Here’s the story of the time I showed one of my friends Star Wars– told from his point of view:

“Andy! Stop playing and try to pay attention!” Alex yelled, one hand in a fist, the other
pointed at the screen.
“No. It’s boring.” I replied nonchalantly, focused on protecting my clan from invaders in
Clash of Clans.

The film must have ended, and I turned my head right and stared down at a pair of worn
blue denim jeans and looking up, arms tightly crossed together, and then his face, his mouth slightly open, his breathing a sharp staccato, his determined brown eyes staring directly into mine.
“So? What did you think about Star Wars?” Alex questioned me in an almost mockingly
calm manner.
“ I didn’t like it. It was boring and too cheesy”, I replied honestly, with little interest to
remove my eyes from the battle happening on my phone’s screen.

“Uhhh… well, everyone’s entitled to their own opinions…” Alex commented as if he had
to accept his defeat on the matter.
I looked up from my phone onto disappointed eyes that stared at the cold yellow tiles on
the floor, arms devoid of energy hanging motionlessly – adrenaline rushed through my veins,stimulated my brain and formed an argument,which lit up my eyes and prompted my lips to create a big smile.

I blurting out the first thing on my mind-“Don’t lie. The movie is trash. Why is is even
popular? It’s soo bad! Extremely cheesy, fake-looking special effects, cringe-worthy dialogue, super boring. People who love it and say it is one of the greatest films of all time must be stupid or have something wrong with themselves. I bet the only reason Star Wars is so popular is because the people who love it were little kids when they first saw it, and thought it was a really great movie, when it is actually very shitty. Honestly. Star Wars has no reason to be so popular and be called ‘influential’.”

Alex stared at me with a face that seemed to suggest that he had not registered what had
just been said. After a few seconds of this blank staring, Alex snapped out of his weird trance. I prepared myself for his whining.

“No you’re wrong. I get that you don’t like the film, but you have no right to say that
people are stupid for loving it, or that it wasn’t very influential!” he firmly said to me, his voice gradually rising, both hands in tight fists by his sides.

Alex’ right hand suddenly pulled my phone up from my hands (right as my army was
going to defeat the invaders), slid it into his back pocket, and continued what he was saying as if nothing had happened-

“ People had never seen a movie like Star Wars before. It was a fantasy story set in space,
with a farm boy destined for greatness and a wise wizard who would guide him through the ways of a magical force and evil rulers who hurt people and even a beautiful princess who was a bad ass. The world is not futuristic like other science fiction stories, and looks lived-in. Star Wars combined multiple classic genres like westerns, sci-fi, fantasy, and adventure into one story.”

Why should I listen to my “friend” after he had unrightfully taken my phone? Besides,
there was nothing he could say that would change my observation. Star Wars and everything about it is cliché. I’m sure that I would be able to come up with a bunch of other films that are similar to Star Wars, but inherently better, if I felt like doing so. Anyways, I crossed my arms, formed the biggest smirk on his face, and interrupted him with the one phrase I use when I want to ignore him- “Sure, sure…”

Alex, now with his fists beginning to shake, and a look that appeared to be a
combination of anger and … constipation, continued his point- “Star Wars was also ahead of its time in that it, along with Jaws, ushered in the age of massive blockbusters in Hollywood. The special effects may seem dated to you, but at the time they were revolutionary. George Lucas was one of the first filmmakers to combine convincing practical effects with never-before-seen computer graphics, with the help of his company ILM.”

Noticing that Alex was taking this business all too seriously, I decided to end his anger
and make him laugh-“Heh. ILM-what does that mean? ‘I Love Money’?!” I interjected with a devious smile.

A little smirk appeared on his face , his eyes indicating that I had effectively “shattered”
his anger – “ Yeah, no. Industrial Light & Magic. You might never have heard of it, but you
have seen its impact on movies, as nearly all the of the big, popular movies since 1977 have had work done by the company! Anyways, Star Wars has a bunch of extremely quotable lines.”

Still wanting to annoy him a little bit, I dramatically said- “Luke, I am your father!” as
slowly closed my right hand.
“It’s actually, ‘No, I am your father.’” Alex commented with slight amusement, his arms
now crossed again as if he were an expert in the Star Wars universe (what a nerd!).

