I’m watching Star Wars: A New Hope with my family.
I’ve told my children what an influence Star Wars was on me, but I’m pretty sure they don’t fully grok it. How could they? They don’ t have the perspective.
But I remember how it exploded on my brain as a child. It was the first image I had of a strong woman in film. I mean here was this Princess that shot bad guys and bullied fools and gave orders instead of screaming and melting into a little cotton candy mess of tears when things went wrong.
Oh sure, there was Wonder Woman, but she was too clearly meant to be eye candy (and her fight scenes never looked convincing to my untutored eye). And there was the Bionic Woman. But she wasn’t in charge. Leia was the first female leader I encountered in fiction.
Certainly Star Wars is how I became a science fiction fan — that and a story by Issac Asimov in my fourth grade reading book called, “The Fun They Had”.
I have to wonder what will be the benchmark media (book, TV, movie, whatever) for my kids that exploded on their brains and made them think in a new way.
Oh, and I just gotta say: