Getting Glenergized: Why I Love Star Wars

So I'm a little embarrassed to write this right now. I was just researching for a post on Hilary Clinton when my MSN pops up. It was my friend Ryan saying "Happy Star Wars Day!". It sneaks up on me every year, dang it all! I couldn't believe that I almost forgot.

As such, I'd like to apologize to everyone out there, I am hastily preparing this blog post, about my favourite of nerdy loves. I know that I won't encapsulate everything that I love about Star Wars, but I hope that it suffices.

1. " Jedi Masters don't go crazy -- they just get eccentric." -- Simply put, Jedis are awesome. They can wield light sabres with the best of them, play mind tricks on lesser beings, and be all around ass kickers. Best of all, they expect nothing in return at all, just knowing that they are doing the right thing.

They are like kung-fu-fighting Buddhist Monks, Knights of the Round Table, and the entire cast of Heroes rolled into one futuristic ass-kicking package. What's not to love about them really?

2. "These are not the droids you're looking for" -- While they are sometimes obnoxious, C3PO and R2D2 add a great deal to the films. They are the closest thing that the series has to narrators.

Along with Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, they are the only two characters to be featured in all six movies. However, the other two changed drastically with one being covered in metal, and the other getting old and dying. The two droids do a great deal to provide a link between the two trilogies, especially with R2 having a memory of the whole ordeal.

3. “Don't you call me a mindless philosopher you overweight glob of grease!” --

Is the fall and return of the Jedis an allegory for the fall of the church in our hectic modern life? Was the destruction of the Death Star (twice) meant to speak to the inevitable failures of the Soviet-American Arms Race? Is Palpatine's Machiavellian scheme to seize power from the elected officials, eerie foreshadowing of Bush's PATRIOT Act? Is the initially-incestuous relationship between Luke and Leia meant to echo Greek and Roman Mythology?

How the hell should I know? I'm not George Lucas! But all those sound totally plausible to me, especially if there is a solid argument behind any of them. My point, is that more than many other films, this has an amazing potential to be dug deep into, and create some pretty interesting connections with deep topics.

4. "Boba sure fooled the rest of us" -- Boba Fett is EASILY the biggest bad ass to ever be portrayed on film. Don't believe me? Well here is a thousand words to persuade you...

...thought so.

P.S. Eleventy Nerd Points for whoever knows where that quote is from (without Googling it)

5. "Adventure? Excitement? A Jedi craves not such things." -- Well I sure do! And this series is able to deliver it in spades.

From the first shot of A New Hope when the droids are running away to the final scene in Revenge of the Sith, there is a definite feeling of adventure. While some of them (i.e. Phantom Menace) are not so good, there is always a feeling of adventure and excitement, that is hard not to get caught up in.

Whenever a light sabre begins to buzz, my heart starts to race as I know that something awesome is going to happen. Sure I've seen the battles before, but the sheer childish joy and reminiscence is hard not to get caught up in.

6. "Do or do not, there is no try" -- So I mostly just wanted to use that, my favourite of Star Wars quotes to say something important about these movies. They are FULL of deep and very meaningful quotes that provide a tremendous amount of insight.

There are such amazing gems as "If money is all you love, then that's what you'll receive.", and "All who gain power are afraid to lose it". Impressive ones eh? There are a bunch more here, and many other places on the information hyperspace highway.

7. "If I told you half the things I've heard about this Jabba the Hutt, you'd probably short circuit." -- The opening scene in Return of the Jedi in Jabba's palace is the greatest scene in the history of cinema. Really where else will you find psychic powers, the Leia bikini, an obnoxious laughing bat, a robot waiter, bantha battles, the Leia bikini, flame throwers, the Leia bikini, sand monsters, girl power, and the Leia bikini?

I may have forgotten to mention something...