In 1975, a young director named George Lucas wrote the story of the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. The story was so long that it had to be broken up into a pair of trilogies, the first trilogy focusing on Anakin himself and the second focusing on his son, Luke. He determined the second trilogy to be the most exciting and resolved to film that one first. Unbeknownst to Lucas, he was creating what would soon become one of the most widely recognized and revered science fiction epics of all time. The epic is known to all, young and old, as Star Wars.
The incredible popularity of the Star Wars universe was surprising to Lucas when he first made it. In fact, every producer he proposed the idea to rejected it, except for one: Twentieth Century Fox. At this time, science fiction (also called sci-fi) was not in any respects a profitable movie idea, but Lucas was determined to make his film. The executives of Twentieth Century Fox had seen Lucas’s previous film, American Graffiti, and vowed to produce Lucas’s next movie. Lucas made a deal with Fox that would end up making Lucas a multi-millionaire. The deal seemed so ridiculous to Fox that they thought they were ripping him off. In 1977, the first film of the second trilogy, Star Wars: A New Hope, was released, smashing box offices across the country and soon becoming the most successful film in North American history.
In 1978, Lucas began production of the second chapter of the trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back. He financed the film out of his own pockets. The movie was released in 1980 and again smashed box offices, becoming the most successful movie of 1980. Soon thereafter, Lucas made The Return of the Jedi, the final chapter in the trilogy. It was released in 1983 and grossed over 265 million dollars. Just before its completion, however, Lucas announced that he was leaving the Star Wars project for another time, when computer generated effects were more advanced and cost-effective.
For the next sixteen years, even without new films, the Star Wars universe continued to expand, gaining more fans every year. Many books telling the tales of the future and past of Star Wars were published. A handful of cartoon shows appeared on television, although none were overly successful. Eventually, Star Wars video games hit the market, many of which were very successful. The big moment came in 1994, however, when George Lucas announced his plans to finally complete the saga by producing the first trilogy. Star Wars fans everywhere fainted.
So what is it that makes a film such as those made for the first Star Wars trilogy so popular in a time when sci-fi films aren’t widely liked? The answer could be as simple as the flashy computer generated images or the action-packed battle scenes. However, there just might be one other reason that America caught on to the Star Wars hype so well: it represents us as a people: forward looking, always toward the future, fighting what we see as injustice and protecting the innocent. This is a story like no other science fiction story. It doesn’t tell the horrors of invading aliens; it tells the story of a heroic youth fighting against a regime of evil.
The main character in A New Hope, Luke Skywalker, is a young man, but willing to learn. He is small and weak at first, but soon grows to show his courageous heart and strong mind. He represents our country, once a small colony; we were once weak and divided. But when faced with injustice, the country united, fighting against all odds for the sake of peace and prosperity. Luke Skywalker, in essence, represents the change that occurred in America during its history. It’s not just the characters in Star Wars that affect America, however.
The very setting of this movie is symbolic of our way of life as Americans. This movie, as its title may suggest, is set in space, a place that mankind has looked to for eons. Space represents the future; it beckons to us and tells us of what our future may hold. America has always looked toward the future and has been grasping that future since its creation, each day at a time. That is why people love Star Wars so much. It tells them, this is what you have to look forward to. One day, we will find our way into the universe, as well as our part in it. Admittedly, the Wars aspect isn’t entirely pleasing, but it does show us that peace can prevail even under the tightest grasp.
Even the harshest critic would have to admit that Star Wars is no longer, or ever was, just a movie with a cult following. Unlike many other sci-fi films and series, it isn’t restricted to a small select group of fans. It is a series that can be enjoyed by all. It is a classic story of good against evil. It is the same story told throughout the history of man but with a futuristic spin added to it. It is the combination of those two elements that makes the Star Wars saga so wildly popular. It shows us that the same beliefs that we have always held will always be held, even in a galaxy far, far away.
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