THE TRUTH IS THAT HULK IS HARD PRESSED TO THINK OF A FILM THAT BETTER UNDERSTANDS THE IMPORTANCE OF 'THE ASPIRATIONAL YOUNG FIGURE' (A MUCH BETTER WORD THAN HERO) THAN THE ORIGINAL STAR WARS. MEANING THERE'S BEEN SO MUCH CONCENTRATION ON FORMULA/STRUCTURE AND YET WEIRDLY THERE'S BEEN SO LITTLE ATTENTION PAID TO THE 'WHAT' OF THE FILM AND WHY IT MATTERS. IT GETS SO MUCH ATTENTION FOR IT'S POPULARIZATION OF THE HERO'S JOURNEY, BUT THAT REDUCTIVE ANALYSIS UNDERMINES NOT ONLY HOW FRESH AND INVENTIVE IT WAS IN TERMS OF HOW IT COMMUNICATED THOSE CLASSIC ARCHETYPES, BUT HOW POWERFUL THE FILM WAS TOO. MAKE NO MISTAKE, STAR WARS IS ABOUT SOMETHING. NO MATTER WHAT, THERE WILL BE THE SIMPLE, INESCAPABLE TRUTH FOR MANY OF US: THAT THE ORIGINAL FILM DOES NOT ONLY HAVE GREAT MEANING FOR US, IT ACTUALLY DEFINED 'MEANING' IN THE FIRST PLACE.ДЄND TO HULK, THIS HIGHLIGHTS THE SPECIAL POWER OF THAT FILM'S STORY. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF HULK GROWS TO HATE IT. NO OTHER PROPERTY IS SO UNDOUBTEDLY AT 'THE EPICENTER OF MEDIA' FOR MOST PEOPLE.ДЄND AS SUCH, THERE MEANS THERE WILL ALWAYS BE 'THE CORE'.Д«ECAUSE IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT HULK HAS GONE THROUGH EVERY ITERATION OF THIS RELATIONSHIP WITHВ STAR WARS IMAGINABLE. AND HULK'S STORY IS THE STORY OF MANY PEOPLE'S RELATIONSHIP WITH STAR WARS. AS WE OFTEN LEARN, THE SPECIFIC IS UNIVERSAL. BUT SUCH IS THE WAY MOST POP CULTURE EXPERIENCES GO. IT'S WEIRD WATCHING 'MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU' PARADES NOW WATCHING SOMETHING THAT WAS SEEMINGLY SO PERSONAL BECOME SO SATURATED AND HOLLOW. HULK TRULY WENT THROUGH THE DEPTHS OF UNPOPULARITY FORВ HAVING SUCH A RELATIONSHIP TO STAR WARS, THEN ON TO THE POPULAR HOPE OF RETURN TO PROMINENCE AND CELEBRATION, AND THEN LATER ON TO THE STRANGE SENSE OF DISCONNECTION WITH THE WORLD'S CELEBRATION. HULK CAN TELL YOU INTIMATE DETAILS OF SLAVE I'S DESIGN OR THE MECHANICS OF BOSSK'S CONCUSSION RIFLE (WHILE REGRETFULLY, MEMORIZATION OF AFRICAN CAPITALS HAS FALLEN BY THE WAYSIDE). HULK PLAYED EVERY VIDEO GAME (WILL IT GET BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL DARK FORCES?). HULK READ EVERY DAMN EXPANDED UNIVERSE BOOK. HULK LEGIT WORE THE VHS TAPES DOWN TO THE NUB. IT OF COURSE STARTED WITH THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY THEN MOVED INTO OUTRIGHT OBSESSION. FOR HULK CANNOT EXPLAIN THE DEPTHS OF FANDOM HULK HAS HAD FOR THIS UNIVERSE. BOTH GRANDLY UNIVERSAL AND YET DEEPLY PERSONAL.

AND AS SUCH, OUR RELATIONSHIP TO STAR WARS ALWAYS SEEMS. THEY'VE HAD INITIAL JOVIAL ELATION, SUFFERED AT STUPENDOUS DISAPPOINTMENT, HAD SHEER 'GROWING UP' MOMENTS WITH PREQUELS. AND BECAUSE IT'S LASTED 40 YEARS, PEOPLE HAVE HAD ENTIRE ARCS OF EXPERIENCE WITH IT. SOME OF US SAW IT AS YOUNG PRECOCIOUS KIDS WHO DIDN'T KNOW OUR LIVES AND UNDERSTANDING OF STORIES WOULD FOREVER BE DEFINED BY IT. SOME OF US SAW IT IN 1977, PERHAPS ON A DATE WITH OUR FUTURE SPOUSE. FOR MANY OF US, IT'S BEEN A PART OF OUR ENTIRE LIVES. SAY THEM AND IT'S NOT JUST A SINGULAR NOTION THAT COMES TO MIND, INSTEAD AN ENTIRE HISTORY BEGINS RATTLING AROUND IN OUR BRAINS. THOSE TWO WORDS CAN ELICIT ENTIRE WORLDS OF THOUGHT.

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