Star Wars by Josef Benson

Author:Josef Benson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2020-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

Most fans of Star Wars were not aware that there were X-rated Star Wars stories available in fanzines. This was not a widespread cottage industry that significantly affected the reputation of Star Wars. Even if fans were aware of the existence of fanzines that included stories of a sexual or even homosexual nature, it was very unlikely that these fans ascribed their origins to Lucasfilm or thought they were canon. The question was really about ownership of the characters, and that became blurry when fans immediately began taking part in the franchise through the toys and costumes, creating their own stories and expanding the narrative possibilities of the Star Wars universe. The letter’s emphasis on pornographic fanfic subtly evoked Lucas’s strange and complicated relationship with sex that dogged his adolescence and his marriage as well as many of his films. It was clear that Lucas was not a sex-positive person and was highly insecure about sex and sexuality in general, and this was why he reacted so strongly to fanfiction that included sexual activity among his characters.

One popular narrative is that slash fiction originated within the Star Trek franchise among fans who simply wanted more Star Trek stories and did not care where they got them. The prevalence of slash stories, as the story went, ultimately reflected negatively on the Star Trek franchise and debased the brand. George Lucas was apparently aware of this and preempted the co-opting of his franchise by fans who wrote stories involving same-sex relationships among his characters by handpicking a few writers and allowing them to create officially sanctioned Star Wars stories. The hope was that the stories that became known as the Extended Universe, or EU, would leave little market share or cultural space for slash stories.14

Like genfic, its heterosexual counterpart, slash fiction uses the canonical texts and films as context for stories that attempt to fill in the blanks the movies created, blanks that involve a deeper look at relationships among characters such as Luke and his buddy Biggs. Authors of slash fiction have often been secretive of their work, choosing to use pseudonyms and noms de plume rather than their real names. Lucasfilm drew strong distinctions between authorized and unauthorized texts and outright forbade slash fiction. The pen names of the authors insulated them from potential lawsuits, or at the very least cease-and-desist letters that threatened litigation. Because Lucas failed to explore in any real-life way the sex lives of the characters, these became fecund gaps for fans to fill. Slash writers simply felt as though they were revealing the homoerotic subtext just under the surface. Lucas’s reaction was textbook homophobia, likely drawn from his own sexual insecurities.

Star Wars slash fiction writers have mostly been women. For some women, writing slash fiction is no doubt a sexual turn-on. Others are interested in exploring alternative forms of masculinity. One of the few men who writes Star Wars slash fiction once noted that it is similar to playing with the toys as a young man.

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