Happy May the Fourth. Or, as many people now say, May the Fourth be with you. Another recent one is, ‘This is the May’. Whatever you use, I join you in our common love for Star Wars.
I’ve been a Star Wars fan for as long as I can remember. It was part of the cultural landscape in my childhood (1980s), and remains so today. The saga served as my gateway into science fiction. At that time, there was nothing quite like it, even though it borrowed heavily from Flash Gordon, Akira Kurosawa, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Joseph Campbell’s ideas on monomyths. The universe George Lucas presented felt lived in, and its characters, fallible and intriguing. Now, well into the 21st century, Star Wars continues to be a part of mainstream culture. For a time, its critics found the saga’s portrayal of good vs. evil a quaint, simplistic narrative meant to fuel the franchise’s merchandising machine (which it did, and still does). They assumed evil had to be complex, nuanced. It does not.
We have learned that the hard way these last several years. The rise of fascism worldwide has demonstrated that fact, from Trumpism, to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Like many, I’d hoped (assumed?) our civilization had matured past such abhorrent ideas. We have not.
Which leads me to what Star Wars means to me today, a science fiction author in his mid-40s. I’m older now, and a…
