The Star Wars Craze

If social media is an indication of what's going on with our society, then there is an epidemic going around. It's not necessarily deadly, unless people have gotten overzealous with their imaginations, and it's nothing that should concern a doctor, except maybe the amateur psychologist I'm sure everyone knows. More than anything, it's annoying...and it's everywhere--the Star Wars Craze.

Big celebrities these days.

Advertisement after advertisement, even highly unrelated ones, added to this malady. Instagram post after Instagram post feature Star Wars costumes and themes. Not to mention, your countless memes. For someone who chooses to remain level-headed and intelligent about the new update on what has become a cultural phenomenon, this is extremely bothersome. A massive number of people have bought into the marketing campaign set forth by Disney, who has a big stock in making sure this operation is promoted to every possible wallet. They've created an army with only one thing on its collective mind: Star Wars. To some, those two little words mean nostalgia. A little mental trip back to 1977, when hippies were still in style and dads like Red Forman were left dumbfounded by there children's behavior.

This says it all.

Of course, not everyone was around during those days. I certainly wasn't. However, the craze was inherited by following generations. Whether that was by parental prodding or curiosity over what the hell is the big deal will probably differ in each case. Whatever the reason, George Lucas managed to create a pop culture staple. Disney, the blood-sniffing money oriented shark of a studio, felt it was time to throw its hat into this influential and profitable ring. Also, they decided to make Lucas, already a billionaire, four billion dollars richer. While he's on easy street, Disney has to do all the work. So what do they do? Promote it more than any movie has ever been promoted and make sure it has the widest release (the most screens) in history (much to the chagrin of Quentin Tarantino). Also, they decided to throw in lots of kids' books, dime novelizations, animated TV shows, and whatever else they could think of. No wonder the cost to market Episode 7 was more than the actual cost of producing the movie. 

Old meets the new.

By doing this, Disney has succeeded massively in creating battalions of wallet owners who will march, like storm troopers, to the theaters. Ex-hippies, ex-hipsters, and ex-diaper dandies (meaning people of all ages) will drop loads of money into Disney's imperial coffers. These movies are probably the surest-fire profit makers Hollywood has ever seen. 

The masters of marketing and making back all of their money.

As one of those who's managed to stay free of this disease, I will hold judgement on the merits of the movie until I actually see it. The last time someone tried to add onto the series ended in disastrous but sadly profitable results.