Star Wars Made For Children Or General Audience?

Yes, and as such it shouldn't be deliberately targeted at small children the way it has sometimes been since ROTJ. I was nine when the original Star Wars came out in 1977, and a big part of the reason I reacted so strongly to it and connected so deeply with it was that it WASN'T a kiddie film. It wasn't yet another one of these movies that was all about what adults thought that little kids wanted to see - it was something aimed at a somewhat older audience that also happened to be what I (and damned near every other kid in my class) REALLY wanted to see.

Any time I hear somebody claiming that "Star Wars is for children", all I can think of is how wrong that is. As you say NH... it's a universe for anyone and everyone to love.

 

I believe there are definitely things in the Star Wars movies that appeal more to children, especially since ROTJ, such as ewoks and Jar Jar Binks. With that said, I believe anyone from age 2 - 102 can find something or someone in the Star Wars Universe that they can relate to and appreciate. Star Wars after all is a timeless tale of good vs. evil, light triumphing over darkness. If it were just for kids, why do adult costuming organizations like the 501st Legion exist and guys like me in their 40's constantly looking for new Black Series figures at WalMart and Target?

 

The problem is, when you start shoving stuffed animals in the audience's face out of some misguided effort to "make Star Wars appeal to children" (as if that was ever the least bit necessary pre-1983) then you begin narrowing the appeal for audience members of other ages.

Yes, there will always be dedicated fans who like the movies regardless. But I know a lot of casual fans who were, for instance, very turned off by TPM because it laid it on SO thick in aiming itself at small children. My mother, for instance, who grew up on Flash Gordon and the same old movie serials that Lucas grew up on, absolutely loved the original Star Wars and Empire when they came out (and the first time she saw Raiders is still one of her favorite moviegoing memories!) and was really excited to see TPM when it was released. And when she got to see it (a week or so after it was released) it REALLY left a bad taste in her mouth, especially "that damned Stepin' Fetchit thing!" (Jar Jar.) But overall, she just didn't think that it felt that much like Star Wars and that it was far more of a kids' movie than the old ones had been.

She is far from the only one I know who felt this way.

Look, we're going to find something to dig about any Star Wars movie because we're all big ol' Star Wars freaks. It's what we do.

But I think Lucas made a mistake in going from making movies that everyone could enjoy (kids included) to deliberately pandering to small children in his later SW films.

Try this sometime. If you can find the Revenge of the Sith videogame that came out for XBox and PS in 2005, check out the cutscenes in the hangar on Grievous' ship. The battle droids don't have foices yet, because the game was released before the voice-overs had been finalized. Compare that version featuring the voiceless battle droids (especially the super battle droids that Artoo tries to hide from) with the movie version where all of the battle droids have cute, nonthreatening, chipmunk-ey sounding voices.

IMHO, the scenes work a LOT better without the enemy droids baby-talking their way through them.

It makes me think of what I'd have thought if, when I was nine and the original Star Wars came out, the stormtroopers had all been given goofy, harmless-sounding cartoon voices. I really don't think the movie would have aged anywhere near as well as it did if that'd have been the case, and I sincerely doubt that I'd have been quite as taken by the movie as I was had Lucas tried to aim it at what he thought kids my age were into, rather than just making a movie for everyone.

 

I had just turned 6 when Star Wars came out and I didn't have any problems with it, but when Empire came out that was another story! I was 9 and had watched a number of films and yet Empire was the first one in which a character was dismembered! And I'm not taking about Vader's head; that didn't bother me one bit, but when Luke lost his hand I lost it! I was like "OH MY GOD, LUKE'S HAND! VADER CHOPPED OFF LUKE'S HAND! HOW IS HE GOING TO HOLD HIS LIGHTSABER WITH ONLY ONE HAND? HE'S GOING TO WALK AROUND WITH A HOOK LIKE A PIRATE!!! I can remember all sorts of bad thoughts running through my mind when suddenly I hear: "NO, I AM YOUR FATHER!" IT BLEW MY 9 YEAR OLD MIND!!!! (darth)

 

I feel that it is a story that can be enjoyed by all ages, but as a property over the years, it's been marketed to different ages.

For context, I was born in '79, and remember watching ANH at 3-4 years of age for the first time. I saw Empire and ROTJ around '86 or '87 on VHS. To me, they were sci-fi/adventure flicks I could watch and enjoy, and I remember some "Tension and Fear." There were "Things in the Shadows," in the garbage shoot, and in Yoda's swamp. Darkness I appreciate as an adult, that scared me as a kid. It didn't aim to cause nightmares, though.

