 | By Brian A. Gnatt Daily Arts Editor |
I hate the names used to label my generation. There's the most horrendous of them all - "Generation X;" "The MTV Generation" (any label that associates me with Alanis Morissette and Kurt Loder should be considered abhorrent) and the dim "13th Gen." Despite my hatred for all of these ridiculous identifications, it wasn't until recently that I found a label for my generation that I agreed with - a label I could relate to. I'm proud to be a member of the "Star Wars" Generation.
It may sound petty to define tens of millions of people by a Hollywood film and its two sequels, but "Star Wars" was the defining moment of my generation. Other generations have wars or political motifs to characterize themselves. But with the lack of any great national tragedy to shape our lives up to this point, we need to find a label for ourselves other than the apathetic Generation Nothing.
While my parents' generation vividly remembers where they were when JFK was shot, my generation has no single event of the same caliber. I remember where I was when I heard the Gulf War had begun. I remember Panama and Grenada. I remember seeing the space shuttle launches and the Challenger's demise. I also remember Reagan being shot, but I couldn't honestly say any of these events had a significant impact on my life, or better yet, defined my generation.
But I do remember when, where and who I was with when I saw the "Star Wars" films. To my generation, nothing we have experienced together has been as huge a phenomenon as "Star Wars." Luke Skywalker and Han Solo are more than household names - they will be ingrained in all of our memories until the day we die.
Are there any teen-agers or 20-somethings who haven't seen the "Star Wars" movies? Maybe a few sheltered souls who stay home on weekends listening to ABBA. But most of them have probably seen "Star Wars" numerous times.
The "Star Wars" Generation knows more about the Sarlacc Pit than the Secretary of State. Shunning the films could be seen as more anti-American than criticizing the president. I'd even go as far to bet most of the "Star Wars" Generation could name more crew members of the Millennium Falcon than they could name members of Congress.
Have you ever noticed how our generation can argue for hours about the movies? "Star Wars" is a topic about which everyone has an opinion. We can argue how the Ewoks ruined "Return of the Jedi"; what an evil man Billy Dee Williams is for giving up Han Solo in the "Empire Strikes Back," a career move that sentenced him to a life of Colt 45 commercials. We can argue about the point in time when Luke and Leia figured out they were brother and sister, and most of all, we can debate about which was the best film of the trilogy. (I vote for "Empire.")
What was it about "Star Wars" that made it such a phenomenon and set it so far apart from the rest? Aside from being excellent films, there were the action figures, the X- and Y-Wing Fighters, the Millennium Falcon, AT-ATs and other toys. There were the trading cards, the iron-on T-shirts, the books, the board games and as we got older, the CD-ROMs.
The Rebels vs. the Empire was a game that could be taken to the playground at recess, or to the Oval Office with Reagan's proposed nuclear defense system in space, "Star Wars." And who hasn't had a mock lightsaber fight with wrapping paper or paper towel rolls?
Categorizing myself as a member of the "Star Wars" Generation explains a lot about my peers. We care more about the entertainment industry (and pay more, too) than any generation before us. We care more about Beavis and Butthead than Bosnia and Chechnya. We are more likely to fight over McDonald's and Taco Bell than being a Democrat or a Republican. And we are probably more likely to go to tomorrow night's premiere of George Lucas' revamped generation-defining masterpiece than read tomorrow's newspaper.
Is this acceptable behavior? Probably not. But for better or worse, this is my generation. While today we are seen as apathetic and disinterested, maybe one day we'll wake up and make the "Return of the Jedi" transformation from the heartless and cold Darth Vader back to Anakin Skywalker. If only we all believed in The Force.
- Brian A. Gnatt can be reached via e-mail at bgnatt@umich.edu