I have a confession. I have never seen the original three Star Wars films. I know, I know. I’m a self-proclaimed science fiction lover and I’ve never seen the most famous film trilogy in science fiction history. To be fair, I thought I had! So many of Star Wars' scenes are iconic. Even people who are not Star Wars fans probably know (SPOILER ALERT) that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father. But see, I also knew that Han Solo flew the Millennium Falcon. I knew that he was frozen in carbonate at some point. I knew the names Jabba the Hut, Boba Fett and Uncle Owen. Apparently the pop culture of Star Wars infiltrated my life enough over the past 25 years that it fooled me into thinking I had learned everything from the films. Two days ago I began what I believed to be a re-watch of all three original films. I am SUPER excited for the new Star Wars installment, The Force Awakens, this December but it was really only because I LOVE the new cast. In fact, when talking about the new film I ALWAYS said, “I don’t really care for Star Wars but I am so here for this new cast. I just can’t wait!” Really though, John Boyega is a gift. Please go watch Attack the Block right now. Go. Now. Please. Still, I wasn’t excited for the new movie just because it’s Star Wars. I was excited because it meant 2 hours of Oscar Isaac and space and more Oscar Isaac. I love these things very much. I didnt, however, love Star Wars. I have another confession. I am a liar. I love Star Wars. I just didnt know that I love Star Wars until right now. I began watching A New Hope on Thursday during my break at work and I soon realized that I had no idea what was happening. I figured I had just forgotten because it’s been YEARS since I probably watched them but so much of it was glaringly new to me. I realized that I knew of specific scenes throughout the trilogy but had no concept of when they happened. Han Solo and Leia have their epic “I love you” “I know” exchange somewhere in the last film because that makes sense. Nope. It’s in the second. Luke definitely finds out that Vader is his father in the last film, right? Isn’t that the most climatic scene in the history of Star Wars? It has to be near the end? No. Also in the second. SO WHAT EVEN HAPPENS IN THE THIRD FILM? WHAT IS ITS POINT? Okay. Well, that's adorable. Once I embraced the fact that I have lied to myself for my entire science-fiction loving life, I began to really watch these three films. It was odd approaching them with the knowledge of all of their biggest plot twists already. It made the Luke and Leia kiss super uncomfortable because NO LEIA YOU ARE HIS SISTER. So here I am, a 25 year old science-fiction/fantasy/general film enthusiast, and I just finished watching Star Wars for the first time. The following thoughts are in no way an in-depth analysis of the 6 hours I just consumed, but they are a love letter to 3 films that reminded me why I love the genre that I do. 1. Han Solo Let’s get my most superficial opinion out of the way first. This guy: I like this guy. I knew I’d like this guy. He’s the perfect mix of charming and asshole. The guy that does everything out of selfish intent before finding something or someone else to fight for. But of course he still retains some of that selfishness because, hey, that’s healthy! Harrison Ford is too charming for his own good. Now I think I should watch Indiana Jones because NO I haven’t seen those either. I promise I have nothing against Harrison Ford. 2. Princess Leia Princess Leia is the princess that we, and all of the little girls who aspire to be princesses, deserve. She’s fierce, protective, smart and sassy. Oh, she is so so sassy and I love it. Leia is more than the hair buns that the general public tends to associate her with (side note: she had WAY cooler hairstyles than THAT over the course of the series.). She is an equal with the two male protagonists and even when they want to treat her like a frail woman she turns around and proves her capability of defending herself. 3. Han and Leia I knew Han and Leia were considered iconic but I didnt understand it. Now I do and I’m so glad that I do. They bicker and push each others buttons but they also care deeply for one another. This is my favorite trope. The whole hate (or a fierce dislike really) to love deal and man they were it. Basically, they were always destined to win me over. 4. Boba Fett, R2-D2 and Yoda I honestly thought Boba Fett was a good guy. Maybe he’s just trying to do his job, being a bounty hunter and all, but c’mon fans. You led me to believe that he was great and also in waaaay more than like 1/8th of the films. I expected more. R2-D2 is full of so much joy. I know he’s a droid but he’s so loyal. I love him. I want to be him for every Halloween from now on. I thought Yoda was supposed to be so zen and in a way he certainly was. But his introduction was full of him being a little menace it caught me off guard and made me like him 100% more than before. Like, who just starts eating someone else’s food right after meeting them? You do you, Yoda. 5. Luke