I was born in the mid 90s and never witnessed what exactly the Star Wars fandom was.
What modern franchise is it comparable to?
Was it ever a big deal to the mainstream, or did it keep to a very vocal fandom like, say, Adventure Time is today?
How did it enter the mainstream?
I really struggle to understand how a niche sci-fi can become such a cultural force.
Are there any oldfags browsing who experienced this firsthand?
It was never niche.
Im 41. It was a cultural phenom. Watch That 70s Show episode about SW EP IV. It perfectly captures how the film hooked multiple generations with a classic story and groundbreaking effects.
Kids grow up with it.
They're good movies so people show their kids ad so on.
With the merchandising, it just ends up showing up everywhere
>I really struggle to understand how a niche sci-fi can become such a cultural force
it wasn't niche and at the time there wasn't really anything like it. That's why it blew people away.
>>64261075
Ok seriously now, where did this "Star Wars is for kids" meme suddenly come from? I never heard it before, but now everyone is repeating it like it was fact.
>>64261145
It's for all ages, but let's be honest, are people gonna show their kids star wars, disney and capeshit or pull out some LGBT art films?
>>64261145
Star Wars has always been all ages. For kids: if you will.
>>64260985
I was born the year RotJ came out ('83), so I just barely missed out on the first generation Star Wars fandom. I personally don't remember it ever really not being a thing at any point, though. Even in the late 80s/early 90s, when there weren't any movies coming out, they still kept the fanbase going through video games, comics, books, and the like. It was a big event when the trilogy got released "one last time" on VHS in '95. I remember being hyped as hell for that. To me, the phenomenal success of stuff like Star Wars, Star Trek, Dr. Who, The Simpsons, and other things are really impressive, considering they existed in the age before having the benefit of social networks to spread the word.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAM8eDtN3mY
>>64261145
ROTJ is when that shit started.
>>64261261
Releases and remaster without terrible terrible reboots definitely helped.
>>64261239
>>64261251
They are PG, not G, and even if something is rated for all ages it doesn't automatically mean it's for children. I mean you could have some arthouse movie where people sit around discussing philosophy and it would get rated G too.
>>64260985
born then you probably saw the prequels at least? i'm not much older than you, my guess is that it was like what world of warcraft is currently
>>64261326
>it was like what world of warcraft is currently
on life support?
I was born in '91 and my dad showed me the OT of VHS and I saw all three prequels in theater. You had a shit 90's, son.
>>64261358
it's still huge, everyone shits themselves over new expansions and there's the movie
was born after the ot and by the time the prequels came out i didn't have any interest in star wars
the reality is the only thing star wars ever meant to me was LEGOS
>>64261316
I've liked Star Wars since I was very young coming out of the late 80's. Everyone seemed to know about it, TV was dotted with references 10 years after ROTJ. Hell, it never played on TV so you had to have the movie on hand. Ep.7 has kinda' brought about people who haven't seen it. It seems stranger to me to get into it when you're older though. Like Phantom Menace is too much for me these days, but I was 10 when it came out and I can appreciate what it was to be a kid seeing it. Was crazy then, Star Wars making more movies. Crack for kids with a constant merch deal.
>>64261466
Way less peoples shit themselves over WoW since- 2011?
>>64260985
Born in 1982 here
Star wars has always been mainstream. I worked at a movie theater right after star wars came out, all older employees could talk about was the fact that they raised ticket prices right before star wars came out because they knew it was gonna be the biggest release ever.
Liking star wars isn't nerdy, liking star wars is liking literally the most popular movie franchise of all time.
The only thing that is nerdy is video taping yourself using a fake light saber.
Was it just that it was an original sci-fi, while studios are generally afraid of them? All I really remember that tried in my generation was Spiderman, which was okay, and very low budget garbage like Lost in Space relying on the name. /a/ and /co/ are in constant hype for a whole lot of scifi, but they're not in cinemas or anything to get the same exposure. Modern sci-fi is forgettable Gravity-style serious that don't tap into the market.
