Star Wars: The Triumph of Nerd Culture

by Josef Benson

Overview

Star Wars: The Triumph of Nerd Culture engagingly reveals how the most popular film franchise of all time sprang from the mind of a deeply insecure nerd, who then inspired and betrayed a generation of fans.

In Star Wars: The Triumph of Nerd Culture, Josef Benson offers an unauthorized and provocative expose of the most popular film franchise of all time. Fueled by George Lucas’s insecurities and a fervent fan-base who felt betrayed when Lucas defiled the original films, Benson presents the conflict between Lucas and Star Wars fans as comparable to the twisted relationship between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Just as there is a riveting saga within the Star Wars universe that centers on the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker and the redemption of Darth Vader, so too has a saga unfolded in relation to George Lucas and Star Wars fandom.

Star Wars fans both love and hate Star Wars and George Lucas. He is equally responsible for their pleasure and pain. Star Wars:The Triumph of Nerd Culture delves deeper into the Star Wars universe than any book has gone before, including an illuminating look into why Lucas sold Lucasfilm to the Disney Corporation and how the sale affected the franchise. After reading this book, fans will never be able to watch Star Wars in the same way again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538116210
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/12/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	190
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Josef Benson is an associate professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Parkside. He is the author of Hypermasculinities in the Contemporary Novel: Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, and James Baldwin (2014) and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye: A Cultural History (2018).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue: The Triumph of Nerd Culture

Chapter 1: Aren’t You a Little Short for a Stormtrooper?

Chapter 2: These Aren’t the Droids You’re Looking For

Chapter 3: I Have a Bad Feeling about This

Chapter 4: A Great Disturbance in the Force

Chapter 5: I Am Altering the Deal

Chapter 6: This Is the Way

Conclusion: The Cycle Is Complete

Editorial Reviews

09/14/2020

Benson, a University of Wisconsin–Parkside associate professor of English, offers a readable but insubstantial review of George Lucas’s work as the creator of the Star Wars series and his place in “nerd culture.” At pains to define Lucas as a “nerd,” in the sense of being attuned to technology and to science fiction and fantasy at the expense of his ability to interact with other people (and particularly women), Benson traces Lucas’s transformation from the nerdy director of avant-garde films like 1971’s THX-1138 into the consummate studio mogul who, in 2012, sold his series to Disney for more than $4 billion. In this context, Lucas’s protracted battle with Star Wars fans over control of his films’ legacy emerges as both a repudiation of his nerdy roots and an all-too-nerdy appeal for attention and affirmation. The accompanying psychologizing of Lucas, unfortunately, is a bit ham-handed, with Benson suggesting that Lucas is essentially asexual, as reflected in the failure of his first marriage, the “genitalia-inspired” design of many of the monsters featured in his films, and even Lucas’s use of in-vitro fertilization during his second marriage. Benson’s fast-paced look at Lucas’s career will have some value for Star Wars fans, but those looking for a nuanced take on his contributions to pop culture will be disappointed. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

A well-researched history of the complicated relationships between the architect of Star Wars, George Lucas, and his contemporaries, his creations, and the fans. .. A brief overview of science fiction fandom, from publisher Hugo Gernsback to fan fiction, slash fiction, and the concept of canon is helpful, as is the exploration of the way Lucas' success licensing merchandise changed the landscape. Benson also draws connections between Lucas' films and his insecurity as an outsider and his conflict between commerce and artistic integrity. Most compelling is the exploration of the complicated relationship between producers and fans, and readers from any fandom will find much of interest.

Booklist

11/01/2020

The "triumph" of this work's title refers to the ousting of Star Wars creator George Lucas from his own empire for betraying fans' trust. Benson (English, Univ. of Wisconsin-Parkside) provides Lucas's biography, tracking his entrepreneurial spirit through film school to relationships with like-minded directors Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola, and his early films THX 1138 and American Graffiti. Lucas believed his films succeeded because of him, so when fans turned against him—specifically with the Star Wars prequels and revisions to the original trilogy—he took it as a personal disavowal, leading to the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012. Benson examines the wide breadth of Star Wars fan fiction and draws parallels between Lucas and Darth Vader, who, according to him, both betrayed their initial paths to achieve power. He also discusses the "loveless and sexless relationships" in Lucas's films, aligning that trait with Lucas's personal life so often that the text feels like slander. Finally, if this book truly represents nerd culture, Benson should not have said the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel run in six parsecs; it was "less than 12." VERDICT A slight, unnecessary look at cultural divisions between a creator and his creations.—Peter Thornell, Hingham P.L., MA

Library Journal