Casting Call 5.07.08: Issue 53 - A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...
Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 05.07.2008
This week in Casting Call, 411's Jason Chamberlain takes a first look at his favorite story of all time; Star Wars!
About twenty years ago... in an apartment building about an hour away...
A young boy named Jason was mesmerized by laser swords, freaky aliens and a mystical power known as The Force. He would lay on the carpet staring up at the television for hours on end, completely lost in a galaxy far far away.
Of course that young boy was me, and to this day, I'm still lost in that galaxy.
I love Star Wars. Always have. Always will.
I'll go into greater detail in this column, but that's pretty much what it boils down to. From the first time I ever laid eyes on the Star Wars universe, I was blown away. Inspired.
I've gone on at length about my love for stories. Well, Star Wars is a pretty huge part of that. If there's one story that stands above all the rest for me, it would be the seemingly never ending story of the Skywalker family and the amazing and limitless universe they call home.
So today I'm going to try to ease into the Star Wars universe. Not with any one character, just an examination of what it is about the story that continues to hook me to this day.
I've always had an overactive imagination. I am a story teller, after all! That's why my interests always lean towards fantasy and science fiction. The world we live in does have a lot of possibilities and there's a whole lot that we can accomplish, but when it comes right down to it, we can't zoom off in a flying car, move mountains with our minds and battle with laser swords! There are limits on the things we can do, at least at this point in human history.
But there's no limit to what we can imagine, what we can dream. Maybe that's God's way of compensating us for the things we can't do in the world He gave to us.
My imagination knows no limits, and so I'm drawn to storytellers who share that quality. And clearly, George Lucas is one of them.
From the Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic, to the Sith Lords, to the beautiful planets and the star ships, space ports and hives of scum and villainy, seldom has the world seen such a rich and diverse story telling universe. As far as I'm concerned, the Star Wars universe is right up there with Middle Earth and Narnia on the list of the best fictional worlds ever created.
When a writer crafts a story, it's almost like he is building a theme park and inviting we the readers to come for a visit. We explore, we have fun, our hearts leap into our throats a few times, and at the end of the day we're usually really happy that we came. (Bear with me, I'm tired). My point is that no artist wants to work in a vacuum. Nobody ever designed a theme park and hoped no one would visit. No story teller ever wrote a story without wanting someone to come and enjoy it for themselves.
What is it about Star Wars that entertains me, and so many other people? Why do so many people want to visit that world over and over again? Six movies, countless video games, comics and books. Two TV shows on the horizon. There's no end in sight to the Star Wars universe, no matter what the haters say. Why?
For me, a big part is that limitlessness I mentioned earlier. Is there any better metaphor for the boundless human imagination than The Force? Just imagine, being able to grab onto the ‘life force' that creates all living things, being able to use it and manipulate it to do incredible things. Anything your heart and brain can dream up is something you can achieve with The Force. And just like the imagination, it can be used for good and it can be used for bad.
I'll cut the column a little shorter than usual this week because I'm short on time. Next week I'll get more in depth on the galaxy far far away and everything that makes it so cool.
