Why You Gotta Be Hatin?

There's been a lot of discussion online recently about Star Wars in general and the new series Obi Wan Kenobi in particular. A lot of that discussion is critical of the new Star Wars shows like Obi Wan and The Book of Boba Fett. Some of it has gone beyond simple dislike and gone into hate, and much of it has gotten personal and ugly. (I won't go into the details here because it's not relevant to my point.)

I understand why people may dislike something new, especially when it doesn't line up their perception or seems to contradict something done in the past. There are all kinds of examples dealing with canon and what is considered canonical and so forth. There are books that could be written about such debates.

Of course, Star Wars is not the only intellectual property to deal with this kind of animus. Newer iterations of Star Trek have likewise been panned by elements of fandom for not living up to certain expectations or seeming to violate what has been shown before. 

I personally have enjoyed the new Star Wars and the new Star Trek shows. Are they perfect? No. What is? Are they entertaining? Absolutely. Are they for everyone? Probably not.

It's the time and energy that certain elements of "fandom" have dedicated to criticizing current iterations of these properties that is so puzzling. If you don't like it, just say, "Well, that's not for me," and move on. There is an unhealthy level of "ownership" by some who feel entitled to their own versions. 

But we tend to do that in a lot of areas, don't we? We spend inappropriate amounts of time and energy criticizing and critiquing things (political opponents, companies, opinions, etc.) Instead, what if we just said, "That's not for me," and moved on? Then we could spend our time building something we value instead of trying to tear something else down.