Star Wars Story Group Writer Matt Martin: Star Wars Canon Is “All Fake Anyway”
Star Wars Story Group member Matt Martin recently declared that fans can pick and choose what is canon in Star Wars because “it’s all fake anyway.”
As reported by Disney Star Wars Is Dumb, Martin’s most recent comments came after a fan asked him to clarify his previous comments regarding Star Wars canon.
Martin has discussed Star Wars canon in length. Back in April, he responded to a fan who asked about treating the “old GT version of Clone Wars as canon.”
He wrote, “I’m of the mind that you can consider anything you want canon if it makes you happy.”
He added, “For the most part, it still works, but there are some contradictions with other storytelling if you really care.”
I’m of the mind that you can consider anything you want canon if it makes you happy. For the most part, it still works, but there are some contradictions with other storytelling if you really care.
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) April 28, 2020
Earlier in April, Martin shared an article from i09 which declared that “our fascination with canon is killing the way we value stories.”
YES!!!! Everyone should read this. It’s a much more articulate way of discussing something I’ve often tried to crunch down into 280 characters. It’s also why I choose to not answer, or give frustratingly vague answers, to many questions thrown my way here on Twitter. https://t.co/UmF55RDYYQ
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) April 1, 2020
In the article, James Whitbrook writes, “this craving for [canon] above all else is a toxic attitude, not just to the way we talk about pieces of media from a critical perspective, but in fan circles as well.”
He elaborates, “The hunger for facts above all else leads to things like “filler episode” becoming a derogatory term for stories that don’t advance the larger ongoing plot of a narrative or don’t include some shocking new revelation that someone can add to a list.”
Related: Star Wars Story Group Member Matt Martin Attempts to Explain Force Healing
Whitbrook goes on to write:
“The need robs discussions about the stories we get of nuance and interpretation, because who cares what you think happened when there’s an answer from the Word of God to that question you might have had? And more sinisterly, beyond the way it shapes our discourse, it’s a craving that further enmeshes our love of a world not to the world itself, but to the masters behind that world.”
In discussing the article, Martin declared, “Canon should be an added bonus but not the end-all-be-all of a story. The EU is no less good now than it was before due to the fact that it’s “no longer canon”. That didn’t change the stories.”
That’s exactly it. Canon should be an added bonus but not the end-all-be-all of a story. The EU is no less good now than it was before due to the fact that it’s “no longer canon”. That didn’t change the stories.
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) April 1, 2020
More recently Martin was asked about canonizing the original animated Battle of Coruscant. He responded, “I personally don’t really see the point of “recanonizing” things. If that version doesn’t contradict anything (pretty sure it’s clear) then anyone who likes it can consider it a part of their Star Wars story. But it leaves open the opportunity to retell it in the future.”
I personally don’t really see the point of “recanonizing” things. If that version doesn’t contradict anything (pretty sure it’s clear) then anyone who likes it can consider it a part of their Star Wars story. But it leaves open the opportunity to retell it in the future.
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) May 8, 2020
He would add, “Fans generally put too much emphasis on what the company deems “official”. If you like the animated version (I do!) then there’s no reason to value it less just because it’s “not canon”. You know?”
Fans generally put too much emphasis on what the company deems “official”. If you like the animated version (I do!) then there’s no reason to value it less just because it’s “not canon”. You know?
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) May 8, 2020
Martin would then be questioned about these comments with one fan asking for some clarity. Martin answered stating, “I think the point that I was making was that what is and isn’t canon informs how future stories may be told but it doesn’t need to dictate how individual fans enjoy their own personal Star Wars story…”
I think the point that I was making was that what is and isn’t canon informs how future stories may be told but it doesn’t need to dictate how individual fans enjoy their own personal Star Wars story…
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) May 9, 2020
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He added, “So in the example earlier, the person was asking about “recanonizing” a past story since that specific story hasn’t been explored in the new canon. And I said if they like that story there’s no reason they can’t accept it as “real” in their version of Star Wars…”
So in the example earlier, the person was asking about “recanonizing” a past story since that specific story hasn’t been explored in the new canon. And I said if they like that story there’s no reason they can’t accept it as “real” in their version of Star Wars…
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) May 9, 2020
He continued, “… but if there was an opportunity to tell that story now that new creator would not be beholden to that old version of the story.”
… but if there was an opportunity to tell that story now that new creator would not be beholden to that old version of the story.
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) May 9, 2020
Martin then summarized, “So to summarize: there is a reason that we need to internally know what is and isn’t canon so we can keep our line of official storytelling as aligned as possible but that doesn’t mean fans can’t individually pick and choose what they want to accept as true.”
So to summarize: there is a reason that we need to internally know what is and isn’t canon so we can keep our line of official storytelling as aligned as possible but that doesn’t mean fans can’t individually pick and choose what they want to accept as true.
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) May 9, 2020
Martin then noted that “it’s all fake anyway so you can choose to accept whatever you want as part of the story.”
It’s all fake anyway so you can choose to accept whatever you want as part of the story.
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) May 9, 2020
He concluded, “If you choose to only accept the real official canon: cool. If you like to mix and match between continuities: cool. If you like to make up your own stories: also cool.”
If you choose to only accept the real official canon: cool. If you like to mix and match between continuities: cool. If you like to make up your own stories: also cool.
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) May 9, 2020
This looks like Martin is just making excuses for Disney’s abomination of a sequel trilogy.
The trilogy that utterly ruined Luke Skywalker and turned him into a man who premeditated the attempted murder of his nephew.
The trilogy that fundamentally changed Luke from a man who was willing to sacrifice his life in order to save the soul of his father from the Dark Side and turned him into a coward, would-be murderer hiding on a remote island that allowed his nephew’s soul to become corrupted by the Dark Side.
Martin’s statement about the stories being fake anyways, doesn’t make sense. Yes, the story is fantasy, but the stories are real. And the world that George Lucas created with his imagination was brought to life on the big screen. A world that set about showing us a number of rules.
Many of those rules were thrown to the wind. Jedi now use Force Lightning. Force Ghosts are physically interacting with the world. Ships are able to hyperspace ram other ships.
As Martin states, you can choose the Star Wars canon you want to believe in, but that doesn’t mean the canon you choose to believe is actually the true one.
It’s like saying Sauron won at the end of the Lord of the Rings because I choose to believe it. Whatever J.R.R. Tolkien wrote be damned. It’s what I want to believe of course.
This type of thinking appears to permeate Lucasfilm and Star Wars given the products they’ve given us over the last few years. Hardly any of it matches up with the story that turned Star Wars into a cultural phenomenon.
Instead Star Wars is now a sad shell of itself due to people like Martin. People who are supposed to be guiding Star Wars just not caring because “it’s all fake anyways.” Or even more sinister people who want to use Star Wars to inject their own agenda onto it.
Related: Toy Executive Confirms Lack Of Demand For Disney’s Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Products
The past is dead. Kill it if you have to. It’s all fake anyway.
Makes a lot more sense now.
What do you make of Martin’s comments regarding canon and Star Wars?
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