Star Wars
| Name: | Star Wars |
| Abbreviation(s): | SW, Wars |
| Creator: | George Lucas |
| Date(s): | 1977-1983, 1999-2005 |
| Medium: | Film |
| Country of Origin: | United States |
| External Links: | IMDB |
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Subpages for Star Wars: Fanzines · Obi-Wan Kenobi · Return of the Jedi · The Phantom Menace · The Phantom Menace/Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan
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Contents |
Canon Overview
Star Wars (1977) Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi (1983) Star Wars: Episode VI - Revenge of the Jedi
The Phantom Menace (1999) Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones (2002) Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith (2005) Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Fandom Overview: The Original Trilogy
At the time of the first movie's release in 1977, Star Wars fandom grew rapidly, with fan clubs, zines, and fan-run conventions.
One of the earliest fan clubs was The Royal Order of the Rebel Forces formed in 1977. It was run by Paula Truelove, who was later co-editor of the Harrison Ford fanzine Flip of a Coin. Another club was Forces of the Empire[1], which was established in 1980 and is still in existence today. Clubs were not restricted to the United States: both the Moons of Yavin Fan club in England[1] and Maikel Das's Northern German Star Wars group [2] located in Hamburg [3] sprang into existence and operated for many years, producing both fanzines and art.
There was an official Star Wars newsletter that did publish some fan art and meta articles by fans. Bantha Tracks[2] was published from 1978 to 1987 by LucasFilm as part of the Fan Relations department.
The first Star Wars movie came out just as the new Star Trek movie was in early production at Paramount. The success of the Star Wars movie helped persuade Hollywood to move ahead with a Star Trek feature film rather than a revised television series. However, Star Wars was not entirely welcomed by all Star Trek fans. Boldly Writing remembers that: "Not all of Star Trek fandom reacted favorably to Star Wars, however. Two extremes have already formed, one saying that 'Trek is doomed' (a new slogan) citing Star Wars as its killer, and the other faction maintaining a grin-and-bear-it attitude, assuming that the enthusiasm will wane eventually leaving ST fandom intact and Star Wars as 'just another...movie.'" pg. 37.
1978, the editors of the Star Trek fanzine Sol Plus advertised for new submissions, saying, "and please, Star Trek only, no Star Wars!" This showed that Star Trek fans were increasingly writing Star Wars material, and sending it to Star Trek editors for publication. Boldly Writing, pg 44.
By 1979, however, Star Wars was being recognized at fan run conventions and the first FanQ awards were given to Star Wars fans: Maggie Nowakowska for her Star Wars stories the Thousandworlds Collected series, and Martynn, who illustrated Star Wars stories.[4]
In 1980, the annual convention for fanzine producers and readers moved from Michigan to New York for one year. Boldly Writing points out that: "The name, Mos' Eastly Con, showed the growing influence of Star Wars. Organizers evenly split the panels between Star Trek and Star Wars; the remaining panels covered general topics (such as "the art of editing"). pg. 50.
Star Wars fanzines and other fan works continued to be published through the 1980s and 1990s, with interest in the fandom waxing and waning over the years, often timed to the release of a new movie. For example, in 1993 and again from 2004-2008, there were no Star Wars specific FanQ awards.
Sections to add. Anyone with any knowledge is welcome to pitch in:
First fan run Star Wars convention? Fleshing out Star Wars fanzine history with more firsts. What about Star Wars costuming and filking? Star Wars artists? Star Wars vids?
How was Star Wars received by Star Trek fans? How did the fandom grow. Notable clubs? How did the movies impact the growth of the fandom and fan's output/interest.
Star Wars entry into the Internet? Early mailing lists/newsgroups. The move to graphical websites. Fan's creating their own websites. Fan Fiction archives.
Impact the prequels movies had on reviving fandom.
Slash vs Gen fans? Lucasfilm's attitude towards fan fiction, fan art, fan films. C&D notices.--Morgandawn 15:15, 21 October 2009 (UTC)]
Conventions
Fanzines and fanfic
Star Wars fan fiction began to appear in multimedia zines almost immediately,
As early as 1978, Star Wars Zines such as Against the Sith and Skywalker were published. Eventually literally hundreds of zines were published and sold by fans through the mail and at conventions such as MediaWest*Con. Some of the earliest zines have vanished without a trace, but others are still in production or available through used zines sales at conventions or on eBay.
