Small Thoughts for a Quiet World.

That's Enough Nostalgia, Thanks.

It started with Star Wars, of course. I loved the original trilogy, collected it on VHS and then VHS special edition and then DVD. Like every other Star Wars fan I watched Episode I and was...okay. Then watched Episode II and was done. I still haven't watched Episode III. I might get around to it someday.

So fast forward and same thing with Episode VII. I really liked it! It was a return to the original trilogy, of course, but it was fun. Then Rogue One came out and was...fine. It wasn't great, it was obvious from the beginning that every character was going to die, but it was fine.

I stopped caring about Star Wars as I walked out of the theater after watching Episode VIII. My dad asked me what I thought and my only answer was “everything that has ever happened in any Star Wars movie happened in that Star Wars movie. They want you to know that this is a Star Wars movie.” I haven't watched Episode IX. I might get around to it someday.

But it made me realize that I'm no longer particularly interested in “reimagining” or “returning to” things I enjoyed in the past. I'm perfectly content with Dark Crystal sticking in my memory as a weird and unsettling childhood trauma without watching a Netflix show exploring that “universe.”

I enjoyed Star Trek: The Next Generation. But I have no desire to watch Picard. I have watched Friends more times than I care to admit, but I won't be watching the Friends Reunion.

And it seems like such a waste to keep returning to twenty-year-old wells when people are making excellent new things. The Good Place is excellent and unlike any other show I've ever seen. And they had the integrity to end the show when they ran out of story.

So I guess that's my message: Be like The Good Place. Tell your story until it's done and then stop. There are other stories to be told.

Thoughts? Tell me about them!
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