To be fair, I was watching a lot of "hard-R" rated stuff. My parent would rent "Landstalker," (as well as a ton of other cheesy crap) and I had to cover my eyes through a storm of breasts. I had watched a lot of the Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Phantasm, and Hellraiser films pretty young.

I think the OT--despite the Ewoks--were a fair mix of adult themes and characters. They also had a lot for kids to dream about, and laugh about. Watch "Hook," with Robin Williams, and you will see that it's full of sexual innuendo that went over a kids head.

Marketing... other than the toys and so forth, I don't know if the OT was marketed just to kids, or to a general audience. I was too young.

Now... the PT (which I have some love for--some hate for), was definitely marketed towards adult/GA at first, but went more "kid friendly" as things went on.

Lucasfilm did, however, green-light some more adult games, and comics. The Dark Horse Comics were definitely geared more towards adults.

Now, my final comment here--Star Wars in the OT has been/is, in many ways, about faith vs science, and nature vs technology. I still love the Ewoks. Yes, they're "cute," but you know what... the scene with Leia sharing food is awesome. It shows that they're the good guys, who give, The Empire is the bad guy, who takes. C-3po telling the story to the Ewoks with sound effects is amazing to me, but I loved the same thing in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

In the end, The Empire controls through technology and fear. The Rebels are volunteers, and without friendship, they would have been rushed without the Ewoks.

Now, the way the battle went, I have issues with, but it's a movie, and I still enjoy RotJ, Ewoks or not.

And, I guess, my final, final comment... I can imagine all the blood, gore, harsh language and breasts I want. Personally, I'd rather have films that everyone can enjoy.

 

This is a problem that has hurt the franchise since 1983. Beginning with ROTJ, Lucas has to appease ALL moviegovers and that is why the movies are so uneven. You have Anakin burning in lava in ROTS, then you have Jar Jar doing schtick like its a Three Stooges episode.

JJ & DIsney have to pick an age group, and gear the movie for that. If they are going to make it for kids, then make it for kids and I won't have to bother. There are alot of great kids movies that I don't see and that's fine with me. If you are going to make it for teenagers/adults, then make it alittle more grown up like ANH & ESB, and if kids want to follow they can still enjoy the movie.

 

I don't think we can lump all of star wars into one category. I'd say all movies cept ROTS is made for kids. The books were more geared to adult fans that grew up on the films.

edit: Compare to films by pixar (which contain many adult themes but are kid friendly) or dreamworks (targeted at kids with hidden dirty humor for adults.)

 

These days if its aimed at 8-year olds most 30-something men are going to love it.

*ducks*

 

I'm with you on that very same thought on the Ewoks. I wonder what would have happened if instead of Ewoks, Lucas would have used Jawas on Endor. Would people say the same things and bash the Jawas? Not every race in SW is going to be made ultra scary or super cool looking so that fans can like them. If that were the case then we wouldn't see things like this show up:

I wonder how people would react if on the climatic final battle of this new saga, a whole army of these creepy things helped the good guys beat the New Order. Would they look back at Jedi and find the Ewoks awesome?

 

Star Wars has always been something that everyone can enjoy. That's what made it a success in 1977 and that is why we can still return to it so many years later.
Also, I feel really young considering I wasn't born until 16 years after A New Hope was released!

That's not exactly correct. The problem isn't trying to appease everyone, it's the execution. Again, look at the OT. It does appease all moviegoers. Similar case with The Force Awakens. The PT's problem (well, one of them) was it went to extremes where the OT and TFA didn't. And you illustrated those extremes quite well (I can't think of better examples).
Being someone everyone can enjoy doesn't mean having both extreme dark and extreme goofy. It's finding that middle ground and just giving us a well told, adventurous tale of good vs evil with likeable characters. That is what appeals to everyone.

 

Well, I'm the only one who voted for both. It depends on the medium, as Lego Star Wars TV movies and shows are clearly targeted towards children.

 

Maybe it leans a bit more towards children, but it still winks at the audience (the beautiful jabs at the prequels in Droid Tales was fantastic and well done).

 

I agree, although Lego doesn't count- the movies are not canon.

 

No, apparently the Freemaker Adventures are canon; just not 100% canon like the films and TV show. The basic plot points are canon, but the way it's portrayed on the show is not canon.

 

So other words: all added content is not canon?

 

Yeah, that's right.