It’s a silly pun, yes. I don’t know who thought that we needed a day to celebrate Star Wars. What used to be the territory of nerds, geeks and fanboys has now become part of the popular culture. You have to travel pretty far and wide to find anyone who doesn’t know what Star Wars is.
Today Star Wars fans have an embarrassment of riches, thanks to the corporate overlords at Disney. With Star Wars movies being the blockbuster money grabs that they are, audiences can certainly expect to see a Star Wars property screening at their local theaters at least once a year.
Regardless of your feelings about The Last Jedi, or your level of anticipation of the upcoming Solo, Star Wars fans can all agree that Star Wars is not going anywhere soon. If you didn’t like the last movie… well… the next one will be better. And if you don’t like the new movies, you always have the old ones to play on your home systems, be it on DVD or Blu-ray or a digital file on your computer or even and old VHS of the integral version (the one where Han shot first). You can pull out your old Kenner action figures, your soundtrack albums, your posters, your bedsheets, your pajamas, your Darth Vader mask, your glow-in-the-dark lightsabers, your Millennium Falcon model or your plushy BB8… any of the ridiculously varied tie-in products that are available world-wide until you feel better.
So why do we need a day to celebrate one of the most celebrated franchises in the history of cinema? Is it because you can never get too much of a good thing? Or is it because one more opportunity to bring the Star Wars franchise to the forefront of the public’s consciousness is one more opportunity to squeeze a buck out of them?
Either way… enjoy the 4th.
