The good in fantasy

       Sometimes movies set in fantasy, like Star Wars, seem to have no immediate connections to "real" life. These movies have large followings of people who enjoy getting lost in the fantastical Galaxy and the epic action of Jedi’s. The movies, like fantasy fiction novels, are created with the purpose of relating themes present in our realities but making them less severe by putting them into settings that seem completely unreal to us. George Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope takes place, as many know, in a galaxy far far away. But how far from reality is it? Surely we don't have Jedi’s with light sabers and imperials, the Vader dark side, summoning the "force," but we do have war. 

       The plot of New Hope revolves around a galactic civil war with the Imperials hunting down rebel Jedi’s. Civil wars occur in countries all around the world. I'm sure I'm not the only one who recalls a certain war between the North and South of our own country where Confederates not only fought their brothers in the North but also hunted down and slaughtered escaped slaves. In reverse, the Confederates were sometimes referred to as rebels and they wished to break away from the Union power of the north. The story of New Hope continues with the intense quest of Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan who must rescue the princess Leah. The good guys of the story, the rebel Jedi’s, blow up the Death Star. These fantastical plot movements might seem completely out of the realm of reality, but when you really consider war tactics of humans, the story isn't far off. People like George Lucas, director of numerous Star Wars films, indulge in creativity in order to fabricate worlds where people feel as though real life isn't so real.