No Right Answer: This Generation's "Star Wars"

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Firefilm

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This Generation's "Star Wars"

First off, it's Dan's birthday today. Happy birthday Dan! As a present, we let Dan debate again, and boy do we have a debate. Generation Y has been called many things; Boomerang children, unmotivated, unemployed, sexy...but we're not that bad. We have our own hopes, dreams and even a movie series that serves as our equivalent of "Star Wars." What is that movies series? Well, that's what we're here to debate!

And don't forget, if you don't understand our decisions or want to have more of our material to complete your shrines to us, Mondays feature a new written companion piece titled No Right Explanation. We dare you to make less sense!

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Qitz

Qitz

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Happy Birthday Dan! You poor, poor bastard for having to put up with them for a whole year :p

I have to agree with the Harry Potter choice. It has a huge following with Kids and the lot. LotR? Not so much. Star Wars had the same following where now all the kids are obsessed adults.

Also, god the Reading Rainbow. Thanks for reminding me of that.

Thank god they didn't say Twilight.
 
Jandau

Jandau

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Dec 19, 2008
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Ummm... as a member of generation Y (1985), I'd say my Star Wars was... Star Wars. Seriously, I watched that shit all the time growing up and the rerelease in the late 90ies can just as I was an impressionable 12 year old (who by that point knew all three movies by heart, but whatever).

Assuming we're talking about movies here, of course. By the time LotR and HP movies started coming out, I was already halfway through high school and past those years of my life when a movie can just blow my mind like Star Wars did when I was a kid.

If we're talking about books as well, then LotR wins for me, but I'm quite subjective here - LotR was read to me as a bedtime story when I was a kid.
 
coheedswicked

coheedswicked

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While I love Lord of the Rings to death, I agree with Chris's argument that it doesn't really belong to this generation.
 
krellen

krellen

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Jan 23, 2009
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I think Harry Potter does, in fact, have the strongest case in the "changed the culture" realm; Harry Potter did, in fact, take over everything, and it even changed the movie business - it made long-stream continuity in films a thing that actually could be done.
 
Zer0Kill

Zer0Kill

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I'm sorry, but the award HAS to go to HP. We are looking for this generation's Star Wars, the movie series that changed Hollywood, absorbed the minds of children, and sold more merchandise than Christmas.

Harry Potter was the first true Mega Series. If you look back, prior to Potter, a good series always went in trilogies *coughSTARWARScough*. Anything that didn't, or just got lazy and went "Title Number 4" was majorly lackluster by the time it hit the fourth, and NOTHING even tried to produce a movie every year or two with the same actors growing up on film. This has changed the way Hollywood looks at franchises, and will effect the kind of movies that will come about in the next decade.

As far as the children are concerned, it has to be HP. The LotR just doesn't have the staying power. Hell, HP gets its own theme park. I grew up at the same rate as little Harry Potter, the first book coming about when I was eleven. I can tell you that honestly, people my age and younger love HP so much more than LotR. Don't get me wrong, I love LotR, but my friends and I didn't dream about being a hobbit in the shire or fighting for Gondor as little kids (or now), we wanted more than anything to go to Hogwarts.

And the merchandising. If there is one thing that separates Star Wars from everything else, it has got to be that George Lucas has generated an entire economy based around Star Wars. Books, games, toys, costumes, everything. And while LotR has those items, can you honestly say that there are more people buying replicas of Sting or the Ring as there are people buying wands and scarves and things with the house crests on them?

Also, as dumb a sport as it is, Quiditch is becoming an actual activity. My college has a team. Jesus.
 
SoopaSte123

SoopaSte123

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Happy Birthday, Dan!

Well my gut reaction was Lord of the Rings, but after the debating, but Chris seemed to wrap things up rather conclusively. Harry Potter is definitely a cultural phenomenon that neither LotR or the new Star Wars movies can match. The actual movies? Eh, take it or leave it. The phenomenon? Harry Potter.
 
J

JasonEllis66

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Oct 23, 2008
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As a member of generation Y, I am offended that you would call the prequels the Star Wars of my generation.
 
GamemasterAnthony

GamemasterAnthony

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Ohcrap...No Right Answer's going to do a three way debate...

Everyone put your heads between your knees and kiss your asses goodbye! This is going to get ugly!
 
Thaius

Thaius

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Between the two debated, it's clearly and definitively Harry Potter. Dan's obvious lack of knowledge of Harry Potter did not help him at all; no one who knows anything about the series past the first couple books (at most) would describe them the way he did, because it's simply not correct. It's also true that it's far more of this generation's phenomenon; Lord of the Rings being around before this generation is irrelevant to a discussion specifically about this generation, and I've generally found that this generation tends to have issues with the terrible pacing and lack of focus of the books obstructing Tolkien's creative genius (which it does, so much).

Now as for Star Wars still being this generation's Star Wars... perhaps. I look forward to that, But in my mind, thus far it's either Harry Potter or that. Lord of the Rings isn't in the running.
 
S

Stalydan

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It really feels like Harry Potter wins for what encapsulates Generation Y for me. Being born in 1993, I can say that those books were something that got me into reading. Whilst Lord of the Rings and Star Wars are both things I love, they were made in different generations.

LotR is a great series of books and movies but they were created in the 50's which doesn't feel like it belongs in this debate about what encapsulates a generation born between the 80's and 00's.

Star Wars is much closer but the prequels were just continuing on from something that belonged to Generation X. I love the series, it was one of the first things I bonded with my mother over and now that I'm more grown up can have discussion with her about things we love and hate about the series. However, it's not something I can say was as big in culture during my upbringing as it was when she was growing up. Sure, there was still things about it that extended out to other mediums but most of it was either toys for the kids or novels for the grown up Generation X.

Harry Potter is that thing that happened in the 90's and just exploded. Calling it anything less than a phenomenon is not doing it justice. Not only did the books take off but in a few short years, there were movies already being made that have now become one of the most well known franchises in the world. To me, this is the same thing that Star Wars did for another generation of people and therefore why I think it wins.
 
Scrustle

Scrustle

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I don't think either are anything like "this generation's Star Wars", but Harry Potter is probably closer. LotR has been around for ages, way before the movies. Didn't really cause a revolution either. Harry Potter did a better job at that but it's still a far way from the way Star Wars has spread in to every part of pop culture. The Star Wards prequels didn't do that either.

Captcha: heretic element. Sounds like a completely awesome game or band name.
 
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