The One

Rating: Null/10 (15 February 2002)

So much has been written, spoken, said and even posted in cyberspace about Star Wars (particularly this, its fourth episode, also known as "A New Hope") that it is difficult to even do the Legend justice even with my own words. Yet now, as we continue to count down to the release date of the fateful Episode II --- Attack of the Clones, we begin to realize that there is more to the Saga than even most of us dare to perceive. That it all started with one motion picture does not really say much about the Legend. That only happens when you dig deeper into the tales that have been told to date. And that's not just the movies. There are the two Ewok TV movies, Nelvana's Star Wars toons, every known Star Wars book from Ballantine/Del Rey Publishing and Dark Horse Comics, and even Smith-Hemion's infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. All have contributed in one way or another to the vast chapters of the Legend. As an example, consider what become of little Cindel Towani, the young girl befriended by Wicket and his fellow Ewoks in the 2 Ewok TV films. The Star Wars Encyclopedia tells us that Cindel eventually grew up to become one of the leading investigative journalists on Coruscant. This, naturally, makes me wonder about her further adventures involving that aspect of her life; but, again, I may just leave that to the Dark Horse folks. My point, folks, is this: perhaps, especially in the wake of September 11th, we are indeed, as George Lucas himself called us of old, "a generation growing up without fairy tales." Is the Star Wars Saga, then, the ultimate fairy tale adventure of the post-nuclear age? Some have said yes, others no. In the end, as always, the real answer is up to us. By digging deeper into the various legends spawned by the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa, we can perhaps see something greater within ourselves. I once called the Star Wars Saga our generation's version of The Lord of the Rings. "Luke Skywalker may have set out to save the galaxy," I remember saying at the time, "but now that the galaxy has indeed been saved, for whom and from whom has it been truly been rescued, and at what cost?" Even now, so many years later, I am struggling to answer those same questions. That a mere motion picture lies buried under the surface is no longer an issue. If it were, we would not have websites like starwars.com and theforce.net. Then again, the Force was probably within us all from the very first. What do YOU think?