Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

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Fandom
Name: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode II
Abbreviation(s): AOTC, SW: AOTC
Creator: George Lucas
Date(s): May 12, 2002 (Tribeca Film Festival), May 16, 2002 (United States)
Medium: Film
Country of Origin: United States
External Links: Wikipedia, IMDB
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Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones is the second movie of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, and the fifth Star Wars movie overall.

Canon

10 years after the events of The Phantom Menace, Jedi padawan Anakin and Senator Padme fall in love while he is protecting her from assassins. The Clone Wars begin, engineered behind the scenes by Chancellor Palpatine.

Characters

Fandom

When the movie was first released, it wasn't very well-liked for many reasons, with one being the fact that it couldn't follow on the main interest of a big part of the fandom at the time: Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan; since Qui-Gon died in The Phantom Menace, the AOTC didn't have any fuel to that ship. While that was expected, it also meant that the big fandom that TPM had gained wasn't very interested in the movie, with the ship being a main part of the fandom space at the time. That resulted in not a lot of fanfic based on the Attack of the Clones at the time, with many continuing to write exclusively TPM content, something that frustrated those who liked the movie. That didn't mean that there was no content based on the movie, with a lot of it being focused on Anakin/Padmé Amidala.

In the first version of these columns, I marveled at the absolute explosion of Phantom Menace fan fiction, so it may seem odd that I’m wondering here why the second movie of the trilogy has generated so little interest. Okay, point taken. However, even if you don’t personally get the appeal of TPM for fanfic writers and readers, the existence of that appeal certainly can’t be denied. Taking that as a given, why then has AOTC generated so little fiction, and in particular, so little slash? I mean, you’ve still got Ewan, looking yummy as ever (and IMHO, yummier, now that he isn’t saddled with that dorky haircut). And while I know not everyone shares my opinion that the second movie was at least marginally better than the first, I’m betting that even those who thought AOTC was a step down aren’t holding TPM up as a major artistic achievement. So – why so little fiction?[1]

However, that would change over time for many reasons, like the movie becoming more popular, and fans who grew up with it starting to join the bigger fandom. Another reason was the release of later Star Wars material, like Revenge of the Sith, The Clone Wars cartoon, and novels focusing on the time period of AOTC. These made the time where the movie takes place more popular, and helped some ships and characters that were present in the movies to get more fanfics and fanart made of them. In particular, the ship Anakin/Obi-Wan become more popular in the western fandom after Revenge of the Sith and Clone Wars showed more interactions of the characters, and the clones and the other jedi characters became more popular after Clone Wars.

Shipping

Many of the ships related to AOTC are ones that include Obi-Wan Kenobi, with him being considered a Fandom Bicycle.

The most popular are the Canon ship Anakin/Padmé Amidala, or Anidala, and Anakin/Obi-Wan, or Obikin. The OT3 ship Anakin/Amidala/Obi-Wan, or Obianidala, is also popular, specially for people that like both Anidala and Obikin. Other ships that were also popular at the time of the movie's release were Padmé Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ferus Olin/Anakin Skywalker, inspired by pre-AOTC novels.

Other ships that have become more popular over the years are Jango Fett/Obi-Wan Kenobi and Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Ships also often present in AOTC fanworks are ones with characters from other prequel media, like Obi-Wan/Satine from the Clone Wars, or Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan, with Qui-Gon either only being mentioned or the fanfic taking place in a Alternate Universe where he survived.

General Star Wars Fandom

The movie was very controversial at it's release, just like The Phantom Menace, with a lot of criticism being made about the romance, the special effects and some plot points. A big point of criticism was the character of Anakin Skywalker, the acting by his actor, Hayden Christensen, and the romance between Anakin and Padmé Amidala; many found the character "whiny" or "cringy", and found the romance "creepy", or couldn't see why Padmé would be interested in him. This reaction for others is seen as a example of toxic masculinity, since a lot of the backlash focused on Anakin not being "cool" of "badass" enough.

Another point of contention was the portrait of the mandalorians, Boba Fett and the reveal of the clones. Since the concept of the clone wars was first mentioned in A New Hope, many were expecting to learn more about it; Mandalorians were also very popular in the fandom, thanks to Boba Fett's popularity and the many books and comics from before the Prequels showing Mandalorian culture. That made the different version of them seen in the movie controversial for older fans that were disappointed with the movie's take on the origin of the clones, with the popular interpretation that the Jedi fought AGAINST the clones being jossed; Boba Fett being in the movie as a child also made some people angry, either because they thought he was annoying, that they had ruined his character, or they didn't like the character to begin with. That wasn't a big problem for everyone though, and many liked the official version, especially those who didn't care a lot about Mandalorians or Boba Fett and became more interested in them after the movie. The Clone Wars cartoon expanding on the clone's personalities ended up helping many to like the movie more too.

FanWorks

Memes

Meta

Archives & Links

Related Concepts, Fandoms, Terms, Fanworks
See also Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, The Clone Wars, Star Wars/Original Trilogy, Star Wars/Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars Legends, Star Wars/Disney Era

References

  1. ^ Why Isn't there More Attack of the Clones Fiction? by Lucy Gillam
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