A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

"Ted, the only people in the universe who have never seen Star Wars are the characters in Star Wars and that's cause they lived them Ted, that's cause they lived the Star Wars." - Marshall, How I Met Your Mother

Though the above quote is probably not true, it certainly feels true. The original trilogy, composed of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, was created in the 1970s and 1980s. In these releases, George Lucas created a cinematic universe, one that has attracted die-hard fans for decades.

The films have become classics. Movies that everyone knows and loves, though some more reluctantly than others. But more importantly, they have become cinematic heirlooms for the next generation. No, not The Next Generation, with capital letters. That’s Star Trek.

A great example is my family. In 1977, on opening weekend, my father begged my grandfather to take him to the movie theater to see A New Hope. He had seen posters for it and had heard rumblings that it was going to be an amazing science fiction experience, which is exactly what his nerdy eight year old self wanted. It was a Webb male bonding experience. Though the reel snapped, my Dad and Grandpa had held on to their ticket stubs (the only ones in the audience to do so).  They later went back to the theater and received a complimentary movie experience.

Years later, 29 of them to be exact, my sister and I were sitting in my Aunt Lena’s Oklahoma living room, complaining that we were bored. It was a weekend, so my father was home from training. He told us that he had a “princess movie” to show us. What he put in to the DVD player was most definitely not a princess movie. There was a princess in the movie, but I think most people won’t argue the fact that Leia is not the primary character. It was my first experience to a movie that helped shape my father’s childhood.

One of the things that local historians study is local families. The people in an area that help shape that area, that create the history that will later be studied. One of the most important things that make a family what it is are the traditions that those family members uphold. Sometimes those traditions are immediately putting the Christmas Tree up the day after Thanksgiving. Sometimes it’s going out at 3 AM to go shopping on Black Friday. But sometimes traditions are quieter than that. Sometimes they are simply a shared cinematic experience.