Rebuilding Rob

Yep, it’s that time of year again.

I’ve talked before about the impact that Star Wars has had upon my life, but I figure it only make sense to given the franchise it’s proverbial flowers on Star Wars Day, of all days.

I was 3 when the original Star Wars was released in theaters. I wish I could say I remember the first time I saw it. But the truth is, I don’t remember a time in my life before Star Wars.

It’s not Shakespeare. In fact, Star Wars is an incredibly simple story, one that creator George Lucas once described as a story “made for a generation who grew up without fairy tales”. Lucas drew inspiration for the old Flash Gordon movie serials, the Samurai movies of Akira Kurosawa , Dune and Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. With Star wars, it was never about the kind of story that Lucas was telling; rather it’s the way in which he presented it that turned Star Wars into a pop culture phenomenon.

I’ve said it several times before on this blog and I’ll say it again: Star Wars taught me how to dream. It was because of Star Wars that I fell in love with outer space and first wanted to be an astronaut. It was the ground -breaking special effects of Star Wars that me suspension of disbelief; making me want to become a filmmaker. And finally it was learning about the stories that influenced George Lucas that made me want to become a writer and ultimately an English teacher. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Star Wars affected the course of my life on more than one occasion.

Perhaps my favorite story about the impact of Star Wars is that of the 2011 United Kingdom census. When asked about their religious affiliation as part of the census, over 176,000 citizens identified themselves as “Jedi”. Those are staggering numbers, even for a region known for it’s tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.

At the end of the day, Star Wars is just plain FUN. It’s not meant to be taken seriously. It’s science fiction for beginners. It’s popcorn at the movie theater. It’s Saturday morning in the sandbox with a bunch of action figures!

This is the way.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:

• My Baseball Kryptonite
• The Boy Who Looked at His Feet
• Even White People Get Ashy
• The Tricorder in My Pocket
• Challenger 40: The Generational Echo

The article “May the Fourth Be With You” first appeared in Rebuilding Rob.