This past weekend I marathoned the original trilogy of the greatest fictional world ever created, Star Wars. DISCLOSURE: I go on for a bit about why I love Star Wars so much so that when I get to the reason for my writing, it is easily contextualized. My personal favorite entry in the series is without a doubt, the first one. Not because it has the best acting. Not because it has the most well crafted filmmaking on display. Not even because it has the coolest action sequences (they’re still pretty great). No the reason I love this movie the way I do is because of the context in which I watch the movie.
Star Wars (1977) genuinely changed my life. In my earliest of days, I would run outside and dream of the day where I, like Luke Skywalker, would be called to adventure and have my life forever changed. Then, as I got older I began to identify more so with the character of Han Solo. His roguish charm and facile charisma which was clearly just a blanket for his insecurity was something that I both wanted to emulate, and yet also knew was already inside of me to this day. However, I must acknowledge something important: nostalgia. Every person I have ever met who saw Star Wars, post age 12, doesn’t love it like me or my brothers or some of my friends. Where I see fun, non-stop action, many people see hokey, poorly written schlock. I must admit, I am not objective about Star Wars.
So, the question(s) must be asked, why do I love it? Will the day ever come when I stop loving it? What about it is objectively great?
Let’s move backwards in those questions, beginning with, “What is objectively great about Star Wars?” For the purposes of this, I am only going to speak on the original, first film. The first thing that comes to mind whenever you think of Star Wars is the excellence achieved in visual filmmaking. This will be a very nerdy part, so I will keep it brief. Let’s just think about two scenes: the first is the famous scene when Luke is about to be called to adventure and is simply pondering his life as he watches the sunset on his home planet. That is all that happens. But thanks in large part to John Williams, the music cues the audience in perfectly to what Luke is feeling, and that leads to the other hinge point of this scene: Mark Hamill. His physical acting in this scene is superb. The way he uses his face and body language to communicate emotion is so effective. Now let’s move onto what is one of the greatest action sequences in film history. So, just after Luke, Leia, Chewie and Han have escaped a trash compactor (another perfect scene) they are tasked with getting back to the Millennium Falcon to escape the Death Star by the skin of their teeth. On their way, they run into a bunch of Storm Troopers and while Han and Chewie engage, Luke and Leia go on the run. It is a great scene with perfect editing, constantly cutting between the two pairs. It has excitement and humor and intensity all in one scene. There are many other historical scenes in the movie, but these are just a pair that exemplify that, yes, Star Wars is objectively good.
Now, time for some of the more difficult questions. Will the day ever come when I stop loving Star Wars? I certainly hope not. This movie has provided consistent joy for me for pretty much my entire life. I cannot think of any reason for me to stop loving it. Especially since it would require quite the change in the way that I think and live. It would require that I view people like Han and Luke and Obi-Wan as people who are not interesting, which even though Luke seems like a wimp in this movie, and Obi-Wan seems a bit odd, they are both exceedingly interesting (I’m not even going to entertain the possibility that I will ever stop loving Han). So, again I digress, I hope I never stop loving it.
Now for the final question that will lead into my reasons for writing this. Why do I love Star Wars? I think, when it comes down to it, it has very little to do with all of what I have said up to this point. Sure the characters are interesting, and the filmmaking being exhibited is at the highest peak of its ability at the time. However, the main reason that I love Star Wars has to do less with that, and more with the context in which I have experienced it. As I mentioned earlier, when I was a child, my days were spent, desperately trying to get outside to use my blanket/cape, lightsaber, and imagination to step into that universe. It was a vehicle for my brothers and I to experience genuine fellowship together. As I got older, it became a place for escape from when I was sad. Even to this day, when I need to feel young, I watch Star Wars. However, there is a new twist. The more it becomes an act of nostalgia to watch this timeless story, the more I think back to specific details. Mainly that of my dad and my brothers. When I was playing outside, it was communal. When I was thinking about it as I got older, it was always the precursor to a conversation I would have with my brother, usually about some insecurity of mine. Even to this day, my brothers and I love discussing the formative role that it played in our childhood and how without it, we would be different people. But, mostly I think about my dad. Fitting seeing how at its heart, Star Wars is a story about fatherhood.
Now, my dad is not perfect. He’s not even a perfect father. In my most cynical moments, I might be prone to mention that all parents screw up all children. But not today. Today, I simply want to convey just how grateful I am for the days in my youth of watching Star Wars with my dad. And to say that when I think of parenting for myself, it is the thing I long for the most. I want to wrap things up by trying to simply painting a picture for you. The timeframe is somewhere in the early 2000’s so there will be that kind of decorating around the house, with the notable exception of the blue and yellow plaid, corduroy couch from the late eighties. Sitting on the ground against the couch, is an adult man and his eight year old son both under the same San Diego Chargers throw (again from the eighties or nineties). They are both entranced as they watch as Darth Vader locks onto Luke’s X-Wing. And right at the last moment, when Han Solo saves the day, the boy gasps and looks up at his dad looking for and being affirmed in his pure, unadulterated wonder.
P.S. – You might have had this experience, not with Star Wars, but with something else. We all have these moments that we long to have back. Or in my case (perhaps yours as well) to eventually re-create.
Sawyer Huelat 