May the FOURTH Be With You: Star Wars Day and Carrie Fisher
As every respectable self proclaimed nerd and geek is celebrating "Star Wars" Day on this May 4th, 2017 I can't help but think about how far the universe has actually come.
Sure, it's 2017 and we have these little light up boxes in our pockets with the capacity to search an infinite lifesource known as "the INTERNET" but socially, how far exactly have we come?
About 7.3 billion people on this tiny piece of space rock that orbits a massive star (which in reality is just as small as our planet in relation to other bigger stars in this universe) and yet we still divide ourselves instead of finding unity in numbers over the most basic, simplistic feature: gender.
Despite the apparent technological advancements of smartphones and the world wide web, women globally are still limited in what precisely they CAN do.
When most people think about May 4th, they either think about one of three things: just another day, Star Wars Day, or the day before Cinco de Mayo. Yes, I too automatically fit in the "Star Wars" Day category, having been a fan of the film series before I could 1. ride a bike without training wheels and 2. fully understand the intricacies of George Lucas and his SW Universe; but somehow my mind always drifts to the women of the Star Wars franchise.
It all started when I was 4 years old and for Halloween I couldn't decide on what to go as. I was tired of wearing the same princess costumes my grandmother had sent me and I didn't want to match my friend for another year as a tiger or leopard in some excessively plush zoo themed onesie. I remember standing in the walkway of the kitchen talking to my mother about costumes, when I heard my father's voice:
"Why don't you dress up as Queen Amidala"
Yes, this QUEEN AMIDALA
My father, is a full fledged nerd. Ask him anything about nerd culture from Star Wars to early Marvel comics to 80s electronica and he probably knows the details behind the computer tricks and masterminds behind the popular geek culture we know today...
This was impactful to me at a young age because we all know how bad ass Natalie Portman was as Padme but I still remember crying in my room after my mother put on the white face makeup and my father trying to coax me out of my room as I had instantly regretted my bold Halloween costume choice at the last minute.
My emotions after seeing pasty, white Queen Amidala makeup on my face
Nonetheless, it always stuck with me how fearless, and memorable the trailblazing women of Star Wars were. On December 27th of last year, Carrie Fisher (the actress who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars film series) passed away and a flood of support and love from fans of all ages absolutely consumed the internet.
For many fans, particularly the female ones, characters like Princess Leia and Padme represented a silent mass that had finally been given a voice in mainstream, nerdy popular culture. No longer the buxom babes of science-fiction-fantasy past, women had become more than pawns in a man's "galaxy" or pinups in a spacesuit: they were leaders and fighters.
From this...
To THIS!!!
From the damsel in distress who faints in her lover's arms as he shoots wildly at an alien horde, to an energetic, capable women who calls out at a "stuck up, half witted, scruffy looking nerfherder", I am infinitely thankful for what Star Wars has meant for me and for "nerdy" and "geeky" women everywhere who were inspired by such early roles for women in mainstream popular culture. Today the hashtag #starwarstaughtme has revealed millions of lives that have been impacted by the film series and timeless stories. Looking back on my initial, I guess we have come pretty far if a few fictional women in a "galaxy far, far away" can change so many lives on this one little space rock.