Was it just all that was on? Same story as the Marvel flicks?
>Mid 90s
>Didn't watch the 3d re-releases in cinema
U had a shit life my mane
The closest franchise today is Harry Potter. It's mainstream as fuck, most people watch it, like it and move on, a minority becomes obsessed with it and keeps posting about it on the internet.
>>64260985
>I was born in the mid 90s
TOO YOUNG FOR MY WEBSITE
GO AWAY
I was born in 1980, so a second generation star wars fan. The original movies had a huge influence on my childhood imagination, and I collected a lot of the original toys.
Star wars lived on in the 90s through video games. Some of the best and most groundbreaking PC games were star wars related. (xwing, dark forces, jedi knight, etc.)
The special additions came out when I was 17 I think, me and my buddies got high and saw it in the theater and that was a big thing, because we had seen the movie 1000 times but never on the big screen.
So yes, SW was relevent in the 80s and 90s long after the movies left the theaters.
>>64261787
>Born in 1982 here
> I worked at a movie theater right after star wars came out
>>64261012
Yeah I was around in '77 but I'm too drunk to make a useful comment. I remember thinking that R2D2 was the shit, and I could've fathered a mid sized country with the amount of jizz I expelled to Fisher's DD's
>>64261875
>>64261787
To clarify, I was talking about the prequels, we always just referred to them as star wars.
>>64261841
it's probably this
>>64261064
>>64261261
>>64261721
I can always tell the oldfags here. They can write a coherent paragraph and know how to express their opinions beyond chanspeak and snarky image macros.
>>64261802
I think it worked because it was enjoyable whether you paid full attention or not. A few clear dramatic lines push the scene, the effects were great for the time, anyone could follow it. And great merch planning.
>>64261844
>Implying he wasn't here at 17
>>64261961
i can always tell who the newfag redditors are
they don't know what the fuck an oldfag is
>>64262013
oldfag meaning old in age, not some fucking b-tier chanspeak.
Thanks for proving my point, memedropper.
>>64262066
fuck off redditor
you don't get to choose what words mean here you fucking cancerous piece of shit
>>64262013
>>64262066
Nothin' but net
>>64262066
You understand that on 4chan you are going to encounter chanspeak?
Fuck off kid. Oldfag means long time 4chan frequenter, always fucking has. Using oldfag to denote anything else just shows you know nothing of our culture here.
Lurk moar fag.
>>64262066
>chanspeak
>>>/r/eddit/
>>64262066
>b-tier
the proper term would be /b/ faggotry
Have fun at reddit scrub
>>64262106
Ive been here long enough to be bored with it, and I lurk other boards that dont devolve into memeposting to fit in because people actually contribute instead of reposting a repost.
/tv/ is my homeboard, but it's a ship board. Perhaps you should lurk "moar"
>>64262066
Top kek get back to lurking or go back to fucking reddit
Disgraceful to be honest family shaking my head laughing my ass off
>>64262193
>bored with it
Don't let the door hit you on the way out faggot
>>64262193
I've been here since 2006, every board has memeposting just each board has their own memes, /tv/ is one of the worst meme offenders simply by having baneposting.
>>64262066
What a faggot
>>64262224
You were slightly upset you didnt get your first coveted quads, werent you?
Better luck next time.
>>64262066
>oldfag meaning old in age
>chanspeak
>memedropper
witness reddit
>>64262066
>chanspeak
>on 4chan
>>64262066
>oldfag meaning old in age
kek
>>64261326
I watched the prequels, but they never caught my attention in the way that Yugioh did. They were fairly slow and drawn out for an 8 year old, and I only really remember the dinosaur looking creatures in Episode 2, and the GBA version of Episode 3.
My dad put on the original series at one point very early in my life, but he was never into it himself. I just remember the lengths he took to make sure I loved it, car sub woofer in the back and pro-logic speakers he made up, even though I was too young to really follow.
