It's common knowledge that I am a Star Wars Girl and that I have a thing for stormtroopers and Obi Wan Kenobi. It's also common knowledge that the one question I ask potential boyfriends is; “Do you like Star Wars?” My screening of these could be boyfriends shocks people. They assume I am being too picky and maybe need to focus on men that are not into geek stuff. I protest. Here is my reasons for making sure my future boyfriend likes Star Wars.

I am not a casual viewer of Star Wars. I probably watch the movies at least every other month. If it’s out at the theater, I will see it a couple a times.  If it’s on TV, I will have it tuned to that channel. What fun would it be to have a boyfriend who wouldn’t watch it with me? Possibly we would fight over the TV. He would want to watch Runaway Bride, and I would want to watch Return of the Jedi. There is NO WAY I will have Runaway Bride playing on my 32” inch TV screen.

Anyone with a large collection of Star Wars always has a Star Wars room. It wouldn't be much fun showing a guy, who doesn’t even know what an Ewok is.  He would not understand the need to have an entire room dedicated to Star Wars. He wouldn’t understand why I get all giddy walking down a toy aisle looking for Star Wars toys.  I’m sorry, but, I need a guy who enjoys Star Wars action figure hunting as much as me.

For me, a romantic getaway would be going to Orlando, Florida and spending the entire weekend at Star Wars Celebration. Can you just imagine how romantic that would be? Autograph collecting, vendor shopping, maybe bumping into Carrie Fisher. I can’t drag some guy along who hasn’t even seen the movies. He would never understand.

Lastly, I doubt I can get a non-Star Wars guy to dress as a Stormtrooper or don on the Obi Wan Kenobi robes. I would probably end up having to explain to him that the Jedi robe is not a bath robe! This would cause a ton of confusion in our relationship.

There are other dilemmas with having a non-Star Wars boyfriend. We couldn’t exchange Star Wars comics, swap action figures, discuss the Prequels vrs. The Originals or play SWTOR together.  That is why I also ask them if they like Star Wars. So go ahead, call me picky I’ll wait around until the perfect Star Wars Guy comes along.  

Last week it was announced that George Lucas  named Kathleen Kennedy as his successor.  We all have known for a while that George Lucas has wanted to step away from Star Wars to focus on other movies (artistic movies). To be honest, how George was going to go about this remained a mystery until this shocking announcement.  The question remains is Kathleen Kennedy a good choice?

Kathleen Kennedy is no novice to the business. Starting from the bottom as Steven Spielberg’s secretary she worked her way up to producing such great movies as ET, The Sixth Sense, and Schiendler’s List. Just check out her IMBD page, and you’ll see the long list of movies she has produced. Also, her experience working with Steven Spielberg helps since he has worked on  number of projects including Indiana Jones  with George Lucas.

No stranger to running a large company, Kathleen Kennedy has her own company called The Kennedy/Marshall Co.  with partner Frank Marshall. Many award winning movies have been produced from this company, including Sea Biscuit and War Horse. It comes as no surprise that George Lucas would choose a business minded person to take over his company.

Though Kathleen is highly qualified, George Lucas hasn’t completely given up the power. He will remain the CEO and Kathleen will co-chair  the company. I think that this is helping her transition into her new role.  George Lucas will never give up complete control of his beloved Star Wars no matter how much he says he wants to create “other movies.”

Rumors are swirling after this announcement. In fact, while listening to The Weekly Forcecast. Jimmy Mac predicted that Kathleen has been chosen to  bring fans to the live action show and create  Episodes 7, 8, and 9. I think he does make an excellent point. Kathleen Kennedy gave up her own large company to join Lucas, and she is powerful enough to push these major projects.

It is a comforting thought to know that George Lucas is taking care of our beloved Star Wars Franchise. Bringing young viewers into the Star Wars fold helps ensure that Star Wars stays alive, even after George Lucas. 

One character that remains the most popular character in the Star Wars Universe is none other than the rogue Han Solo.  It was Harrison Ford that brought this character to life, and gave us such great lines  as: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” and “Laugh it up, fuzzball!” What makes Han Solo such a cool character?

 Here are my top ten reasons: 

1.       Good/Bad Boy:  He’s the guy with the heart of gold, but had a tendency to go against the system. He’s not your tie wearing, drive within the speed limit, type guy. Inspite of him being a smuggler, you could trust him with your life. Lest face it ladies, it’s these type of guys that get our hearts racing.

2.       Confident:  The guy reeks of over-confidence. For the most part his confidence is correct. He believes in his ship the Millennium Falcon, his buddy Chewbacca, and his own Beliefs. Sure, he was wrong a couple of times, (remember when he thought Leia loved Luke instead of him?), but he seems to pull himself together pretty quickly. 

