Fandom should be a haven, not a swamp. However, these days, it seems like everything we once loved is tainted by a small contingent of loud jerkwads. What was once love has now soured, and we cannot wade into the online community without bumping against some true ugliness. Hate and misogyny have their hooks in everything, and we all have to navigate our social platforms by carefully curating who we follow and who we allow to follow us. One must don armor before logging on.
Toxic fandom existed before Star Wars, and it will exist after. Human nature requires a dark contingent to breed amongst us. Our challenge is never to allow the dark minority to become the majority. How do we do that? How do we battle against the nasty, unwavering spite of ignorance? Celebration is the answer.
Topher Grace and Jeff Yorkes are pop culture heroes. With their wives away for the weekend, the two friends squirreled away behind an editing bay and smashed together all ten entries of the Star Wars franchise into one glorious five-minute trailer. No film was unworthy; all contribute to the tapestry that is our most loved saga. Yes, even Solo: A Star Wars Story. Take a click and meet me back below.
10 movies. 2 nerds. 1 weekend (when our wives were out of town). Enjoy… #everypartofthebuffalo @jeffyorkes @louscafe_edit https://t.co/aYE4ZI2iHb
— Topher Grace (@TopherGrace) February 26, 2019
Honestly, it’s hard not to get teary-eyed watching that magnificent compilation. Grace and Yorkes deliver one great big hug around the galaxy far, far away and in doing so, offer us the opportunity to join their loving appreciation. With this fan-edit, the two fanboys tell us, “It’s all good.”
That’s right. Quit nitpicking, stop griping over how you would have done it differently, or how one particular character isn’t behaving as they did in another movie or another cartoon or another spin-off comic book. These are the stories as they were given to us. Don’t fight them. Accept them. Find what works about them and don’t get hung up on the annoyances.
A lot has occurred in pop culture since we demanded Mike J. Nichols’ The Phantom Edit, or even Topher Grace’s previous edit-hack of all three prequels. We should now realize that George Lucas did not ruin our childhoods with Jar Jar Binks. At worst, he made a bad movie. At best, he laid the groundwork for the animated Clone Wars and hundreds of more hours of mythology for fans to get lost inside. The time has come to let go of our animosity. If Simon Pegg can express regret over the toxicity he spewed towards Episode I then so can you.
With their trailer, Topher Grace and Jeff Yorkes expertly weave Lucas’ creation together, tieing critical elements of The Last Jedi to Attack the Clones and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It’s a high-five delivered straight to the viewer, a fist-pump championing everything we hold dear about these characters and the universe they occupy. Soak it in. If you feel a twitch or a cringe come on at the sight of Hayden Christensen or the CGI Carrie Fisher, let it slip away quickly. Free yourself of your judgment, your hate, your dark side. Just enjoy.
Related Topics: Lucasfilm, Star Wars, Topher Grace, toxic fandom, Trailers
