Emotional Overload

I originally planned to write a post apologizing for being a slacker blogger and then something about Halloween. But all of that is pointless now. Yesterday my entire world was rocked by the announcement of one movie.

Star Wars Episode VII. 2015.

It's not so much that Disney bought Lucasfilm that concerns me. In my mind Disney and Lucasfilm have always been one big happy family. I went to high school in Orlando and attended Star Wars weekends at Disney yearly. Disney has attractions that deal with both Indiana Jones and Star Wars. So that part didn't blow my mind too much, and if that had been the only announcement I would have shrugged my shoulders and been like, "Ok. They're just making their relationship Facebook official."

But Disney didn't stop there. They announced we would be getting Star Wars Episode VII in 2015.

My gut reaction was this:

I love Star Wars. A lot. My feelings for Star Wars cannot be expressed in words. My love of Star Wars borders on the blasphemous. My love of Star Wars is....is crazy. It's my first and greatest geek love. 

I love Star Wars so much that I can watch the prequel trilogy and see past the bad writing and bad acting and see the kernel of greatness that it could have been, and love them for that kernel.

So my gut reaction came from pure fear, fear that somehow they would make Star Wars even more of a laughing stock than it already is. And fear that they will completely disregard the 25 years of Expanded Universe Novels that I love. 

I've known how Star Wars continues after The Return of the Jedi since I was nine-year-old and read Heir to the Empire. And I don't think I could stand to watch someone butcher Han, Leia, and Luke, who I watched grow from the smuggler, princess, and farmboy to the leaders of the New Republic and then even retire from that.

But I love Star Wars so much I also can't help but squee in joy and dance around because they're making another movie of the thing I love. It's coming back to the big screen! A new adventure! My favorite thing in the whole universe! How can I not be happy? How can I not be dancing in joy?

The prequels were bad, but this time George Lucas will be involved only as an adviser, which is the only role he is any good at. The prequels left a bad taste in everyone's mouth and made a lot of people mock Star Wars and deride the thing I love. Maybe this will redeem Star Wars! Maybe Disney will make it amazing and beautiful again, and bring back everything that was good and wonderful about Star Wars. Maybe Disney will make people fall in love with Star Wars anew. 

Such hope! Such a brilliant tantalizing hope!

But my emotions swing back and forth between fear and hope, between horror and joy. 

Disney holds my heart in their hands with this movie. I can only hope they treat it well.

So my advice to Disney is to remember that Star Wars is my dream, my love, like so many others. And in the words of Yeats,

"I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."