Skywalker What surprised me the most about watching these films for the first time is just how much I love Luke Skywalker. I tend to dismiss the main protagonists in films and books. I don’t know why. I just cling to the sidekicks or the best friends. That’s how I work. But Luke…Luke grew on me. I like my characters to be morally gray. I like the anti-heroes and the assholes that show true heroism over the course of their character arc. I like my Han Solos. Luke is NOT a Han Solo. He is good from beginning to end. Not that Han isn’t good, he just isn’t selfless. Luke is selfless and constantly putting himself in danger to help his friends and the Rebel Alliance. When both the Emperor and Darth Vader attempt to sway him to the Dark Side he is steadfast in his belief in the good. He even believes so strongly in the idea that one can come back from the dark. He spends a good portion of Return of the Jedi trying to persuade Darth Vader to choose the good that he knows is still inside of him. I have a lot of thoughts on the storyline, music, cinematography and special effects but I can write about those later. What inspired me to even put words down is the character of Luke Skywalker. His unwavering faith in the Force and the goodness in people is important. His dedication to a hugely difficult task of becoming a Jedi and saving the galaxy is important. Why is it important? The science fiction and fantasy genres, to me, are fantastical portrayals of real life narratives. Yes, fantastical is probably a real word. Sci-fi and fantasy stories are littered with real world implications. They often deal with good vs. evil just sometimes the good and evil are in the form of robots and talking monkeys. Sure, it's not realistic that the monkeys can talk but maybe they are a political commentary on animal testing and habitat displacement. Maybe they are a social commentary on the importance of embracing our differences and forming relationships based on character and not appearance. It’s just 10 times cooler because it’s monkeys…that talk. This is why I love these genres. They are full of imagination and creativity. They are full of wonder and magic. They help us to believe in the impossible and encourage us to dream bigger. But, they are almost never a complete detachment from reality. Good exists in our world and unfortunatley so does evil. Luke, Leia, Han and the Rebel Alliance spend three films trying to stop the evil Empire from gaining absolute control over the galaxy and all of its people. Their brand of evil exacts fear and spares no species. This exists in our world. It always has and it always will. I finished watching the last film, Return of the Jedi, this morning. It had yet to be a full day since the terrorists attacks in Paris. It’s been almost 2 days since the terrorists attacks in Beirut. So many other people are being slaughtered as I type and I can’t really comprehend any of it. What I do know is as I was watching Return of the Jedi, a film made 32 years ago, I realized that, even today, evil cannot win. Sure, it can succeed in a few battles and it did. The Empire did. Terrorism did. What it can't do, however, is win the war. As long as there are people on this Earth like Luke Skywalker, the kind that believe light will always defeat dark and that people are worth protecting, those that choose the dark side will never truly win. There are way more Luke Skywalkers in this world than Emperors. There are way more Rebel Alliances than Imperial Armies. It’s important to remember that, even when all you see in the media is the bad. I watched the various fictional worlds celebrate victory at the end of the Star Wars films. When I turned off my dvd player I saw on the news a collection of pictures of countries across the world standing in solidarity with France. Maybe it wasn't a victory shot but it was one that told me that we will not let the evil factions in this world win. We will band together, and I know this is so cheesy but bear with me, and use the force of human compassion, decency and love to show the evil that it has no power over us. Good will ultimately win even when the evil blindsides us, cuts off our hand and kicks us to the ground. Good will get back up and fight back. This is important today and it’s important for our future when evil undoubtedly strikes again. I want to believe in the light. I want to believe in the goodness of my neighbor and I want to believe that all people have the capacity to choose good. To choose light. I want to be like Luke Skywalker. This got way deeper than just a fun blog about how I finally watched Star Wars. But this is why I love Star Wars. This is why I love movies. They challenge me to analyze the world around me when so often I am blind to what is really going on.
So, here’s to us. The people who have the choice to be the good that this Earth deserves. To be the light that this world needs. Let us all be Luke Skywalkers especially when the Empires of the world try to bring us down. I believe in you. I believe in us.
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