Why Luke Skywalker And A New Hope Are So Special To Me

Seeing Star Wars before it was named A New Hope in 1978 when I was still five years old transcended merely viewing a movie. It was probably the last time where there was true magic in this world for me. By the time of The Empire Strikes Back, I was more worldly. By then, I knew the hard truth about certain holiday mascots, and the world was much more grounded. Fantasy was escapism and not a possible reality, but when seeing Star Wars that first time, I was an emotional participant in the events, and I felt like a stake holder. Moreover I completely identified with Luke Skywalker, but not because he was the hero of the story. I was far too young for fancying myself the hero. I was still in need of protection myself.

For my money, A New Hope is one of the best example of "fish out of water" storytelling, which is also one of the most immersive types of storytelling. In such stories, the protagonist represents the audience. We learn about the universe in which the movie or book takes place as the protagonist does. We learned about the Force, Anakin Skywalker, and the Jedi through Luke's eyes. The weight of the back story was palpable in Episode IV. Many of the secondary characters were more preoccupied with the events of the past than the future. It's a testament to Lucas having a somewhat fleshed out outline for all nine episodes. And even when some of those past truths were revealed to Luke, and thus us, it was apparent that it was being metered out. The whole truth wouldn't be revealed for two more episodes. Together with Luke, we truly were taking our "first step into a larger world".

That is why I identified with with Luke immediately as a five year old. At that age, I was a fish out of water on this planet we call Earth. My conscious self only a formed a year or so earlier. I was the youngest on both sides of the family. All of my relatives knew of a back story that was too big for me to even imagine. With my older cousins and uncles, it was always sports related. I grew up hearing about how Tony Conigliaro was going to be an all-time great until Jack Hamilton robbed him of his career, or how that Patriots would have gone on to kill the Vikings in Super Bowl XI if not for a bogus roughing the passer call on "Sugar Bear" Hamilton in the divisional round. There was constant talk of movies and televisions shows that I couldn't even comprehend. There were also half truths, like about my grandfather who passed away before I was born. I was too young for the truth that he died from cancer, so instead my relatives said he was "in heaven with God" but their faces belied the euphemism. I would see a similar expression when Owen Lars was worried that Luke was following too closely in his father's footsteps.

This all conspired to make that first viewing of Star Wars one the most special and memorable movie going experiences of my life. It's no wonder I became a lifelong fan. I will be forever grateful that I saw it at the exact right age. I was old enough for it to be an indelible memory, but still innocent enough for it to be truly magical. Any sooner or later and I fall outside of one of those margins. No trip to the theater has ever or will ever be its equal, but like an addict, I'm still chasing that high to this day.

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