There are certain things in life that we like just to like, love just to love, and hate just to hate. But why? Why do we like something just to like it? Why do we love something just to love it? And why do we hate something just to hate it?
As a society, we have a tendency to form an opinion on a matter before we realize it. Sometimes, it is the reputation of something that unknowingly forms our bias, sometimes it comes from prior experiences, and other times it comes from those around us. It might be something small, like, let’s say your ex-girlfriend loved Ryan Reynolds and made you watch every Ryan Reynolds movie ever. After you break up, you might be tired of seeing Ryan Reynolds all of the time and might feel a strong distaste for any film that he’s in before you even see it, like, let’s say The Green Lantern. (I’m not saying this is possible. Honestly, I’d chalk up watching Ryan Reynolds all the time as a win. He’s is pretty awesome, and he was banging Scarlett Johansson. Actually, in hindsight, I take back the declaration of awesome, but only out of envy).
But you might see the trailer for the Green Lantern, see its terrible special effects, see Ryan Reynolds acting like Ryan Reynolds and go on a rant about how crappy that movie was without ever seeing it. Honestly, you probably wouldn’t be too far off because let’s face it, no matter how you feel about Ryan Reynolds, the Green Lantern just looked like a shitty movie. No one could have saved that train wreck.
The point is, people form opinions on things all of the time without even realizing it. I would say that more often than not, people form opinions on things and never think about why they feel the way that they do about it. In their minds, they just do. They like something because they like it, they love something because they love it, and they hate something because they hate it.
Sure, if they think about it, they could probably figure out why they feel that way. They could probably discover the discourse of their bias, but at the same time, does it really matter? Who cares if I love or hate Ryan Reynolds? Who cares if I think that watching Rebecca Black’s “Friday” on repeat is slightly less painful than watching any Phillies game? No one, and that’s the beauty of it. We can all have our own opinions and the planet will continue to spin on its axis uninterrupted.
I know what you’re thinking, where is this even going? Why the broad generalizations and the guesswork? Why bring Scarlett Johansson up without posting any pictures of her? Be patient, I’m getting there. Not to the pictures, sorry, but to the point. (Remember, Google is your friend)
Sometimes, we want to think that the reputation something holds isn’t always justified. Sometimes, we want to think that it is the reputation of something that has formed our opinion. Sometimes, we think that things deserve a second chance.
That’s how I feel anyway.
But sometimes things are just that bad.
I know that this is an incredibly long preface for something that was already obvious, but I went to the movies tonight to see Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D and somehow, it was worse than I remember it.
I know, I know.
I think that we can all agree to agree that the prequel trilogy is pretty terrible. Sure, each movie has its bright spot (yes, spot, as in singular), but I kind of forgot that everything else was so bad. Like tonight, as I watched Episode I on the big screen, I kept thinking to myself, the man that brought the original Star Wars trilogy into existence, some of the greatest films ever created, thought that this was a good idea. He thought that a character named Jar Jar Binks, that quoted Stephanie Tanner, was a good idea.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Full House. I grew up on it. I would certainly never complain about that. However, I will ask this. What could George Lucas possibly have been thinking? Was he thinking, well, since kids can’t grow up watching Stephanie Tanner say, “How Rude”, maybe I should implement a character that, mind you hardly speaks a lick of english, says it awkwardly, looking at the camera, like he’s waiting to wink and give a thumbs up?
Well, actually, that seems sort of plausible.
But that doesn’t make it right.
Trust me, I know that the dialogue and the acting was certainly sub par in the original trilogy, but don’t you think that’s something that you might improve upon? Don’t you think you might get better at scripting dialogue after 20 years? Don’t you think you might find better actors when you have a budget larger than the hopes of Star Wars fans everywhere, when they heard that George Lucas was working on three more films?
Again, I know that this isn’t something new. There is no revelation here. It’s not like I went into the movies tonight thinking that seeing Episode I in theaters again would make it suck less. It’s not like I thought that by going to to see it on a very large screen, that I would fall in love with it, but somehow, I also didn’t remember it being this bad either. I’m not sure if some part of that was repression, or what, but it was bad. Really bad. I don’t think that I would go as far as to say that I hate it because Episode I did bring with it some good things, like Ewan McGregor, Darth Maul and some epic battle music, but unfortunately, I think that the lone existence of Jar Jar, the presence of Samuel L. Jackson and the revelation of Midichlorians somehow outweighs those positive benefactors.
Yeah, I know that I am stating the obvious. I know that Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is far from a good movie. I know that it has a bad reputation and that people that are seeing it for the first time, know what they’re getting themselves into based off of that reputation. They know when they pay $12.50, get their popcorn, and sit down that they’re not getting to see Empire Strikes Back. They know that they’re not getting to see The Lion King 1.5. They know that they’re not even getting to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 (yeah, the one where they go back in time to medieval Japan. The one where they don’t even fight Shredder. How do you have a Ninja Turtles movie without Shredder? Ugh. Don’t get me started).
People seeing it know what they’re getting into because of the reputation it holds. Does it deserve it? Well, yes. I think that’s unanimous. No one comes out of the theater and says, “Let’s nominate that one for the Lifetime Movie Achievement Award” (is that even a thing?). No one even says, well, that wasn’t as painful as I remember it, because it is every bit as painful as you remember it.
Yet somehow, despite the pain, despite the disappointment and despite this moderate bout of trash talking, deep down, somehow, I still like it. I certainly don’t love it, but I wouldn’t say that I hate it either. It’s bound in this tiny little realm of like because at the end of the day, it’s still Star Wars. It’s still part of that branded culture that I grew up on. It still means something, and therefore, some part of me will always feel the need to defend it. (Please do not associate my Star Wars defense with that travesty of a television show that is known as The Clone Wars, because that is not Star Wars. That show is to Star Wars as the Japanese Super Man toy you see in the dollar store, packaged with Leonardo from the Ninja Turtles, that has a Spider Man box, and says “I am Iron Man!” is to the Super Man toy made by Mattel on the shelves in Toys R Us).
Some part of me will always think back on it, and think, “you know what? It wasn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be.”
Even if deep down, I know that it is.
On that note, thank you George Lucas, I now have to bury this sense of awareness, and cleanse my pallet by watching the original trilogy again.
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