Star Wars: The Force Awakensis a classic. It is fun, thrilling, uplifting, funny. Basically, it offered the younger generations all of the inspirational and happy feelings they missed out on whenStar Warswas first released back in 1977, and now the younger fans can understand what their parents were on about. They can understand now, because if we look closely,The Force Awakensis a direct copy ofA New Hope.But that’s not something to be discouraged by, because ifStar Warshas taught us anything, it is that: what goes around comes around, and in life, andespeciallyinStar Wars,things will always come full circle.Star Warsis and has always been a generational tale and that is whyThe Force Awakenswas the best way to revamp what had been a rather stagnant franchise. The film revivedStar Wars,it brought old fans back and it introduced new ones, and despite its many parallels toA New Hope, The Force Awakensembodied that pure magical feeling ofStar Warsby balancing the old with the new.
George Lucashad always intended for there to be nineStar Warsfilms, and although theStar Wars Sequelsdid not follow Lucas’s original blueprinted storyline because the reigns ofStar Warswere taken over byDisney,directorJJ Abramsstill captured the essence and beauty ofStar Warsin a way that was necessary at the time ofThe Force Awakens’release. People argue that Abrams played it safe, but up until 2015, the core of theStar Warsuniverse mostly centered around the six films. There was noMandalorian,noRogue One,noAndor,no Boba Fett and Han Solo spin-offs. The die-hardStar Warsfans at the time ate up every bread crumb thatThe Clone WarsandStar Wars Rebelsoffered, because prior toThe Force Awakensrelease, fans could only dream and imagine and theorize about all thoseStar Warsstories that were, at the time, left untold. But before things likeRogue OneandThe Mandaloriancould come to fruition, or even before they possessed a true purpose, there needed to be a new gateway into theStar Warsfranchise, and that gateway was created byThe Force Awakens.
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Back in the early 2010s, fans were not ready for something as innovative asThe Last Jedijust yet after having minimalStar Warscontent to engage with. Before the universe could expand, weStar Warsfans needed to be reminded of why we love theStar Warsuniverse in the first place. Yes, JJ Abrams did replicateA New Hope,but so what? At the very core of everyStar Warsstory is a mythology centering around the same things: good versus evil, growing up, overcoming fears, the balance between the light and the dark, found families. That’s why so much of the saga’s stories rhyme and mirror and parallel each other, and we love it because we can relate to it all. We want theseStar Warsstories to be told over and over again.
Even though these stories are set in a galaxy far, far away, we have all, at one point, been a young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) looking off to the horizon wondering where the hell our lives are headed. We have all been an angsty, adolescent Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) battling our conflicting feelings of love and responsibility. And we have all beenRey (Daisy Ridley)at one point too, wondering where our true place is in this big wide world, longing to subdue our loneliness and to find solace in others. It did not matter thatThe Force Awakensmatched itself withA New Hope’sblueprint, becauseStar Warshas always been intergenerational, it has always been about family, and at that time in 2015, we were all just longing to feel those fuzzyStar Warsfeelings for the first time again.
‘The Force Awakens’ Was the Foundation for the New Era of ‘Star Wars’
Star Warshas also been about making its audience feel good. The saga’s staying power is due to its ability to create escapism, but its power also lies in its production of magic and hope and belief, so that when we do return to the reality of our lives, we at least feel a little more light and optimistic about the challenges we are going to face.Star Warshas never been a way to simply escape. It lets us escape, but it also informs us on how to be the best versions of ourselves.The Force Awakensproduced that magic and hope perfectly. The film is rendered with excitement and you’re on the edge of your seat the entire time. Due to the sluggish nature of the franchise at the time back in the early 2010s, fans were eager for those magicalStar Warsfeelings again. Alongside being a thrilling story laced with exhilaration and nostalgia,The Force Awakensfunctioned as a way to remind people whyStar Warsis great, and why this franchise will never die. The purpose ofThe Force Awakenswas never to delve too deeply into innovation, its function was to bring people back toStar Warsand to induct the next generation of young fans. Not only didThe Force Awakenscreate a gateway back into the saga, but it also made room for new stories to be told, and thanks to the building block that isThe Force Awakens,we now have stories likeThe Mandalorianthat expand theStar Warsgalaxy.The Force Awakensprovided the foundation for this new era ofStar Wars.Not only is the film already a timeless classic, but it also let directors likeRian JohnsonandDave Filonicreate, explore, and play around,and make theStar Warssaga richer.
