This man was my number one hero growing
up. He was everything I wanted to be, and everything I felt I
couldn't be.
He was the HERO of the series. It was
his DESTINY to help the rebel alliance overthrow the evil Galactic
Empire. It was his DESTINY to fight against the father who abandoned
him as a babe. And, right there we cut a little too deep. Lol.
I have the greatest dad in the world. I
really do. But, I don't know the man who donated his genetics for my
existence. I know his name, but I've never seen him. I've never even
seen a picture of him. I tell myself that's fine and dandy, that I
don't need to know him or anything about him to know how well my life
is going to turn out, but there's always that little voice in the
back of my head. The one that whispers how unwanted I am.
I am wanted though. I am needed. By my
mom, by the man I call dad, by my wife, and by every other member of
my family. I am needed and I am happy.
I don't need to know a sperm donor to
be happy.
So, back to Luke Skywalker...
I got nothing. Lol.
He's the first to become a Jedi after
the bulk of the Jedi Order was obliterated by the Sith lord, Darth
Sidious, at the end of the Clone Wars. He's trained by both Obi-wan
Kenobi and Yoda, two of the primary figures in the Jedi Order, and
they were the only ones to survive the culling of the Jedi.
Luke successfully uses the force to
destroy the Death Star... and good God Almighty! After basically
worshiping him through my early teens (I read my first Star Wars
novel in the 6th grade, and I'd seen the movies before
that), you would think I'd have more to say about him.
He's a hero archetype, and one of the
ones everyone wants to see. Luke Skywalker has nothing at the
beginning of the story. Even the characters around him don't have any
reason to find something special in him. This is part of the
underdog, the unexpected hero. He's a regular Joe, so far as the
casual movie goer cares to know. Then he's taken out of his natural
environment and thrown into extraordinary circumstances.
That experience works to harden him,
inside and out, as he goes through different trials. Luke is not the
same Luke he was at the beginning of the story. He's not the same
Luke that sneaked the droids past Stormtroopers. He's not the same
Luke who rescued Princess Leia. He's not the same Luke as when Darth
Vader murdered Obi-wan Kenobi. Each experience compounds on the last,
driving him forward, until the moment when he destroys the first
Death Star. That moment is when he stops being a child, when he stops
relying on toys, and takes comfort in the power of the force.
Luke “becomes” a man when he
chooses to use the force over the targeting computer. He grew because
he stepped out of his comfort zone and realized, yes, I am small, but
I destroyed the Death Star. I can take on the Empire. I can make a
difference. That was the real climactic point in the movie. Not when
the Death Star was destroyed, but when he relied on the force. The
climactic point of both the inner struggle and the physical/exterior
struggle should come at the same time for the greatest effect on the
audience.
And, I don't remember what I was
talking about now. I should really find some way to organize these
things so they make more sense.
I dunno.
Ryan
6-17/18-14
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