Star Wars - Feel the Force

It was 30 years ago this week on March 25 that the most spectacular movie to ever grace the big screen was released. I was 4 years old and I remember wanting to be Luke Skywalker or Han Solo and blow up the Death Star. Star Wars was a big part of my life as a kid and still is part of my life as a 30-something adult. It's hard to describe WHY it's so much a part of me and many other people. Like the Force, it's just something you feel. You can't pass it on to someone else or explain it. It's something you either feel or you don't. Others can understand why we feel this devotion to a series of movies because they may have similar feelings about other things. Some people love opera or Ballet, some love classical orchestras or broadway shows. Their devotion to those forms of expression are not much different than ours. We love these movies and are able to not just watch them, but participate in the whole mythology and universe.

When I was a kid, I used to get Star Wars figures and vehicles for birthdays and holidays. I played with them so much that most of them are broken, but I still kept them. I had the records and used to listen to them a lot. Go figure, Star Wars introduced a love of classical-style music to a generation of kids. Finding out that Darth Vader was actually Luke's dad was just such a mind-blowing moment for me. People who watch soap operas can appreciate the sense of awe and the gasp that went through the crowd at that critical moment in Empire.

People fell in love with these characters. Yoda was such a powerful character, even though he was just a space-aged Kermit the Frog (same voice actor, Frank Oz). Even the bad guys are loved. Darth Vader is the quintessential villain, dark and ruthless yet underneath it all, struggling with his inner demons. Boba Fett was arguably the coolest character in the series, and in my opinion, only Darth Maul comes close in coolness (forget Jango, he was only there to provide a back story). There are so many characters that got minimum screen time but still had action figures created out of them and somehow seemed more important than they were.

I've introduced my son to these movies and he's as blown away as I was. It's great to see it again through those eyes. Some would say that I still look through my own eyes that same way and I would tend to agree with them.