>>64261841
Harry Potter had huge money behind it going in
Star Wars was pic related
>>64262303
Never been, and dont care to go. From what I can tell reddit is a bunch of tldr bullshit and attention whoring. 4chan is just aspies and autists ticking out with an occasional shit nugget of wisdom. It's the lesser of the evils.MUH REDDIT JOKE
>>64262391
I'm sure you can handle it in silence. You're a big guy.
>>64262417
For you.
>>64262066
Why would you use the term oldfag if you didnt actually mean oldfag?
>>64262391
You stick out like a sore thumb, either aculturate or become an hero, the choice is yours.
>>64262391
>>64262193
>trying to save face
>on a anonymous image board
you're so fucking delusional you've convinced yourself you're not a redditor. well done
>>64262066
dumbest post of the day tbqh
>>64262500
>>64262477
Call it cultural appropriation.
>>64262066
way to compound the already pungent stink of narcissism that surrounds your posts
revolting
>>64262685
This cant be happening, I'm in charge here!
>>64262066
The reaction to this post is just embarrassing. He used -fag without referring to the keyword and now everyone's lost it like he said normie instead of normalfag. You purists get too trapped in terminology. Next thing "bait" wait be considered reddit, and Trollface purists will reply to every thread en masse.
>>64262066
fuck off "oldfag" no one likes you you know
like seriously holy fuck "oldfag" you're such a cock-gobbling, autistic mongoloid. I can actually feel your electromagnetic waves of autism from all the way over here, and I'm pretty fucking far away
seriously "oldfag," have you ever though about killing yourself? Even once? Maybe twice?
If you haven't thought about killing yourself, I think it's time you start, "oldfag"
>captcha: select all the gift boxes
do you know what that means? that means this "oldfag" should kill himself asap
upvote if you agree
>>64262787
Do you feel in charge?
>>64262812
Bait is kinda the opposite. It's reactionary, like how /a/ sometims use hiota over any normal- variation to avoid criticism, but keep the same sentiment
>>64262066
this guy's right you autists
>>64262884
nice samefag
>>64262838
theatricality and deception. powerful tools to the uninitiated.
OP here. Thanks for ruining the thread, guys.
>>64262066
>>>/reddit/
>>>/reddit/
>>>/reddit/
>>64262917
If you're having a nice dinner and a filthy rat walks in the room, you don't just ignore it
>>64262917
Apparently "oldfag" is now a trigger word for memetards. May the force be with you.
>>64260985
>I was born in the mid 90s
>>64260985
>What modern franchise is it comparable to?
Sonic the Hedgehog
I know >reddit but.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1mvk92/why_did_star_wars_become_such_a_cultural/
>>64263004
>makes stupid statement
>amends terminology to create an even stupider statement
I'm gonna get dubs on this post and there's nothing you can do about it
>>64261841
Harry Potter is far too cringey, just like the Hunger Games or Divergent. Lord of the Rings comes close, but failed to have the same cultural force. I don't think there really is an analogue this generation. Futurama probably had the most impact of any 2010s media.
>>64262066
What a retard
>>64261787
Fellow early '80s babby here.
I was more psyched to see the remastered OT in the cinema during the '90s and didn't give a fuck about the prequels. Respected the OT more as '70s and '80s films.
I am as confused as OP as to why this shit was obsessed over. I understand stuff like Star Trek and Pokemon because you get obsessed with the details but Star Wars was a big dumb movie. I don't get how you get people camping outside of a cinema for 4 weeks from some low-fi movies with puppets and robots.
NOBODY did that for Terminator 2 or Aliens.
Good thread
>>64263246
Neither Aliens or Terminator 2 are worlds kids want to live in. I first saw Star Wars in 77 at the age of 4. You fuckers have no idea. WORLD CHANGING.
>>64263057
good read