“ So that, my brother, is why Star Wars is still so ingrained into our pop culture. In fact, it
is so influential that it is permanently preserved in the US National Film Registry for being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’ . And you can look that up online and see that it’s true. So don’t tell me that Star Wars has no right to be popular.” Alex ended his speech with an air of satisfaction- even going as far as nodding his head- and with his right hand removed my cellphone from his back pocket, throwing it directly onto my chest(sending shockwaves of pain from where it landed throughout my body). While his arms resumed their new natural position of being crossed, my brother spun on his heels in the direction of the open entrance way, and marched straight out, with his head held up high, and a smile on his face. What a loser. My view on Star Wars remained the same. I picked up my phone from my chest, unlocked it, and saw that
my army had defeated the a few other of my enemies-

“Hell yeah!” I exclaimed with joy.

Okay, I admit, this story was over-dramatic and somewhat fictionalized. But that doesn’t prevent it from highlighting the message I try to make apparent in every review and analysis I write: All film is subjective.

I love Star Wars, and my friend Andy, hated it. I believe it is a masterpiece and highly influential on the history of Cinema. Andy believes it’s overrated trash (much to my dismay). And yet, we both have the right to our opinions, and neither of us is wrong in what we believe.

It’s such a big problem in these movie industry these days. I mean, if a girl likes vanilla ice cream but her boyfriend doesn’t, their relationship won’t come to an end. If a group of friends hate baseball but one of them, he might get some teasing, but should be abandoned for what he likes.

But the problem with movies mirrors politics- many people who think one way refuse to accept that other people might think differently, and are not wrong for doing so. This can especially be seen in beloved film franchises that have loyal fan bases who are very opinionated.

In the story, I was at fault to be angry at Andy disliking Star Wars, because as a passionate fan, I inherently wanted everyone else to think in the same way as me (a sentiment that’s only heightened when there’s a group of people that agree with me). As much as it bothered me that he thought Star Wars was trash and cheesy, to the point that he made fun of it, I had to learn to accept his position- especially since I new how he felt.

This might seem like blasphemy to many people, but I think Frozen is not a good story. I think it’s lazy and wraps up it’s story too quickly. I definitely was in the minority with this sentiment, and all my friends loved the movie. But outside of a few shocked remarks, they quickly overcame the problem (especially since they could share their appreciation with other fans) and still accepted me as a friend.

Just because Andy didn’t like Star Wars didn’t mean that I couldn’t be friends with him anymore. So we disagreed on one film? It wasn’t the end of the world. In fact, both Andy and I agreed that Star Wars: The Last Jedi was a great entry in the series because it was bold and fresh (as opposed to a lot of other fans who believed that it was the worst of the series and an insult to beloved characters). We didn’t care what the others believed- we stood by our appreciation of the film, and didn’t attack others for their response.

All film is subjective, and that’s something people need to accept.

Unfortunately, in this digital age, there has been an increase of what is known as “toxic” fandom, those “fans” who not only can’t accept that people think differently than them, but then attack those people until the “fans” are satisfied.

These “toxic” fans are trolls behind keyboards who will say the most vile things to hurt others, including racist and misogynistic remarks, as well as death threats just to “watch the world burn” (as Alfred says in The Dark Knight).

The bullying has gotten so bad that Kelly Marie Tran, the Asian actress who played Rose in The Last Jedi, felt it necessary to delete her social media accounts to evade the personal attacks, while Christopher McQuarrie, the director of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Mission Impossible: Fallout, who was having a pleasant twitter chat with The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, decided that he didn’t want to direct a Star Wars movie after having been attacked for speaking with Johnson in under 5 minutes.

It’s insane, and people should not thrive on hate just because others don’t think like them. We need to all keep in mind that all film is subjective, and learn to accept others- debates are healthy, attacks are not. Stand up for what you believe in and don’t listen to these bullies. They would be inconsequential if more people thought this way.

Andy may not have enjoyed Star Wars, but he still is one of my closest friends.