Before the internet, fans kept in contact via regular mail and letterzines, which were small, cheaply produced zines that printed letters from the subscribers, often including new zine announcements, meta discussions and essays, and flame wars as well as friendly chat and news about the movies and the fan community. Some fan club groups also produced their own letterzines, some including members' fan fiction and fan art. Two key letterzines were Alderaan and the Jundland Wastes.
For more zines, see: Star Wars/Fanzines
Online fan fiction archives can be found as follows:
- FanFix: The Star Wars Fan Fiction Library (1997-2003) WayBack Links, multiple years
- FanFiction.Net (1999-present)[5]
- The Force.Net (2001-2009)[6]
- Rec.Arts.SF.Star Wars Archive(Fan Fiction was allowed up to 1997) [7] and [8]
- Master and Apprentice Archive (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) (1999-present)[9]
Other resource links:
Other FanWorks: SongVids, Artwork, Costumes & Filking
Notable SongVids:
Women In Star Wars Fandom
Star Wars has traditionally been seen as a primarily male dominated fandom. As a result, the role that women have played in the development of the fandom has been often overlooked.
In 1982, Pat Nussman published an article in Comlink #9, a Star Wars letterzine entitled: "Where the Boys Are." In the article she explored the gender make-up of media fandom at the time and and argued that it was skewed towards greater female participation, specifically in Star Wars fandom.
In 1995, the AOL Star Wars fan club began hosting Tuesday "Ladies Night" online chats. "Star Wars Ladies Night in private room 'Star Ladies'. The Star Wars Ladies Night is a free form discussion group that provides an opportunity for SW fans to discuss issues of interest to women. Join us as we discuss the Star Wars trilogy and its legacy from a woman's point of view. E-mail Ghislaine or LdyTempus for more info." AOL Star Wars Trivia
There was also The Women of Star Wars Home Page, a resource site active from 1997 to 2000, and the Leia-centric archive Organa-Zation. Both of these were on Geocities.
Move To The Internet
Impact of Star Wars Prequel Movies
Adult/Slash Themes
In 1982, Maureen Garrett, president of the official Star Wars Fan Club sent a 'warning' to Star Wars fanzines that were publishing adult themed fiction. This reflected the uneasy relationship that Star Wars fans had with Lucasfilm. Throughout the 70s and 80s, Lucasfilm remained closely tied to Star Wars fan clubs and fanzine publishers, even asking fans to submit their fanzines to the studio for 'archiving' purposes. Some fans believed that Lucasfilm was using this as a pretext to monitor their fan works to ensure compliance with Lucasfilm's vision of a franchise with "no pornography, vulgarity, or explicit gore and violence." (See Lucasfilm for more). Ironically, the warning was over a het story that even by then standards would have garnered an R rating. For some fans, this was a welcomed attempt to curb what they felt was an unacceptable proliferation of adult themed fan fiction. In fact, some Star Trek fans, unhappy with the K/S slash fiction that was popular in their fandom, became more open to the Star Wars fandom. Boldly Writing, pg. 54.
Nonetheless, most fans, particularly female fans, did not take to the new message: "Lucasfilm is saying "you must enjoy the characters of the Star Wars universe for male reasons. Your sexuality must be correct and proper by my (male) definition, I am not male. I do not want to be. I refuse to be a poor imitation, or worse, someone's idiotic ideal of femininity. Lucasfilm has said in essence, "this is what we see in the Star Wars films and we are telling you this is what you will see." SLAYSU, Catherine Siebert, 1982, pg 44.
In 1991, Barbara Tennison perhaps put the fan response most succinctly: "Fans mental play is no business of producers and nether are their private communications, however lengthy. Textual Poachers, pg 31-32.
In spite of Lucasfilm's attempt to maintain control over fan creations, fans continued to produce fanzines. Adult het and slash zines were however fewer in number, but presumably the fan fiction continued to circulate privately. The notable exceptions were (1) the Organia fanzine published in 1982 which contained adult het fan fic well as original science fiction and feminist articles and poetry and (2) Imperial Entanglements published in 1982 with both gen and slash stories.
By the late 1990s, slash zines were being publicly published and when Star Wars: The Phantom Menace came out in 1999, adult themes became widespread. However, the battle over websites, fan vids and fan films continues to the present. See Lucasfilm for more.
Notable Adult & Slash Themed Fan Works:
- Elusive Lover & Kingdom of Shadows fanzine series by Cara J. Loup (1996-2003) (Han/Luke Slash)
- Organia by Bev L. and Judith Gran (1982) (Het)
[Note: online fan fic? notable Phantom Menace fic?]
