Couldn't sleep

A recent video I watched on YouTube got me thinking about something over which many people get defensive for no other reason than to be defensive of something they love.  I'm of course referring to quite possibly the most popular franchise in pop culture history:  The Star Wars franchise.  I want to get one thing clear.  I DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT hate the franchise, but I will say that I'm not the biggest fan of it.  Maybe it's because the fans just blow everything out of proportion, whether it be good or bad and all that.  Anyway, the Star Wars franchise has been going on for quite a long time with six movies, seven if you could the new one coming out next month, spin-offs, TV shows, video games, video games with spin-offs, spin-offs with sequels, sequels that spawn other spin-offs, and then THOSE spin-offs get sequels.  Seriously, there's a bit of Star Wars in EVERYTHING!!  From a sword with a glowing blade to a laser gun, to Storm Troopers, Darth Vader, and other things.
What I'm going to say is probably going to piss some die-hard Star Wars fans off, but it really does need to be said.  I've noticed in a lot of cases that if something has the words "Star Wars" in its title, fans would say "Oh, it's Star Wars, my favorite franchise.  There's no way they can screw this up.  I'm going to buy it the very second it comes out and convince my friends that it's the greatest thing ever."  And in a lot of cases, that is the case, even if the product in question stinks.

Yea, I said it.  Even Star Wars has had a few stinkers, and that's saying a lot considering how massive the franchise has become.  I don't want to get into a heated argument about who is right and who is wrong.  I am simply stating my opinion, and is not intended to change the opinions of others whatsoever.

Now, for one, I actually enjoyed the Star Wars prequels.  Yes, the writing was atrocious, yes, Jar Jar Binks was a very annoying character, and yes, it was very inconsistent with the original trilogy.  (The third of course being the best of the set, even though Anakin Skywalker was nothing but a whiner and a crybaby, and I will admit that.)
Now, I can definitely understand the criticism, but the fact that the Star Wars franchise is still going despite those stinkers speaks volumes about its staying power.  The same can be said about the Mario and Sonic franchise, which seems to have the same thing going for it.  "It's got Mario, so you know it's going to be good."

The fact of the matter is that not everything that has the name of the franchise on it doesn't necessarily make it good.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is, and I may get some flack for this, but the Star Wars franchise needs to die.  Here me out on this one.  Think of Media Land as a school system  An elementary school would be filled with fresh new IPs that have a lot of potential, and could easily take off if given the right kind of love.  One IP is chosen to move on to a higher life in middle school, during which time the IP develops into the kind of media it wants to be, whether it be a game, movie, TV show or whatever.  Then comes high school where the big boys play.  It's a bumpy ride to be sure, the the IP has its features fleshed out more before it finally graduates and has the potential to be really big.  After making it, they run into industry veterans, in this case it would be Star Wars, who would either A) Encourage the new guy and see how he does, or 2)  Try to turn the new guy away by hurting him or telling him he won't ever be good enough.  I honestly think Star Wars falls into the latter, because it's hogging the spotlight as if concerned with its own ego rather than up and coming stars.

Like I said at the beginning of this entry, I'm not hating on the Star Wars franchise because I am excited for the new movie coming out next month.  I just want to say that while I'm not the biggest fan of Star Wars, I do think that it's overstayed its welcome.