news may the fourth be with you may 4 2019 may the fourth be with you on star wars day a history professor highlights the brains and brawn of the star wars franchise and how close we might be to droid and force technology editors note: the following is an expert opinion piece by technology historian and professor jonathan coopersmith today is may 4th a day star wars fans ubiquitously say may the fourth be with you as a play on the force that brings life and death in the movies coopersmith comments on lightsabers and droids and highlights how forward-thinking the film was for its era star wars is space opera of the highest caliber its not science fiction but it proved amazingly popular its more imagined golden age nostalgia than forward-thinking speculation george lucas developed his films around archetypal concepts of carl jung and joseph campbell not images of the future perhaps its major impact on the real world (apart from economic and inspirational [as many a parent can attest]) was the linkage between the movie series and the reagan administrations strategic defense initiative a history graduate student ian boley is writing his dissertation on all things to all men: the reagan administration the strategic defense initiative and sources of technological innovation boley writes: star wars has always been controversial among its fans but it has seen its share of political controversy as well when president ronald reagan announced on march 23 1983 that he wanted scientists and engineers to begin searching for an alternative to offense-based nuclear deterrence it set off a political firestorm domestic opponents of the program began to call it the star wars speech within hours this term stuck as many of these terms do think of things like the anaconda plan or obamacare while at the time the press probably paid more attention to the planned release of return of the jedi two months later the white house response went into overdrive the administration detailed several staffers to go through their own extensive press tracking to find the source of the name (the new york times later concluded that senator ted kennedy had coined the term) since the program was a major defense expenditure they also ran specialized polls on it these polls found serious differences in public perceptions of a program named star wars vs more prosaic names project a was floated as an alternative and one advisor even suggested that the president stop answering all questions about the star wars project from the press the white house kept trying to make the strategic defense initiative or sdi replace what their political opponents had saddled them with eventually though as with all great names even the administration could no longer resist and began to lean into using star wars also of historical interest: when margaret thatcher was elected prime minister on may 4 1979 supporters placed an ad in the london evening news proclaiming may the fourth be with you the reference was obvious lightsabers are a ridiculous weapon good for movies and play but not the real world a pistol is much more effective as harrison ford demonstrated in the indiana jones movies equally ridiculous but good for movies are the stormtrooper ray guns no obvious automatic aiming mechanisms whats fascinating is the merging of commercial business and fan enthusiasm for star wars day disney in particular is very good at encouraging fans to go out all and go out we do for may the fourth… news coopersmith history may the fourth be with you star wars the college at work