3.       Good-Looking: I really don’t have much to say to this. Just look at a picture of him. Blaster at his side, rouge haircut, and that crooked smile. **SIGH** yep I’ve got nothin’ to say.

4.       The Underdog:  Leia is a princess, Luke is a Jedi, and Han is just your average underdog. He is one of the regular Joes fighting for what’s right. He’s down to earth, and we can relate to him.

5.       Funny:  Han Solo brings us the comedy. There are certain moments in Star Wars that can get pretty serious, and to be honest, Luke and Leia were never that funny unless they were with Han Solo. My favorite comedic scene was when Han Solo is running head first into a group of blaster carrying Stormtroopers screaming at the top of his lungs. This is my favorite scene from Star Wars hands down.

6.       Cocky: This basically is the same as confident, but Han could be cocky at times. He knew Leia was attracted to him, and he pushed her buttons; he knew he could fly well and told Obi Wan so; and he knew that he loved money. At times he needed a good slap, but for some reason his cockiness was attractive.

7.       He’s Got Problems:  Like most of us, Han Solo has his own personal problems. He’s got some serious debt to pay off. This, if you think about it, makes it understandable that he has a tough time choosing to either pay off the debt or fight in the war. This just proves once again how down to earth Han Solo is.

8.       He Drives A Piece of Junk: Just like the vehicle I drove to work in, Han cruses around in a hunk of junk. He’s not embarrassed about it, and doesn’t plan on getting rid of the Millennium Falcon. Don't we all had vehicles like that? ;)

9.       His Best Friend is A Wookie: Described as a “Big walking carpet.” Chewbacca can be cuddly, but if you mess with him too much, he’ll rip your arms out of their sockets. Han knows how to choose his friends wisely, and who doesn’t love a Wookie?

10.   He Wins the Love of The Princess: With any classic story, the rouge eventually wins the heart of the reluctant princess. A classic way to end a classic story.

During the Memorial Day weekend, I re-Watched Return of the Jedi. I couldn’t help but think that what happened in the Prequels only enhanced my experience with Return of the Jedi.  So please bear with me as I once again go on my campaign for the Prequels.

Remember the scene where Luke asked the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi about there being another Jedi? Well, as soon as they started going into that discussion, I couldn’t help but think of Padme giving birth to Luke and Leia. As soon as she passed away Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Prestor Organa whisked the twins away separating them in order to protect them from their Father. To me, that scene combined with what I know of the twins birth in Revenge of the Sith, helped me to see the total realization of how incredible that would be to realize you have a sister, and in Luke’s case, maybe she could help him face his father.
    
While Luke is trying to grasp at the realization that his father is Darth Vader, and that he has to face him, I kept thinking of Anakin before he became a tool of the Dark Side. Here was a little boy who won a pod race, went  to fight in The Clone Wars,  and then married Padme. Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi is no longer to me just a rasping voice behind a mask, but rather a man who abandoned his order, turned on his wife, and had no idea he had children. On top of all that, he is willing to kill his son Luke if he has too. See how much deeper Vader has become since the creation of the Prequels?

Another scene that made me think of the Prequels is when the Emperor tells Luke that he has orchestrated the entire destruction of the Rebel Fleet. He knew everything that was going on. Palpatine, even after all those years, is still the man behind the scene pulling the puppet strings. We really saw how incredibly good he is at manipulating things in both the Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. I also found it potent that Luke tells him his over confidence will be his downfall.  Somebody needed to tell him that in the Prequels!

Of course the scene that really is the most powerful scene in Return of the Jedi was made even more meaningful to me since the making of the Prequels; it is the awesome scene where Darth Vader and Luke are fighting. As I watched Luke wield his lightsaber, I could see the concentration on his face as he was also trying to control the building rage inside him that was the dark side.

 I couldn’t resist thinking of a scene between Anakin and Obi Wan Kenobi. Think back to the Lava Pit scene in Revenge of the Sith where Obi Wan is fighting an out of control Anakin. Obi Wan watched Anakin spit out words of rage as his body was consumed, not only by lava, but also the Dark Side. This scene made me realize how incredible it was that Luke resisted the Dark Side, but that Darth Vader abandoned the Dark Side to save his son. You wouldn’t think that would happen after watching the Lava Pit scene.

Before I ramble on, I have one more scene that really made me see the importance of the Prequels.  It is the celebration scenes. The Death Star has been destroyed, Vader has killed Emperor Palpatine, and the grip of the Emperor has been broken. I believe that the Prequels help us to better understand why it was so amazing that the Empire fell.

To me the end of Return of the Jedi was that much more amazing because of the Prequels. Whether you agree or disagree with me, I stand by the Prequels. They changed my view of the Originals in a good way and have only enhanced my experience.