Often times Americans are criticized for their belief that the universe revolves around them.
You mean it doesn't?
I say that jokingly, though I have to catch myself all of the time with that mindset. At times, I often times think in a box as well, limiting my world to the place where I live. I'll probably even do it unthinkingly in this editorial (is so, send me a note and I'll edit it quickly!). In reality, there are thousands of people that visit TFN daily that enjoy Star Wars from a different perspective than my own. They are from across the world. Others have been fans for just a short time. There are people that are only in it for the money. Still to others Star Wars is their job, not a fun hobby in their spare time.
Literally hundreds of different countries are represented in the visitors of TFN, as testified by the tons of dates for the international airing of The Phantom Menace (see our TFN Calendar for specifics in your country). Many of our staff themselves give us an international perspective, though the site was founded here in the States. Britany is from England, Sebastian is from New Zealand, Rod is from the Netherlands, and Carter is from New York (which is like a whole independent country [grin]). Though much of our news is from the United States since that is where Lucasfilm is based and where much of the action is taking place currently, we've had reports from all across the globe for news and views of Star Wars. The United Kingdom seems particularly intrigued by Star Wars, perhaps because of all of the original British actors and extensive filming of the Classic Trilogy in that area of the world.
We use Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) for our news posts for consistency, though in the future it would be fun to have a cookie in your browser that converts posting times to your time zone. In contrast, TFN can be updated almost 24 hours a day as news happens because somewhere across the world someone is awake and talking Star Wars.
With this in mind, we're working on developing a truly worldwide community for Star Wars fans, giving them a place to speak their mind, enjoy news and relate to the movies. Fanforce is in the business of connecting fans in their own corner of the world, and the Jedicouncil.Net gives everyone an opportunity to speak out on subjects they are passionate about.
There are thousands of members and regulars to TFN and our hosted sites, and often times value is placed on those that have been around for a while and have a track record. Others are regarded as near celebrities inside the fan community and their views are given the most respect. But keep in mind that someone new can add a new perspective that is healthy for everyone. New ideas and speculation only fuel our anticipation for the upcoming movies so don't cut off someone too quickly, they just might have something new to add to your world.
Sometimes we listen so carefully to people the media calls a celebrity, thinking they have some super power or special gift with everything that comes out of their mouth. But keep in mind just because a celebrity or famous person says something not to just follow along blindly in their tracks. George Lucas puts his pants on one leg at a time. Steven Spielberg ate breakfast this morning. Natalie Portman goes to school everyday. Harrison Ford shops at Wal-Mart when he's out in Wyoming. They are normal people that probably are gifted and have special talents, but they are still just a normal person underneath it all. It doesn't matter where you are from or how much money you have, you are still just another person to me.
TFN is an online worldwide community, where we strive to have everyone on equal playing fields. If you have access to a computer you have access to the world. If you can speak English (and yes, we're working diligently on many other major languages for the news sections of the site), you can speak your mind. If you are a celebrity you can dwell unnoticed among real people, if you are Lucasfilm you can read exactly what the fans are thinking from their own lips.
The world doesn't revolve around any one of us, and if we were gone it would continue to spin around just fine. We are an international community of Star Wars fans, with everyone contributing valued opinions and ideas. If you can understand that, you have taken your first step in a much larger world.
Joshua Griffin
April 17th, 2001
RECENT EDITORIALS
04/08/03 - Christopher Knight - Oscars Give Short Shrift to Fantasy
03/17/03 - Joshua Griffin - Put the REAL Classics on DVD
01/29/03 - Joshua Griffin - Imagine a Star Wars HALO Videogame
01/14/03 - Michael Potts - Clone Wars: Expanded Universe Editorial
2002
09/03/02 - Joshua Griffin - Digital Pirates Sink Ships
05/17/02 - Chris Knight - Digital Projection: The Audience Is Watching... And Waiting
04/11/02 - TFN Staff - Thumbs Up, Tumbs Down for SW2 Marketing
03/08/02 - TFN Staff - Clone War Trailer Reaction
01/13/02 - TFN Staff - TFN Reaction to SNL N'Sync Skit
01/03/02 - TFN Staff - Boy Band Jedi Reactions
2001
12/12/01 - Chris Knight - Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
12/07/01 - Jeff Yankey - All I Want for Christmas
11/17/01 - Guest Editorial - Ritual and Romance of Episode II
10/04/01 - Guest Editorial - Why Episode I is Brilliant
10/02/01 - Guest Editorial - Episode I is Star Wars
09/30/01 - Guest Editorial - Why I Loved Episode I
09/25/01 - Joshua Griffin - Episode II: Make It or Break It Time
08/21/01 - Chris Knight - SW2: Attack On The Soul?
