I will confess to not appreciating Star Wars until the Original Trilogy’s rerelease, in 1997. Seeing the films on the big screen ignited a whole new level of enjoyment of the space opera, and whilst The Phantom Menace might have been something of a damp squib, I certainly found myself embracing the Force! Whilst it could be suggested that other sci-fi franchises are more nuanced, Star Wars presents an epic battle of good versus evil, and if you go beyond the surface, you also see a deeper message.
Tyranny needs to be opposed. Fascism needs to be opposed. This is something that anyone can do, from a lowly farmhand on a distant world, to people working within the ranks of the enemy, risking their lives for the greater good. Within the backdrop of the eternal struggle between the Jedi and the Sith, there are threads of hidden, poignant meaning, tales of love, tales of loss, and the questions of destiny. Star Wars provides so much more than sweeping action, and when it does do action, it’s usually pretty epic!
Below, I offer my thoughts and feelings on the elements of Star Wars that have most captivated me.
The Philosophy of the Jedi and the Sith (guest post by Nick David)