TPM and the Birth of the 'Film Basher' Movement

SWNN recently mentioned this summer marks TPM's 24th Anniversary? HOLY MOLEY!

My introduction to 'the Social Media' age was with the lead-up to, and the aftermath of, The Phantom Menace. Never has there been more anticipation for any film in the history of cinema than the build-up for TPM. Not only was it a return to a beloved galaxy far, far away, the movie's trailer ROCKED with incredible visuals -- particularly the landscape shots and the glimpses of the new villian, Darth Maul. The week leading up to the film's premier was incredible.

But the film -- in the minds of many mega-fans of the original films -- was a huge disappointment. At the time, I became part of a group of online fans who became known as "The TBM Bashers" who were engaged in (for lack of a better word) A WAR with other fans who thought it was absolute treason to argue with anything that came from the mind of The Great One, George Lucas.

It was the first time in the history of Social Media that such a passionate online debate had occurred which literally spread throughout the world. Nowadays, that's 'the way of things' on sites like this one. I imagine moderators gear up for it with every release of new Star Wars content. But back in 1999, it was a brave new world and board moderators were caught off-guard by the intense polarization and weren't sure how best to deal with it.

Everything we've seen online with Star Wars since has been a reflection of that TPM summer.