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The Force Will Be With Me

Always

By LJ Pollard Published 3 years ago Updated 3 years ago 5 min read
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The Force Will Be With Me
Photo by Tobias Cornille on Unsplash

Here’s something I’ve been pondering for some time, as both a fan and storytelling enthusiast. What is it about Star Wars that captures the adoration and imagination of so many?

What is it about this story that transcends age, gender, life experiences, and socioeconomic circumstances? When new Star Wars projects are released, especially with the excitement that The Mandalorian has developed, all of fandom rejoices. I have often considered that if I could bottle up that magic that Star Wars invites its viewers to partake in, that if I could duplicate its contagious enjoyment in my own work, I would have a best-selling novel to gift to the world.

I myself as a child loved Return of the Jedi. This was the only Star Wars movie I was familiar with until the Special Edition release years later. My parents had taped it off tv, complete with commercials for Alf, Family Ties, and The Cosby Show. They usually instructed my sisters and me to fast forward past the Jabba the Hutt palace scene (They objected to Leia in the slave bikini) to the battle in which Luke and Company face the Sarlac monster and defeat Jabba. Return of the Jedi was one that as the credits began to roll, I would pop the VHS cassette in the tape rewinder and immediately commence with a second viewing. Very few movies even now leave me with that same sense of wonder. When the Special Edition movies were released to theaters, my sisters and I were hooked, devoted Star Wars fans from then thereafter.

Star Wars actions figures--one of my first mediums for storytelling, with my sisters as my co-authors. These are prized family heirlooms, which shall pass down to the next generation

I have a friend with an intense devotion to Star Trek who enjoys ripping the latest Disney Star Wars movies to shreds. (I don’t disagree with her.) But she always comes back to the same argument that the original Star Wars movies are simple-minded and have very little plot, thus the Disney movies were doomed to follow this same trajectory. In her arguments, none of the Star Wars movies raise ethical questions or challenge stereotypes, as Star Trek does.

Pretending the prequel movies don’t exist, and forgetting the Disney movies were ever made, let us focus our attention on the original trilogy. Perhaps as my fandom friend suggests, Star Wars does not address any serious ethical quandaries or make any serious political commentary, but it has storytelling elements that people love. What are these elements that have people returning to these stories again and again?

By Cameron Venti on Unsplash

We have one character who longs for adventure. He is waiting for something more. He knows he was created for more than dusting crops on an obscure planet. He is called forth to meet his destiny from an unlikely source--an obstinate droid determined to find Obi-Wan Kenobi.

We have the strong female character. She is above all principled, focused solely on the freedom and betterment of other people, and she stands firm in the face of extreme evil without fear, even to her own death.

We have the redemption of characters. They were on a self-serving path like Han Solo, who, by the end of Episode IV, sacrifices his own interests to save the good guys on the precipice of destruction.

Various alien species and races lay their differences aside to join in the fight for freedom, because they recognize a common enemy.

Worlds of every climate and ecosystem invite us to explore, to brave unknown dangers, to become acquainted with strange, otherworldly creatures.

By Carol Kennedy on Unsplash

And all behind the scenes, this all-powerful Force is at work to bring balance to the galaxy.

But one of the essentials of good storytelling must include the active character with agency. Enter Lando Calrissian in Empire Strikes Back. There is a moment where Lando sees the full force of the Empire with boot to the throat of his friends, and he complains to his friend Lobot, “This deal is getting worse all the time.” It would be easy for him to keep to the status quo, mind his own business, allow evil to continue its workings without intervening. In fact, he receives some benefit in his business from the Empire doing well and the Rebellion faltering. But instead, as the camera focuses on Lobot’s cybernetic implant signaling him to action, we realize that Lando has done something atypical. Having fought his inner struggle, he does the hard thing and in the process saves our heroes. He joins the fight for freedom, just when the cause could very well be lost. This is my favorite moment in the entire series.

This happens a second time in Return of the Jedi, as the Emperor is lightning bolting Luke to death, and we see the debate across Darth Vader’s mask expertly depicted with the reflection of the lightning symbolizing his inner struggle. Luke foreshadowed this on Endor’s moon and provoked Vader to change by saying, “I feel the conflict within you.” Does Vader accept the ending written for him? It would be easy to be stagnant and watch Luke’s death. His power would remain intact. But no, in the moment not too soon and not too late, he chooses what is right and good and saves his son.

By Tommy van Kessel 🤙 on Unsplash

In the real tangible world, I am finding how very rare it is that someone would defy the status quo and stand for truth. It is easy to remain silent and accept what is. Those of us who love a good story are looking to other people as well as to ourselves to take courage and race towards danger, rather than duck our heads and excuse away our agency via our weaknesses.

There are other fandoms that I equally love, such as Lord of the Rings and the Hunger Games, where similar themes are explored. But I never forgot the love of my first. These characters have a way of resurfacing in my own writing with the character who longs for adventure, the character who is principled and fearless, the character who seeks truth and justice, the character who is redeemed. In my stories, people of all races join together to fight a common enemy, in unusual worlds that bid the reader to stay and learn more. And that all-powerful Force is always with me, working in my heart and mind, binding my created worlds and stories together.

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About the Creator

LJ Pollard

As long as I can remember, I've been writing and sharing stories. Writing and storytelling, whether it be a humorous poem composed in five minutes, or an epic fantasy told over several novels, brings meaning and joy to life.

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