Rediscovering Star Wars

I have friends who have entire rooms filled with DVDs. Everyone loves movies. My collection of DVD's is small. I have only the movies I absolutely love. The ones that mean something to me. The ones I will watch, or my kids will watch, over and over again. One of those movie is All six of them. Although I could take or leave the most recent 3 prequels...the original 3 were life changing for me.
I have owned Star Wars on Beta, VHS, and DVD. I became a fan when I was 9 years old and my parents took me to see it three times. I was Princess Leia for Halloween that year. In a time before video machines, a neighbor of mine bought clips of Star Wars on a movie reel that all the kids in the neighborhood went over to watch, without sound. It was still cool. Everyone loved Star Wars.I wish I had the words to say what I really want to say about these movies. I don't. All the messages and meaning these movies hold for me could fill a book. I would not have ever married Jeff if he didn't love them as much as I do. They are THAT important. It's been awhile since I sat down to watch them. Clint loves them, and Derek has just recently discovered them, and is now hooked. But I don't complain. They are good movies. They are a huge part of the American Culture. They are Powerful. They ring of truth. We grew up with them and they have helped to shaped so many of us. I want my boys to understand and love those movies too.

These movies have endured for many reasons:

Amazing special effects. Strength of storyOriginal conceptTruthfulness Simple themes of good and evilStrong bonds of true and lasting friendship Loyalty Self- Control Self-Sacrifice Never giving up Doing the right thingBravery Overcoming the odds Having Hope Redemption The power of Love.

The Love that nearly destroyed Darth Vader was also the power that saved him in the end.

We are products of the media whether we like it or not. Whether we want to admit it or not. I really believe that. And I believe that everyone who has seen Star Wars is a better person because of it. There is truth in the message. And it IS that simple. There is evil, regardless of how benign it may appear at first. And there is good.

I have not watched any of the movies for awhile. I dutifully bought the new DVD set of IV, V, and VI a couple of Christmases ago because we only had the them on VHS. No one had watched the new DVD set. Derek has gone through all of them, and a few days ago, Derek was jumping from couch to couch, lightsaber in hand, flipping all over the living room while episode VI was finishing up. I brought up my basket of Laundry and sat down to fold while the last 20 min. was on...the part where Luke saves Darth Vader. I had forgotten what an amazing movie it was. But the part that really got me was, and this is new just on the latest DVD collection, is after the Death Star is destroyed again and everyone is reuniting on Endore after the fall of the Empire. Luke walks away from the crowd and sees his dear friends who have passed away there in spirit, watching over them. And then, Anakin is there...only it's not the old Anakin, it is the young Jedi, before he changed. He was back the way he was. Restored. It just really surprised and touched me. I can't say why. Except that it was truth. We cant explain it. But it's real. The themes that it expressed, a powerful metaphor for all we know to be true...coming at a time when we need it. Teaching little boys Right from Wrong, Good from Bad, Love from Hate. Loyalty, Friendship, Hope, Faith, Freedom, Devotion, Eternity.

I love Star Wars.