The Phantom Post

Next month it will be 15 years since Star Wars - The Phantom Menace came out, and yet somehow, all these years later there continues to be a steady stream of hate directed at that movie, particularly on geek sites. I have for many years done my best to ignore this hate, and even today I'm not really going to address it head on (though perhaps I will soon), but I would like to talk about a particular theory I recently heard about the origins of TPM hate.

Noah Antwiler, known to his many followers as "The Spoony One", recently explained his views about the history of TPM hate in order to make an analogy about how he expects WWE fans of the future to view Westlemania XXX. In short this is how he thinks the history of TPM hate goes:

• Before TPM came out it got largely good reviews
• When fans went to see the movie they were so shocked by how bad it was that they actually thought it was good
• Internet reviewers like himself were able to slowly open the eyes of Star Wars fans
• On opening night almost everybody loved it, but today almost everybody hates it

I'm not going to say Noah is wrong, because while I believe there is an alternative explanation for what he is witnessing (that in 1999 the majority opinion seemed to be that it was good, while today the majority opinion seems to be that it was one of the worst movies ever made), I am of the belief that the flaw in his logic is that he is assuming that the opinion of an insular community is representative of the world at large, and to insist that I know he is wrong  would be to make that same mistake myself. So, at best, here is a possible alternative explanation for why the overwhelming majority of the Internet seems to think TPM is amoung the worst movies ever made.

• Before TPM came out it got mixed reviews, though notably Roger Ebert had high praise for it
• TPM was such a popular movie that it stayed in theaters for almost 6 months, a feat almost unheard of in modern cinema for a May release (and essentially impossible for a movie without massive positive word of mouth)
• A small portion of viewers (though still a numerically large group) were very disappointed in the movie
• Star Wars fan sites became never ending flame wars as those hated the movie could not let a single statement of appreciation for TPM go unchallenged
• Over time those who loved the movie gave up fighting for it because it is much more draining to be the one who loves something than to be a troll
• Once the voices of those who loved it were silenced, it became "common knowledge" that everyone hated TPM

I don't know if my version of events is truly what happened on the Internet, but I can tell you with certainty that it is what happened with me personally.

When The Phantom Menace came out, I absolutely adored it; I saw it 23 times in theaters. I wanted more than anything to have a home on-line where I could talk to other fans about how much we loved it; but there was no safe place for fans of TPM. In every thread on every board on every site those who hated TPM would appear and bash it.

For me the real Phantom Menace was the Internet. For three years I argued every day with people who hated TPM. Then, just about the time Attack of the Clones was coming out, I realized something – reading their negative comments every day, and responding to them every day had killed my love of all things Star Wars.

I only went to AotC twice and RotS once. In the years since I have given away and sold the thousands of dollars of books and collectibles I once owned. I don’t own a single Star Wars thing anymore; not even the movies. Not because of anything George Lucas did, but because of Internet trolls.

People who hate TPM have (or had) all this pent up rage at George Lucas, ostensibly because this movie somehow wrecked their enjoyment of the others. But for some reason it wasn't enough for these people to hate the movie themselves, no they had to find every last place that lovers of the movie were hiding and try to make them feel miserable.

If you are someone who didn't like TPM, or thought it wasn't worthy of being a Star Wars movie, I disagree with you, but I can respect that. However, if you are someone who felt the need to go to a fricking TPM fan site and endlessly crap on the movie, then you are a troll. If you are someone who has felt the need to sneak in jabs at TPM into discussions that weren't even about the damn movie years after it came out, you are a troll. If you are someone who years after the movie came out felt a need to "prove" to anyone that the movie was as bad as you thought it was, then you are a troll.

This all too common phrase is perhaps the most damning
proof that TPM haters were nothing but trolls.

That is my story, of how haters wrecked one of the things I loved most in the world. I hope I can find the will to write a defense of TPM in the next month, but I would be foolish to promise it; trying to write such a piece is going to open up a lot of old wounds for me, though maybe if I can pull it off, it can help close them for good.