Okay, so I couldn’t stop my inner geek from busting out.
Today is Star Wars Day, after all, and there’s a new Star Wars movie coming out this year! And based on the two trailers we’ve seen so far… it looks to be pretty darn awesome! I can’t wait until December 18!
For those of you who’ve been living under a rock on Dagobah or some other similarly out of the way planet, and don’t know about it, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the first of a new trilogy of films being released by Disney, with J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Super 8) directing and sharing writing credits with Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Silverado). With those two at the helm, I’m confident we’re going to get something that’ll appeal to new fans and us die-hards as well.
If you haven’t checked out the trailers yet, go right now and watch!
So what’s does all this have to do with Free of Gravity, anyway?
It’s this: the Star Wars saga in all its incarnations—with its story of heroism, friendship and family, and rising above the darkness within ourselves and redeeming it in others—inspired a generation. It inspired us to want to be like Luke or Han or Leia—to grow and become heroes, sometimes in spite of ourselves.
And it inspired some of us to want to create stories of our own—stories that evoke powerful emotions and inspire the imaginations of the next generation.
J.J. Abrams is one of those. “Star Wars is probably the most influential film of my generation,” Abrams says. “It’s the personification of good and evil and the way it opened up the world to space adventure, the way Westerns had to our parents’ generations, left an indelible imprint. So, in a way, everything that any of us does is somehow directly or indirectly affected by the experience of seeing those first three films.” (source)
How fitting, then, that Abrams, an admitted Star Wars fan, bring that story to a whole new crop of fans, and perhaps inspire them to tell stories of their own.
Who knows what stories will sprout from that fertile ground?
What are your favorite memories of Star Wars that you still carry with you today? Or if Star Wars isn’t your thing, what other stories inspired you as a kid, but still resonate with you? Please share in the comments.
And May the Force Be with You!
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(image owned by Disney/Lucasfilm)
And the Fourth be with you sir!
Very excited to enjoy more good Star Wars fun. My kids love the Clone Wars animated series, which delights me to no end. Though, admitted parenting fail, I haven’t watched the originals with my kiddos yet.
It’s so hard but so important to translate the intense life-and-death lightsaber battles of the Star Wars universe into the choices we make on a daily basis – which are equally so life-and-death, but far less flashy and immediate. Every time we choose to play small instead of enabling our best selves; every time we slip on our diet, priorities, relationships, or morals; every time we choose to be less instead of more than we were yesterday – or, as bad, not choosing, not changing, and letting the world pass us by.
Here in the real world, the good guys and the bad guys are both found within ourselves and our choices.
As you say, and just like Luke discovers in the Dark Side Cave on Dagobah…
Yoda: That place… is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go.
Luke: What’s in there?
Yoda: Only what you take with you.
―The Empire Strikes Back
…our truest ally and darkest enemy are within us.
And the best stories (in fiction and in life) are about the struggle between them, and our choices that strengthen one and weaken the other…
Yoda: “I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience.”
Obi-Wan: “He will learn patience.”
Yoda: “Hmm. Much anger in him, like his father.”
Obi-Wan: “Was I any different when you taught me?”
…
“You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness…” – Obi-Wan
… Choices.