To you this may be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever
written, but to me it’s perhaps the most meaningful letter I will ever write.
This is my love letter to Star Wars.
On average I reference Star Wars at least five times a day and
that’s because I love Star Wars. I don’t just love it like the stereotypical
white girl “loves” her Starbucks coffee or how a young man “loves” his favorite
football team. No, I love Star Wars the way I love my family and that is
because, in a stupid childish way, Star Wars is part of my family, it helped
raise me, and for a lost kid that galaxy far far away was home. As I stand in
line to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens I know that I’m about to return
home.
When a person asks me what my first memory is I know they
think I’m lying, but the first moment I remember was a three year old Jake
sitting in movie theater with his Mother, Father and possibly sister about to
see some old movie called Star Wars.
I doubt anyone in that theater knew what was about happen, my small
three year old life was about to change, I was about to fall in love for the
first time. I sat in that theater,
the lights dimmed and the previews played, then everything changed as that 20th
Century Fox fanfare played and then two words flew at the screen “Star Wars”,
the music howled and from that moment I was changed. I was in love with a young farm boy, a dashing smuggler, a
bold princess, a walking carpet, two droids and that galaxy they call home.
I’ve had girlfriends, old best friends, and past mentors,
but Star Wars has always been there and I know no matter how old I am it will
always be there. As I write this, I watch Return of the Jedi, in a room
littered with Star Wars toys and three very important Star Wars posters. These posters will eventually find
frames and hang in my future living room despite my future wife’s wishes
because to me Star Wars will always hold my heart.
In a weird way I doubt I could even explain why I love Star
Wars. I imagine it’s similar to
that moment some asks why you love someone else; you start this laundry list of
meaningful things that in reality don’t actually explain your love. Of course I love Star Wars for Luke,
Han, Vader, Lightsabers, X-Wings, Yoda, the story, or hell sometimes even the
prequels, but that doesn’t explain it. So now I’m going to attempt to, in a
very sappy over the top way.
If you’ve ever had a conversation with me you know I bleed
Star Wars. It’s in my roots; the
very fiber of being is defined by Star Wars. It’s similar to how a great teacher or grandparent can
define someone, when life is truly awful and for someone with depression it
occasionally gets awful I’ve always had a galaxy to escape to. To me Star Wars isn’t just a movie, and
it’s not just something I loved in my childhood and look back on fondly. To me Star Wars helps save me from the
dark side of myself everyday. It taught me hope in hopeless times that even
Darth Vader could save the galaxy; Han showed me what a friend could be as he
returned just in time to save Luke and help destroy the Death Star, and through
those three films I learned to never give in to the dark side because you don’t
where life will take you.
I learned way too much from three movies (the prequels didn’t
teach me anything). Yet, I don’t
regret it or hide it. I wear it proudly on bedroom walls, most of my shirts and
possibly soon my skin. Star Wars opened my imagination when I was three and
just this morning I fought of two Sith Lords in my kitchen using a spatula as
my lightsaber. Star Wars has this
marvelous ability to make me a child again, it fills me with an unexplainable
amount of emotion that can, and has, literally brought tears to my eyes.
When another person talks about loving Star Wars, and I’m sure
they do, it’s hard for me to imagine it compares to the wonderful sensation it
has in my heart. As selfish as it
sounds Star Wars is mine, as a child I went on many of my own adventures with
Luke, Han and Leia, they were my friends when I had none. In this galaxy I didn’t have anxiety, I
wasn’t in special education and I wasn’t afraid of my disability. It the greatest place, it’s a place
that not only showed me “movie magic”, but weirdly love. That one day you can
be going to Toshi Station to pick up some power converters and the next day your
last Jedi. That’s the reason I
will always love Star Wars because it’s mine in a way no one can possibly
imagine.
Just as I write this I can see how dumb this sounds, but to
me it means so much. It’s just hard
not to love it. If you read to this
I appreciate it, perhaps it can shed light on why I’m all Star Wars 24/7.
Now here we are on the verge of Star Wars: The Force
Awakens, without even seeing it this movie has helped me through so much. It’s
given me hope in hopeless times; just knowing that I get to return to my galaxy
far far away is one of the best things. So to Star Wars I say thank you.
May the Force be with you,
Jake Burke
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