will have their moments of conflict where it seems like the pull to the dark side is getting to them, but it never lasts long because the status quo is never really upset.Star Warshas a formula that works and is familiar to the fans who love the series, but it kind of holds them back from doing anythingparticularly innovative. IfStar Warswants to keep its longevity and continue to be the huge cultural hallmark that it is, it needs to start telling stories that are subversive and aren’t just the same cookie-cutter plot that’s been done by them far too many times.
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Stories where good triumphs over evil and everyone gets their happy endings are great and they certainly have their place. In fact, a lot of people really enjoy stories witha satisfying and happy conclusionso that they can walk away from the movie or show or book on a high note. This is all well and good, and appropriate for a lot of stories, but sometimes it’s also interesting to have a movie where things don’t quite go as planned for the protagonists and everything doesn’t work out in the end for them.
TakeAvengers: Infinity War, for example. That movie ends with Thanos snapping half of the universe away and all of the heroes realizing that they lost the battle. Now, this movie is part of a duo withEndgame, which does end with the heroes winning, but evenEndgamehas a bittersweet conclusionbecause the heroes still lose things along the way. Tony Stark, arguably one of the main protagonists of the MCU up to that point, dies, and Captain America leaves for good. Despite being an ending where good triumphs, there’s still a note of sadness and loss that helps the story stand out.
Imagine ifStar Warswere able to do this, and end a story with the bad guys being the winners, or something along those lines. The one time they’ve managed to get close to this is withRogue One, where the story ends with all of the main characters that the audience has been following and falling in love withsacrificing themselvesfor the cause. Good has triumphed, but at what cost? This was a really different ending forStar Wars, and it’s one of the more interesting story threads that they’ve played with over the years.
Star Warshas so much potential to tell stories about different kinds of characters, but they keep sticking to the same core group of people and their descendants. With such a wide-reaching galaxy, they should be able to come up with some stories that don’t just follow the formula thatStar Warshas always followed. What about a storyfocused on an antagonistthat doesn’t end with them turning back to the good side?Revenge of the Sithsort of did this with Anakin’s turn to Darth Vader, but it’s hard to consider that “subversive” when everyone knew he was going to be making that transition anyway, so it wasn’t really a shocking revelation.
It was recently revealed that the original scripts for the upcomingObi-Wan Kenobiwere scrapped because they were too bleak, and they wanted to make the story more “uplifting”. This is a disappointing move, because it’s really boring to avoid putting characters through conflict in favor of always trying to make the story fit within some sort of happy-fun-time boundary that will be more palatable to the widest audience. Again, happy endings are fine, but it gets repetitive and boring if that’s all that ever happens. A more depressingObi-Wan Kenobiwould be interesting, and showcasing the character’s struggle in the years after the prequel series is a lot more interesting than a storyline that ensures that only good things happen to this character that everyone loves (or at the very least, ensures that he’s not involved in anything shady or morally grey).
IfStar Warswants to keep its cultural relevance and not just have every project fade into each other with no clear sense of distinction between them, they need to stop being so afraid ofmaking risky or edgy choiceswith their storytelling. It’s almost as though the response from a certain group of fans toThe Last Jedihas made the production team behindStar Warstoo afraid to take risks and do something different with the movies, because they seem to think that if they stray too far from the norm, the fans will turn on them. And some fans might, but those fans are the type that have latched onto the original trilogy and their formula and refuse to let it go and admit that the franchise could be doing so much more. It’s high time forStar Warsto break the mold, and try telling stories that actually question the world.
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