FACE IT, Elvis. You just can’t fight the Force.
That’s not to take anything away from Mr. Presley. For one thing, it’s not safe. The King’s fans are among the most dedicated — read crazy — in the business, willing to travel hundreds of miles to see his second-best guitar, his favorite Cadillac, his last peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich.
But when it comes to obsession, the Jedi Nuts win hands down.
Ask the U.S. Postal Service. On Friday, it started selling “Stars Wars” stamps to honor the 30th anniversary of the movie. Before the first one crossed the counter, postal authorities were already talking about the likelihood of a sellout — all 450 million stamps gone. By comparison, about 124 million “Young Elvis” stamps went out the door in 1993.
This worries me. Mostly because I haven’t gotten my stamps yet.
I admit it. I’m a “Star Wars” geek from way back. The first film came out when I was four and practically imprinted itself on my DNA. By the time I was 10, I could name every alien and identify every starship in the series. I even watched the Christmas special — and if you ever had the misfortune to do the same, you’ll appreciate what an act of devotion that was.
If I’d approached long division with the same intensity, I might be an engineer today.
What made it great was that everyone else had gone nuts too. It wasn’t just “kid stuff,” it was a phenomenon. And it’s stayed that way for 30 years. It’s become so big that some people actually identified their religion as “Jedi” in the last British census. They may even be serious — after all, they’re obviously not living on this planet.
Indeed, the Force is strong with us. But why?
Mythologists love to cite Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” and show how George Lucas used the archetype to create a powerful modern myth.
Pundits point out that “Star Wars” appeared at a dark time for the United States and a gritty time for movie making, when the public needed to escape into an upbeat, exciting story.
Me? I think it’s the stuff.
For a kid, “Star Wars” was a Christmas-present dream come true. There was always another action figure, always another spaceship, always another proof of purchase you could send away for more accessories. Always something new.
It may seem mercenary in retrospect, but each new toy fired our imaginations a little more. Sometimes this led to odd experiments, like when my sister ran Han Solo’s hand through the pencil sharpener. But more often, it led to further sagas as stacked-up pillows became ice caves and backyards became endless star fields.
And just as the marketers kept providing new stuff for the kids, the movies kept providing new stuff for all of us. Each installment introduced new worlds, new starcraft, new menaces that widened the eyes and dropped the jaw. Death Stars and Imperial Walkers. Asteroid fields and Jedi caves. Lucas’s galaxy seemed to be a living, growing place where a new wonder always waited just around the corner.
It’s a quality that’s been often imitated but rarely equaled.
So yes, I’ll probably be standing in line for stamps this week. Why not? Forty-one cents a stamp is a small price to remember a dream.
Thank you, Mr. Lucas. May the Force be with you.
And if it’s any consolation, Mr. Presley, Darth Vader probably sounds awful on “Blue Suede Shoes.”
Scott Rochat’s e-mail address is rochat@emporiagazette.com.
SkyTalker (anonymous) says...
Star Wars isn't the only film series to generate its own religion. The Matrix trilogy has given birth to a religion called Matrixism:
http://www.geocities.com/matrixism2069
Will Matrixism end up being as popular as the Jedi religion?Judging by the "stuff" gap between Star Wars and The Matrix Matrixism still has a long way (or a lot of stuff) to go.
May 30, 2007 at 2:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )