Illustration by Emily Gloria Miller.
The secret to why so many people from different walks of life connect with Star Wars is simple.
Its very foundation is built on archetypes that go back thousands of years.
The story ofA New Hopeis about David beating Goliath.
We all want to see David in ourselvesthe little guy who defeats the giant and becomes a hero.
But that doesnt mean we all rally around the same things.
Even the inclusion of LGBTQ characters in the latest books has come as a shock to some.
Its a church divided.
Fans are in Orlando simply because they love Star Wars, whatever it may mean to them.
Spending time with these fans makes you feel like theres nothing wrong with the fandom at all.
In fact, things might be better than they ever were.
To the attendees, Star Wars is a lifelong passion, not a fleeting one.
Forget the millions of children who fall in love with the saga every time Disney releases a new movie.
The main doors of the convention center open up to somewhere far away.
And all of these people party hard.
Some attendees prefer something stronger though, like the Hennessy being consumed by Hip Hop Troopers entourage.
Yes, even Star Wars social media personalities have a crew willing to follow them around for the weekend.
Brown, for example, has his own action figure that people flip for profit on eBay.
Thats the kind of fame thats apparently afforded to folks with over 90,000 followerson Instagram.
Its unbelievable, Brown says.
I look up the Vader from the day I was born and Im worth more than him!
When he was a child, Star Wars really was a new hope.
Ill tell you a story Ive never told anyone, Brown says.
He remembers traveling a lot as a kid and being bullied.
There were days when Brown didnt want to go to school at all.
To cheer him up, his father would hide Star Wars figures in his sons shoes.
And it would just bring me up.
Perhaps it was Fetts implied man-with-no-name toughness that helped Brown cope with bullying.
I had the hip hop culture and the hope of Star Wars.
A sort of exclusivity is born in the most hardcore echelons of fandom.
To ruin the movie for as many people as possible.
There are people who come around and theyll be like, Oh, youre not a real fan.
Not specifically to me, but I dont like it when people say that at all.
Because if you like it, youre a real fan, right?
The last few years have seen widespread backlash against the push for more diversity in fantasy and science fiction.
In fact,The Last Jediwill be the third female-led Star Wars film in three years.
Some fans have even willfully interpreted this as a plot to make Star Wars anti-male.
The side in favor of diversity has its clear champions.
Fifty percent of our executive team are women.
Six out of eight of the people in my Story Group are women.
Im confident we will eventually hire a woman who directs a Star Wars movie.
As of right now, all of the directors hired for the new movies have been white men.
just stop debating about whether or not I aged well, was her perfect retorton Twitter.
Unfortunately, it hurts all three of my feelings.
My body hasnt aged as well as I have.
Dont be a slave like I was.
Fisher never saw that infamous metal bikini as something to be sexualized.
She was practical about those who criticized the costume as a bad influence on little girls.
And then I took it off.
Youre not the Rebel Alliance.
Youre not the good guys.
Youre the fucking Empire, man.
Youre the shitty, oppressive, totalitarian Empire.
A group of fans rushed to Twitter, determined to boycott the new movie.
yo note that the Empire is a white supremacist (human) organization, wrote Weitz.
Gary Whittas reply: Opposed by a multi-cultural group led by brave women.
Many took this to mean that the film was anti-Donald Trump.
#DumpStarWars wasnt even the first time a group of fans have threatened to #BoycottStarWars.
In 2015, Twitter trolls urged people to boycottThe Force Awakensbecause of a black actors prominence in the film.
You either enjoy it or you dont.
Im not saying get used to the future… [it] is already happening.
People of color and women are increasingly being shown onscreen.
For things to be whitewashed just doesnt make sense.
Theres a solidarity in the crowd at Celebration Orlando.
These fans are just happy to be with other people who love what they love.
No opening crawl will tell their story.
Yet theres something somber hanging over everyones head, especially on Thursday and Friday.
Its the first Celebration without our princess.
During a beautiful tribute to Fisher at the 40 Years of Star Wars panel, many sob quietly.
In that moment, Leia isnt just a woman or a senator, a soldier or a leader.
Maybe not even a character.
Shes a symbol of hope.
As voice actress Vanessa Marshall put it during theRebelsnews conference later that weekend, We have hope.
Theres something about that that I think we all need right now.
Now with three seasons ofRebelsunder his belt, Filoni is his own kind of celebrity.
At one point, Filoni is surrounded by ravenous fans in the lobby of the convention center.
They dont let him get through to the escalators.
They want to shake his hand, take pictures, touch his hat, touch him.
He greets as many people as he can before security finally splits the crowd right through the middle.
So why doesnt everybody believe in it?
Its in all of you.
And thats great and its also dangerous.
Will they be better?
Filoni is trying to save all of us now, while we can still course correct.
As Anakin proved inReturn of the Jedi, its never too late for that.
Its goodness the long way around.
Fear is the root of all evil.
Fear destroys everything, he says.
Filoni is almost whispering now.
Hes thought about every single word of this gospel.
The gathered are in a trance.
I love the person next to me.
I love my father, I love my mother, and nothing you do can destroy that.
And you stand on your commitment.
And then that inspires the hope, that inspires the love, which is something evil doesnt understand.
Thats the core of Star Wars.
Theres an overwhelming silence.
A room full of quiet consideration.
Maybe for a fraction of a second, the power of the Force.
And then all of his followers break into enthusiastic applause.
John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek.
Find more of his work onhis website.
Or justfollow him on Twitter.