07/13/01 - Joshua Griffin - Special Time for SW Fans
05/14/01 - Joshua Griffin - AlphaCon is Finished
05/09/01 - Chris Knight - In The Beginning... Star Wars Comes To A Wired World
04/17/01 - Joshua Griffin - Global TFN - International Outlook on Star Wars
03/14/01 - Chris Knight - Palpatine vs. Hitler: Prequel Speculation Runs Amok!
02/13/01 - Chris Knight - "The Force" of Love: A Valentine's Day Editorial
01/17/01 - Chris Knight - Star Wars Could Continue... As Television Anthology
01/11/01 - Guest Editorial - A Review of A New Hope After the Prequels
01/07/01 - Guest Editorial - No - We Want the DVDs Now!
01/04/01 - Chris Knight - New Digital Disciple Says "Lets Wait On Star Wars DVDs"
2000
12/21/00 - Joshua Griffin - Is George Lucas Really a Genius?
11/18/00 - Joshua Griffin - To Spoil or Not to Spoil
11/06/00 - Joshua Griffin - The Power of the Election
11/01/00 - Chris Knight - Why Isn't There A Star Wars Postage Stamp?
08/17/00 - Jason McCabe Calacanis - The SW2 Fan Trailer (guest editorial)
07/14/00 - Joshua Griffin/Scott Chitwood - TFN's Spoiler Policy
06/20/00 - Chris Knight - Star Wars and the Saga of Life
05/13/00 - TFN Staff - TheForce.net Wish List
04/08/00 - Special Guest Editorial by Skybaugh - Worth the Wait
03/30/00 - Joshua Griffin - What Star Wars Has Won
03/19/00 - Joshua Griffin - The Next Denver Celebration
03/14/00 - Joshua Griffin - Fair Weather Fans
03/07/00 - Joshua Griffin - Predicting the Academy Award Winners
02/22/00 - Joshua Griffin - Who should profit from Star Wars?
02/16/00 - Joshua Griffin - Episode I and the Academy
01/27/00 - TFN Staff - Flaming TFN over DVD
01/25/00 - Chris Knight - Motivations of the Sith
01/20/00 - TFN Staff - Leonardo DiCaprio as Anakin?
01/10/00 - Joshua Griffin - World-Wide Star Wars
01/03/00 - Joshua Griffin - Mass Merchandising Menace
1999
12/13/99 - Joshua Griffin - Questioning Star Wars
11/22/99 - Joshua Griffin - Trusting Internet Rumors
11/11/99 - Paul Davidson - Rise of the Empire: China and TPM
10/28/99 - Scott Chitwood - Signs There Probably Won't Be a Sequel Trilogy
10/18/99 - Joshua Griffin - Why not Episode I DVD?
10/15/99 - Joshua Griffin - What Makes SW Fans Special
10/01/99 - Joshua Griffin - The PG Rating of TPM
09/07/99 - Scott Chitwood and Paul Ens - Comic and Book Wishlist
08/18/99 - TF.N Team - Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down on Episode I Everything
07/11/99 - Joshua Griffin - Parody Site isn't that funny
07/10/99 - Brian Linder - The Jar Jar Factor
06/08/99 - Joshua Griffin & Chris Knight - Why is Jar Jar in Episode I?
05/06/99 - Darin Smith - Return of the Child
03/09/99 - Scott Chitwood and Paul Ens - A Chat with LFL
02/07/99 - Amy Pronovost - Convention Romances, Can they Work?
01/23/99 - Scott Chitwood - What's up with Prowse?
01/01/99 - Scott Chitwood - Uncle George and Episode 1
1998
11/23/98 - Scott Chitwood - What Lucasfilm is doing right
11/05/98 - Scott Chitwood - Prequel Spoilers
09/28/98 - David Coates - First thoughts on the the Episode 1 Title
06/19/98 - Scott Chitwood - How Godzilla affected Episode I
04/09/98 - Scott Chitwood - The Art of the Space Battle
04/09/98 - Scott Chitwood - DIVX SUX
02/26/98 - Scott Chitwood - X-WING TV Series Should Fly
02/09/98 - Scott Chitwood - Xerox Sites
02/03/98 - Scott Chitwood - Canon Issue, Part 2
01/07/98 - Terrence Daniels - Canon = Personal Preference
1997
12/17/97 - Darin Smith - Everything I need to know...
11/15/97 - Chris Kivlehan - Six Episodes or Nine Episodes?
11/07/97 - Scott Chitwood - How do you solve a problem like Ewan?
11/03/97 - Scott Chitwood - How we get our Prequel 'Spy' info
10/22/97 - Paul Davidson - Trek vs. Wars