A JOURNEY AMONG THE FORCEFUL
By
Matthew J. Blanchard
Jedi Apprentice and Knight in Training
A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy not too far from my house... my adventure began. I am too young to have seen the first Star Wars when it was released in theaters (being merely 19 as of the date this is being written.) But at the tender age of three I was bumrushed into the family car and taken to see The Return of the Jedi, and my young life would never be the same.
Apocryphal stories (told mainly by my father) claim that as Jabba the Hutts loyal Pig-Guards were escorting Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca the Wookie off to their doom I jumped up in my seat and screamed: "TURN ME LOOSE OR YOU WILL DIE." The story goes on to state that my comedic outburst illicited uncontrollable laughter (and an uncontrollable bladder) from the woman seated directly behind me.
That day, when I returned from seeing Return of the Jedi I was ready to go out and see it again. And I did so several times. But my love affair with the world of George Lucas was merely beginning. I soon began my education at Christ the King Elementary School. I was in the Pre School Program, and would return home every day at noon. At which time my mother would fix me a grilled cheese Sandwhich and I would pop Star Wars in and watch. This daily viewing of Star Wars would continue for almost two full years, until I was old enough to be in school for the entire 8 hour day.
At the young age of three, Star Wars was a major factor in my life. And sixteen years later, on the cusp of adulthood, things are only mildly different. I no longer harbor the delusion that I could one day be Luke Skywalker, or at best a Jedi knight. I no longer watch it for the laser blasts and lightsabers. Now it is something more than that for me. Something more than a film, more than a myth.
Star Wars is an escape for me, it is an embodiment of everything that was pure and decent about my youth. A reminder of a time when the world was less cynical, and I with it. A time before my perceptions were altered by age and (sometimes) wisdom.
When the familiar notes of John Williams impressive score play, I still find that my eyes grow wide in wonder. Watching Star Wars I can feel as I did on that first viewing of Return of the Jedi. And I am still reminded that it is alright to feel that exhuberance.
Technically speaking: The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite Star Wars film, the one that still puts me on the edge of my seat in wonderment. It is also the film that introduces us to one of my favorite characters, and someone whose philosophy and idealogy I attempt to emulate when I can: The Jedi Master Yoda.
Sure the film is pop culture, but it is a part of our modern mythology. And that is one of the many reasons that I am anticipating the forthcoming Episode One with a fervor unlike any film I've ever anticipated.
It is a chance for me to forget the troubles of my age and remember the youth I lost. It is a chance for me to once again escape into a world where cynicism does not exist. A world where hero's exist in abundance.
Besides; with lightsabres, blaster, starships, droids, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Natalie Portman! How can you go wrong.
Thank you for taking the time to read this little article of mine. And may the force be with you.