I remember a time when being a 'fan' of something meant, you're a part of a group, where you felt you belonged. Unfortunately, the way fans and fandom operates in the 21st century has changed quite a bit from this norm, and things have gone downhill. Exponentially.

This problem is not exclusive to StarWars, it exists with other products, in various fields, however, here, the issues are more apparent, than anywhere else. Before we deep dive into the problems at hand, we need to briefly talk about the elephant in the room. Divisiveness.

A group torn apart

There used to be two types of people. Those who like StarWars, and those who don't. For the most part, the latter shunned the former for being a 'nerd' so they never mingled together. Still, you've always understood which end of the spectrum you stood on. You either talked about it, or you didn't.

StarWars was a subculture. A capitalistic one, sure, but still, a subculture. Now, it's one of the biggest, mainstream franchises of the entertainment world, bringing in billions of dollars in revenue. People attribute this change to Disney buying Lucasfilm, and taking control over the franchise, but in reality, a big chunk of this shift happened slowly over time.

As with anything else, the more accepting people are, the bigger reach something has. Long gone are the days when people kept their hobbies and passions to themselves. We're in an age where you're supposed to open up about yourself, and share everything you can. In fact, it's never been easier to find and connect with people who share the same thoughts as you do. So what exactly happened?

The big split

Society changed, then the franchise changed. The fanbase not only exploded to astonishingly huge numbers, but also expanded into multiple sections.

• The Casuals

People who like StarWars on a movie by movie basis. Purely as a popcorn flick, which they can sometimes sit down and watch, then go about their business. The target audience for the new generation of movies and related entertainment.

• The Oldschoolers

Those who enjoy the original three movies, but none of the recent ones. To a lot of them, George Lucas ruined the franchise with the Prequels, and Disney killed it off with the Sequels. The nostalgia evoking references in the newer movies exist, purely to cater to them.

• The Prequel Generation

The mix of two entirely different sides. On one hand, those who enjoy the Prequel Trilogy as they are, while on the other hand, those who find fun in them in an ironic way, and are actively pursuing content related to prequel memes. Either way, they both claim, for one reason or another, that these set of movies are better, than anything else.

• The Disney Kids

The newest generation of fans, introduced to the franchise by the onslaught of new movies produced after the sale of Lucasfilm. A bit confused, when the older trilogies are referenced, nonetheless, they don't really care, the Sequels, are their StarWars for all they know.

• The Legendaries

A hardcore group with extreme amount of knowledge about anything StarWars related, that happened in the Expanded Universe (novels, games, comics). None of the tiniest details go unnoticed by them, be it useful or not. Strongly holding onto the ideals, that, despite Disney claiming otherwise, all material beyond the movies are still canon, they hope that one day Lucasfilm will actually follow through with reinstating all the extra lore.

• The Loyalists

The favourites of any company, those who feel strong attachments to the Brand, constantly buy products, and rewatch movies multiple times. Eager to defend any change, they go against anyone bringing up any form of complaint. No matter what it is, if they see the StarWars logo on it, they'll love it.

• The Betrayed

Ex-fans, who gave up on ever getting a decent movie again. Their expectations are always the lowest, and even then, they still feel let down. Usually seen arguing with the Loyalists, about how blinded they are.

• The Socialist

People who keep projecting their own political and social agenda into the movies. Be it there, or not, they like or hate the franchise depending on what the discussion is involved in.

• The Conspiracist

Number crunchers, pixel detectives, data collectors. If something happens, it happened for a reason, and they're the only ones to figure out why. It's either in the movie, in an interview, or a website, but it's guaranteed that they think, they understand it.

Anger issues

Being passionate about something isn't bad, being destructive, is where problems start to arise. It's pretty clear at this point that the fanbase has been divided into micro cultures, that for the most part, can never agree with each other. Which in itself shouldn't concern us, but the way each group expresses their opinions, are.

Aggressively. Of course, this goes without saying, that we're not talking about literally every single person involved, but mostly the majority of these subdivisions and the loudest of each. But whenever it comes down to it, the opinions on each group is usually highly influenced by their respective advocates.

Whenever there's a discussion to be had, it always ends up with the masses swinging around their pitchforks. There's just no way around it. If you don't agree with someone, you're an enemy. Conflicting impressions are not allowed, you either change your ways, are forced into submission, or all hell breaks loose.

It doesn't help at all, that it's strongly implied by our social media driven society that you just have to go out there and be as opinionated as possible. Come, talk, argue, share, like, comment, and don't forget to follow and subscribe, so that you'll come back and keep the conversation going for as long as it's possible. All that, while trying to stay 'civil'.

Meanwhile product owners laugh among themselves, because of all the free marketing they're getting out of this.

It's a trap

Is this really the way things are meant to be? No, but the uncomfortable truth is that, despite the possibility of change, it's never going to happen. Fans, are fans, because they're too involved, too invested in something on a much wider, emotional and monetary level than anyone else out there.

Due to this, they're extremely useful for brand owners.

They might be a part of the same group, but they're not on the same page. As a result of that and their deep routed connection to the material, they'll keep things alive. They will never agree, but on a single thing:

That the discussion is and will always be, about StarWars.