Ryan ChartrandThis Sunday is a momentous holiday and undoubtedly one of my favorite days out of the year. Yes that’s right. This Sunday is National Star Wars Day.
It’s been 10 years since I was first introduced to a galaxy far, far away; three since I waited in line for the last time to see a “Star Wars” movie in theaters, and two since I started growing my own padawan braid. Unsurprisingly, when people see me sporting my Anakin T-shirt or catch a glimpse of the lightsaber hanging on my wall, I get asked why I love these movies so much and I’ve never really had a good answer. Sure, I like space battles and lightsabers as much as the next guy but there’s something more. Something I can’t quite explain – something to do with choices and standing up for what you believe in and the triumph of the human spirit over overwhelming odds and the victory of humanity over technology.
Strangely enough, it was a Target employee who helped me understand why I’m so attached to my beloved saga. I was wandering through the little kids section when I came across a shirt that had a Lego Darth Vader on it. Seeing this, I got ridiculously excited, for here were my two favorite geeky obsessions on one shirt. Unfortunately they didn’t have one in anything other than really tiny sizes so I asked an employee if there were any sizes that would fit me. She shook her head and then told me, “We all have to grow up sometime.” Ouch. I just got burned by a Target employee.
Do we? Do we have to grow up? I’m graduating in June. I’m being thrown into the real world. A world where I’ll have to sit at a desk for nine hours a day, a world where I don’t get Fridays off – basically, a world where I have to act like an adult. But when I sit down and watch one of my “Star Wars” tapes, for two hours I don’t have to be an adult. I can become absorbed in a world where the heroes are idealistic farmboys and the villains are cackling egomaniacs. A world where a bunch of teddy bears can overcome the elite troops of the empire and a son’s love is able to redeem his father and save the galaxy. As the band Center Divide put it, a world where “Vader wore black, Luke wore white, and I know the Force will make things all right.”
That’s why I love “Star Wars” – because it takes me back to a time when things were simple. When I didn’t have to worry about everything I do now. So this Sunday let your inner fanboy (or fangirl) out of the closet. Swing that stick/broom pole/PVC pipe around while making lightsaber noises. Try to mind-trick your roommates into baking you cookies. Imitate Chewbacca/R2D2/Tusken Raiders until your voice is gone. Just take some time to remember what it was like to be a kid. May the fourth be with you.
Diane Zaida is an economics junior and a Mustang Daily guest columnist.