I went to see the latest Star Wars movie last night. (I'm going to just pause for a moment while you let that sink in.) My daughter and her fiance were going for opening night and invited Traci and I to join. So, we went. Don't worry. No spoiler alerts. ;-)
Disney has a lot riding on this one. They are hoping that the attempt to revitalize the Star Wars franchise will bode well for them. Everything was positioned to reach out to older (like me) and newer (like my daughter) audiences and bring in big money as a result. They expect opening weekend to bring in around $200MM with a total worldwide, movie-long sales nearing $2 Billion. Not bad for a business move. It just might work.
I remember the first time I watched a Star Wars movie in 1977. I went to the theater for the first release of the first movie - the one affectionately referred to as "Episode IV" now. We were so excited to see the special effects. Everyone wanted a light saber, a space ship, and a sidekick robot or two. We all ran around saying things like, "Use the force, Luke," and "May the force be with you." We were hooked.
Back then, however, Disney was not involved in the making of the movie. There wasn't a large corporation putting together a movie that would draw from a target audience to yield the greatest box office income possible. No, back then it was a man who was trying to take his picture, his vision, and bring it to cinematic reality. That's what he did.
Don't get me wrong, George Lucas did some of the same marketing things that Disney did today. He just drew from a different source that was much more deeply embedded in us than the revitalization of a franchise. He drew from our religion. He drew from our belief systems. He drew from our faith.
You see, there were about 47.5 Million Roman Catholics in the United States in 1980. Many of them were attending Mass every week, just like I was. Every week, then, they heard the priest say, "May the LORD be with you." We would respond, "And also with you." In addition, many of the other Protestant Christian denominations and churches had similar structures to and sayings in their services. Not only that, Hinduism was becoming popular in the colleges and universities of the day. There was something mystic, positive, and appealing to the college students of the 60's and 70's. Lucas knew this, too. That's why his portrayal of "the force" matches quite well with the Hindu-Christian blend that was becoming popular back then. It is also why there was such seeming power in the phrase, "May the force be with you." He crossed denominational lines within Christendom and even over into the world religions popular with the youth of the day. His movie pulled from the deepest part of ourselves: our faith.
Today, it doesn't seem to have the same impact - at least not to those of us who are in the "older" crowd. Many of the interdenominational "wars" are just becoming old, boring, and passe. More and more churches are shedding their denominational differences and just identifying themselves as "Christian." As of 2010, Non-denominational has become the third largest identifier used by Christians. Hinduism is not just some cool, far-off, idealized religion. Instead, it is the faith system of the real people we encounter in our schools, at our convenience stores, and on the service call we make when the computer is not working. We are starting to see things more clearly now. Yahweh is God. The others are not.
So, I went to a movie. I enjoyed it immensely. But I'm not going to be running around wanting a light saber any time soon. (Well, maybe if it is really cool looking.) More importantly, you won't hear me wishing you well by hoping some impersonal life force will be there to help you in your time of need. No, what I want for you is much better and definitely more real. When I look to the stars, I will speak to the maker of the stars. Then, I will ask that personal, loving, all-powerful God to be with you: May the LORD be with you.
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