May the 4th Be with You | Happy Star Wars Day

I grew up in a pretty sheltered environment, so what we were allowed to watch was limited, but sci-fi was always the exception. My parents loved Star Trek and Star Wars, so those became part of our small but well-worn library. And when your options are limited, you don’t just watch something, it becomes part of who you are.

For me, Star Wars wasn’t just a movie. It was scale, possibility, the idea that there’s this enormous galaxy out there, full of stories happening all at once. It was impossible not to get pulled into that as a kid.

But more than anything, it was the Force.

Every kid who’s ever seen Star Wars has done it, you spot something across the room, reach out your hand, and try. You know it won’t work… but for a second, you believe it might. That idea that there’s something bigger you can tap into, there’s something deeply human about that. 

I’d probably describe myself as a bit of an “originalist.” The original trilogy  "A New Hope", "The Empire Strikes Back", and "Return of the Jedi" set the standard for me. But when The Phantom Menace came out, I was a teenager, and I absolutely lived for it. I’m not exaggerating when I say we went back to the cinema ten times, maybe more. It completely pulled me back into that world.

That said… I have never, at any point in my life, been able to tolerate Jar Jar Binks. From the very first viewing, I thought he was unbearable. That opinion has not softened with time. At all.

But even that didn’t matter. The world, the story, the characters were enough to keep going back again and again.

And like a lot of teenagers who fall deep into something they love, I went all in. I became mildly obsessed with Obi-Wan Kenobi specifically, the hair. I had the haircut. I had the rat tail. I committed to it in a way that probably invited more criticism than admiration, especially from people who weren’t into Star Wars but at the time, it didn’t matter. That’s what fandom looks like when it really gets hold of you.

Looking back now, yeah the story is pretty classic. Good versus evil. The rise, fall, and redemption of Anakin Skywalker. It’s almost old-fashioned in its structure. But I think that’s part of why it works. It taps into something timeless.

The Jedi, especially, represent something aspirational. Discipline, balance, service. Not only are they warriors, they’re guides, mediators, protectors. And I think that resonates because most people want to be that version of themselves. Calm, capable, doing good in the world.

What really stands out now, watching it again with my son Paxton, is the craftsmanship. The original films achieved incredible things without modern CGI. The models, the practical effects, the sheer effort… it gave everything a weight and realism that still holds up. Paxton was genuinely surprised by how good it looked, which says a lot in an era where kids are used to polished digital everything.

Sci-fi gives kids big ideas and big ideas change the world. Every piece of tech, every breakthrough, every “how did they even come up with that?” moment probably started with someone watching something impossible on screen and refusing to let it stay that way.

Star Wars might not be perfect. It has its ups and downs. But its ability to capture imagination, to make you feel like you’re part of something bigger, that’s what makes it stick and that’s why people keep coming back to it.