Star Wars and the Generation Gap

There are certain types of pop culture that turn into classics. References to them are recognized by pretty much everyone. One of the classic examples of this is the Star Wars series. The first movie, or the fourth instalment, was released in 1977 and triggered 5 more movies over the next 15 years. Even now, nearly 30 years after the release of the first movie, America is greatly anticipating a seventh movie that releases at the end of this year. When it was released it was one of the finest technical movies to that date, and used advanced CGI (Computer Generated Imaging). Now, of course, we laugh at the simplicity of such technology, and how obviously old it is. But, Star Wars still managed to become extremely present in Pop Culture. However, besides just being a great story, and a popular movie for movie buffs everywhere to geek out about, Star Wars: A New Hope, is a great illustration for the Generation Gap theory, as it came out right in the middle of a time of great change, and contains characters who display personality traits that were similar to certain American Generations. These characters include Luke, Han Solo, Obi Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, and Luke's Uncle - Owen.

Before 1977, there were really four generations that each of these characters fit into, and they each show different traits, some show things from two generations. First, Luke is pretty young, probably in his late teens when the first movie was released. They are brother and sister and pretty similar. Luke tends to be very critical of what other people are doing. For example, when on the Millennium Falcon for the first time, he questions everything the Han does. He wants an adventure, but when Obi Wan asks him to go with him to Tatooine, he refused saying he needed to stay and help his uncle. He questioned if he could be of any help. With this information, I believe that Luke's personality would place him with Generation X. On the other hand, Hans Solo is a few years older than Luke. He is pretty self-centered, and worked alot on his star ship. His personality would place him with the Baby Boomers. However, there one trait of Baby Boomers that he strongly does not fit in with: He is not optimistic, and isn't really that team-oriented. But, there are always outliers in generations as not everyone is the same. Now, as for Obi Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader and Uncle Owen, I would consider all of them to be from The Greatest Generation. However, I do think Uncle Owen was more of one of the people who was born in the transition time between then and the Silent Generation. Both Darth Vader and Obi Wan were serious fighters, and fought assertively. They knew their minds and had standards of what was right and wrong. They were Jedi's, and pretty epic. Obi Wan was loyal to the Jedi's. Uncle Own on the other hand showed the traits from the Greatest Generation of a strong work ethic, and not stopping working until he physically couldn't. However, from the Silent generation he displayed discipline and didn't want to fight much.

Every American generation related to technology, music, and conflict in a different way. The characters in Star Wars were no different. Each one reacted differently and uniquely, and some didn't react in the movie, but based on their generation I will make an educated guess. First, let's look at their reactions to technology.

Star Wars takes place in the future, where technology is even more advanced than it is now. People whiz around in hovercrafts and hyper-jump to lightspeed. Still, the characters react differently to their tech. Han Solo, of course, continually played with the technology of his ship to improve it. He loved the higher tech, like the guns, and got frustrated with Obi Wan's insistence of using his old fashioned light saber. Obi Wan knew how to use the technology, but prefered the gracefulness of his sabor. On the other hand, Luke was open to any technology. He was just as excited by the hovercraft as he was with the light saber. Darth Vader used both old and new tech. He used his light saber, and he was proud of the Death Star. Finally, Uncle Owen used his old fashioned farming tool, and bought used (stolen) droids to assist him. He fixed it up, which is similar to the trait from The Greatest Generation of "use it up, fix it up, make it do, or do without." Technology was very important in Star Wars, because in the futuristic galaxy, you never know when you would need your blaster.

Now, as for music, we can only relate the characters based on their American generation. I have never heard any futuristic music, but if the characters were born with the generation that their personality reflected, they would definitely have had a preference. Luke and Han Solo would have had similar taste, and have grown up with the Beatles and garage bands. Luke's generation would've transitioned into the classic rock stage, with bands like Queen gaining popularity in Luke's late teens/early 20's, and he also would've been part of the Punk Rock age. However, the three older men might not have enjoyed that rock'n'roll sound as much. They would've been born in the early 1900's, and transitioned to the roaring 20's swinging music. There would've been a very large gap between what the younger boys and older men would've prefered as far as music.

Finally, each generation lived through different experiences. Those events shaped how the people would've reacted to dangerous situations and conflict. Again, you can see the differences between the character in Star Wars. Obi Wan and Darth Vader remained calm, cool and collective when they were fighting each other, or faced with a tough situation. For example, when Obi Wan and Luke were stopped by the Storm Troopers who asked about the droids, Obi Wan just used the force. Luke freaked out a little bit. Obi Wan's generation, The Greatest Generation, was one of warriors. They fought many wars, and knew how to react. Darth Vader was the same way. Han Solo was similar to Obi Wan in he didn't freak out when something happened, but he was different in that he didn't remain calm. He reacted by shooting and fighting. He wasn't always wise in situations like Obi Wan, who would think. Han was reactionary. Lastly, Luke tended to panic. He would try to make a plan, but they were rushed. He was also a little reactionary, but not as much as Han. Luke was like a bad mix of the two generations.

The Star Wars saga is a piece of pop culture that is not only fun, but also can be used to study the different American generations before the 1980's. As a classic, it is impossible to imagine that Star Wars could possibly be left behind as a piece of old pop culture. It will remain a part of our history, and a part of our present as new generations watch and enjoy with the same amount of zeal and joy as the generations before.