Dear Haters: Let Nerds Have Fun

The Last Jedi is almost upon us, and do you know what that means? Lightsaber duels? X-Wings? Poe Dameron’s perfect face? Well, maybe. One thing I do know for sure is there will be people that absolutely hate it. It doesn’t matter how good it is; the hate will flow (as some emperors have been known to say).

It’s one thing to dislike something, I get that. Everyone has their own tastes and want different things from something as big as the Star Wars franchise, but to rage in the comments on every trailer takes it to another level. Then to shit all over every Facebook post someone makes about how excited they are, takes it to…advanced assness.

Then it happened. The terrible realization that I can fall to the dark side too.

The Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom trailer came out, and well, I was less than enthusiastic.

Out of curiosity, I looked through the hashtags and comments on the trailer, and there was a surprising amount of people that seemed pumped for this movie. Granted, I had fun for Jurassic World, but it’s ultimately a thin movie made for a summer trip to the theater. How could anyone be so excited for the sequel? It involves a natural disaster taking out the dinosaurs, which is the original argument not to bring them back in the first place. Natural selection and all that.

See? There I go, dumping on a movie that hasn’t even come out yet. I was in the process of saying something snarky on Twitter and laughing on top my ivory tower of Jurassic Park judgery. Then, in a moment straight out of a Hallmark movie where the mean parent realizes they are mean, I closed Twitter and took a hard look at myself. I’m that guy! I’m the problem! Why can’t I let everyone who wants to see the movie just enjoy the anticipation?

I think it stems from a love of the original Jurassic Park. I see complex themes and tones to that movie at a high level for a blockbuster. There’s genuine tension and frightening moments. The scene with the raptors in the kitchen still makes me hold my breath for a little bit, and I can seriously say I may have seen the original Jurassic Park in triple digits territory.

I want a movie that has the same level of moral complications, character development, and legitimate heart racing sequences. That isn’t what we got for Jurassic World, and that’s not what we will get from its sequel. People will still have fun. Hell, I had a good time seeing Jurassic World. So I need to calm down.

Going to the movies is a way to escape for a couple of hours. Not everything has to be high caliber filmmaking with this deep, intricate layer of symbolism hiding underneath David Lynch’s plot development.

When it comes right down to it, the original Jurassic Park has it’s own problems too. Where did that giant cliff come from during the T-Rex escape? Why can’t Newman find the docks by memory on the island where he works full time? Why does Muldoon wear shorts shorter than Laura Dern’s character?

Anyone can go on a rage binder against all the things that you hold dear too. How would that make you feel? Pretty crappy I’d imagine.

I’m not saying don’t give your opinions, or you can’t say anything negative about anything. Just don’t go out of your way to hate on something in a conversation you weren’t even invited to.

We are all nerds here, right? Geek culture is exploding exponentially. There was a time I was made fun of for bringing my Zelda strategy guide to school. I mean, am I supposed to just do the Water Temple without it? But now Breath of the Wild won all the awards, and it’s popular to like it. It’s popular to know why Luke’s lightsaber was green in Return of the Jedi. It’s popular to recognize the red alert sound on the Enterprise. Don’t be the bully that bullied you before this was all mainstream.

Let people have fun. And go see a Star War.

What do you think? Let Nerdbot know in the comments!