Star Wars Does have Depth so Trekkies Need to go Easy on the Arrogant Disdain

Studio : 20th Century Fox, Poster

As a devout Trekkie, I am well aware of the arrogance many of us levy over the competing franchise. But to discard Star Wars as nothing more than a frivolous romp does not do George Lucas' vision justice.

I only partially agree with the sentiment. Star Wars mostly follows a bunch of space pirates who are out to upend the bad guys and save the day. Like Jack Sparrow in space, we know how fun that is.

Still, there is depth, and yes, I'm going to rehash the father-son struggle that many have done before me. But since I can hold up a very familiar mirror to my personal drama, Star Wars stacks up high enough to get my due.

Now, my Dad was far from Darth Vader. In fact, he was a wonderful man who influenced many people, while keeping his family engaged and loving life like he did.

There were similarities, however. Luke was well off his father's radar, and like a lot of sons of the 70s, so was I. In other words,  Dad had his way of doing things, and any blips to the contrary were summarily dismissed.

I usually got a brief hearing but was always assured where the highway was. So mad the anger grew beneath that I still have dreams where I battle futilely with my omnipotent father.

The balance of power starting to shift by teenage, I began to stack up - at least on the playful side of things.  Stickball, cards, pool and the general back and forth, I held my own. But the courage to actually confront was still lacking. The best I could do was stammer and then vent to my mother and siblings.

Luke gets his first taste of being a pretender as he feigns bravado to Yoda. “Master Yoda, I'm not afraid,” Luke asserts. But the Jedi master knows the drill.

“You will be,” Yoda assures. “You will be.”

He does blow up the death star, though, and Vader realizes that Luke is legitimately asserting his place. Still, power isn't so easy to concede and holding sway over a son always seems the better way.  “If you only knew the power the darkside,” Vader lectures.

Together we can rule the galaxy - No dice. Luke stays the course, and I can report a similar triumph when my dad tried to steer me from his perspective.

In 1989, the family had a mini summit to address my less than stellar job prospects, and the path required to enter the corporate world of Information Technology.

Like him, I'd enter a mail room, and after a good deal of menial diligence, a programming opportunity would finally befall me. I simply nodded and kept the words of my contemporaries close. “Go to NYC, pound the pavement, and in a few months, you'll have a tech support job,” my fellow computer science grads assured.

Two months later, I was situated on Park Avenue, and my silent challenge forged my exit. Unfortunately, my father's reach was long, and little did I know, a return was imminent. I was hit with a mental illness that completely incapacitated me, and my job and any sanity I ever had was gone.

Therapy ensuing, the cause was easy to ID : The problems largely rested on my father’s tutelage. A shock to both of us, I now stood in Luke's shoes, and overcoming, meant I also had to be the victor in the confrontation to come.

But in a sense, we both occupied the darkside. Fun and games were both in our nature, but hugging, kissing, praise and I love you's were not in the lineage.  So my illness revealed that the omissions were a big problem, and I had to convince him of the error of our ways.

"Father I know there's still good in you."

The behavior changes aside, my confrontation was really about getting my father to support a science he didn't believe in : Psychology. As I was, he had to delve into his past to help me in my present.

Of course, that meant despite the overwhelmingly positive influence of his care, he had to accept that there was an aspect of his approach that didn't sit well with my inner child.

Guess what, the standoffs were epic. But in the end, he took off the mask. “Rich, you were right, you were right.”

Not bad George Lucas, and like Darth Vader, my father passed the torch and both of us were better off. So give it a rest my fellow Trekkies. My sanity depends on it.

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