The Impact of Star Wars On My Life

 Looking through my drive, I ran across a folder of articles I wrote years ago. I did sell a couple of them. There are a few good geeky ones that I am going to post here. So here we go with one written 19 years ago.

Looking back, it is interesting to see just what the impact of Star Wars has been on my life. I was born in 1974 and would have only been two and a half when the first movie came out. In my mind there never was a time without Star Wars. Even to this day I sleep with a Star Wars pillowcase (Yes, I am thirty-one years old, married, have two kids and still sleep with a Star Wars pillowcase) and cannot think of a time when I have not. I still have that first pillowcase in fact, and I must have used it for at least a dozen years before it just got too worn out. It is just something that has always been there for me, even at times when I was not fully aware of it.

As a child it was just there. I had the toys and saw the movies and watched the TV specials and was just interested in it because it had the cool spaceships and the walkers. It inspired my imagination, even if I was not really that aware of the story itself. My family was the kind that only saw a movie once in the theater and so at that age I really was unclear about so many parts of the story until the movies came to cable and I could start watching them over and over again. At that young age I still did not really appreciate just what Star Wars was.  I enjoyed it though as a child should enjoy such things.

As a preteen I drifted out of collecting or having any active interest in Star Wars and this was only helped by the gap of time where nothing was being done with the franchise. Funny thing is it was some of my friends who were big time Trekkies who helped me to get back into Star Wars. They were getting me interested in Star Trek and would make the comparison between the two and I would find that I would defend Star Wars. We would get into debates over just about all aspects of the two franchises. More and more I saw that there was something about Star Wars that attracted me more than anything from Star Trek. At the time I was not interested in collecting Star Wars, but I was still a loyal fan of the films.

Then we jump a few years later and the first of the Timothy Zahn novels came out. Suddenly after reading 'Heir to the Empire' I found that my interest in Star Wars was brought to the forefront. I suddenly wished to start collecting everything Star Wars with a passion I had never had before for anything. Of course, this was during the time when there was nothing being produced. I was finding some figures at secondhand stores and yard sales, but not much. I found myself going to collector shops regularly at this point. I was going to get whatever I could afford. So I was very happy when shortly after that point there was a new burst of Star Wars stuff coming out. Books, comics, toys, the definitive collection of the movies on Laser Disk and then finally a few years later the Special Editions in the theater. It just seemed that I refound my interest in Star Wars right before the whole thing took off in a run that has not died down, and hopefully never will again.

Now as an adult, with two boys of my own I am finding that Star Wars is something even greater. I am now able to share my joy of Star Wars with my sons. One of the first words both boys learned was 'R2' and the first words either one was able to recognize by sight was 'Star Wars'. My six year old is also very active in helping me find new pieces for my collection as he starts work on his own. It is something I very openly share with my children and do all I can to promote their interest in. Such a thing is not hard to do with how much Star Wars stuff is on display in my house. I am finding that such a multi-generational interest in Star Wars is not uncommon at all. There does seem to be something about Star Wars that appeals to such a wide range of ages and types that it does actually help to bring families together in sharing their joy in it.

Now that I can look at the movies with a grown up perspective I can see so many elements that help to give those movies such an incredible impact. For me the defining moment for the original trilogy is one of the simplest of scenes. In 'A New Hope' after Luke leaves the dinner table and goes out and watches the twin setting suns from the top of the small mound, we really get to see just what the story is all about. The look on Luke's face and our knowledge of the conversation he just had with his uncle tell us everything. We have Luke looking to the horizon and his own future, which at that point is as unclear as it gets. It is a truly universal feeling that we all have had at one time or another. Right there a connection is made that has no equal. After that we get to see this simple farm boy achieve great things and become a hero of legend. It serves as a symbol that everyone is capable of achieving great things.

Throughout my life it really does seem that Star Wars has always been there in one form or another. I am very much aware that it has shaped my imagination and dreams. It has helped me to find that my true calling is to be creative and share my imagination with others. I also know I am not the only one Star Wars has done this for. Star Wars has been able to inspire so many and bring so many together.  There is just something about the movies that connects to people on a level unseen before or since. It is almost magic as to just how much of an impact those movies have had on so many.