James Cameron’s 'Star Wars' Comments Are Upsetting

Deep breaths, everyone, because if you're a Star Wars fan, you might find this news upsetting. In an interview with YouTuber Keely Stinner from June 19, which was uncovered by The Wrap, Avatar director James Cameron's voiced some criticism toward Star Wars — as in, Episode VII, The Force Awakens. Specifically, when asked about Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens , Cameron tried to evade the question by hedging with, "Well, George Lucas is a friend of mine. I don’t want to say too much about the film because I also have a lot of respect for J.J. Abrams and I want to see where they’re taking it next.”

After some pressing on the subject, he finally relented, stating, “I have to say that I felt that George’s group of six films had more innovative visual imagination, and this film was more of a retrenchment to things you had seen before and characters you had seen before, and it took a few baby steps forward with new characters. So for me, the jury’s out.”

Ouch. For those of us who felt like Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens was a return to form for the franchise, these comments have more than a little sting in their tail. The comments also contrast painfully with Cameron's enthusiastic response to the 1977 original film in the same interview, which he described as "fun" and "exciting": “It was a big revolution and I wanted to be in on it.”

It's hard to understand Cameron's crushing comments about the movie, which crushed it in box office figures and won a 92 percent Rotten Tomatoes approval rating. As you can imagine, a lot of people are pretty mad:

Motion seconded.

I'm not sure a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a loveable scamp-stowaway counts as a documentary, but sure.

Funny 'cause it's (a little bit!) true.

This news is to Twitter what a loss in belief of God was in modernist poetry – it's terrible, but it's inspired our authors to dizzy new heights.

Sick burn.

In short, we're all hurting. But hey, Twitterverse – take a break from your laptop, go outside, look at the sky, and do some calming meditation. Let's rise above this. After all, we know how great the movie is. Sure, we're no directors — but at least we know something special when we see it.

Images: Walt Disney Pictures/Lucasfilm