May The Fourth Be With You ...

 

Today was this year DePaul Pop Culture Conference: A Celebration of Star Wars

(This is the DePaul Light Saber that they handed out at C2E2)

First I have to admit that while I am aware of Star Wars culturally 

I would not say it is one of my main fandoms LOL

But over all I had a good time like always.

I got to present first thing in the morning on the There’s a Balance: Star Wars Narratives panel. I presented on “Holiday Celebrations In A Galaxy Far, Far Away …” 

When compared to other holiday specials from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as other fandom holiday specials, the 1978 Special was neither memorable nor iconic, yet it does not deserve to be despised. Its plot was simplistic but no worse than other such specials, though the 1978 special did desperately need an editor. The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020), Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales (2021), and Lego Star Wars: Summer Vacation (2022) have all addressed the first holiday special's pacing, narrative, and language flaws. So in conclusion, holiday celebrations in fandom and in a galaxy far, far away can have the Force be with them, even if they never will be classics.

If you want to read the paper I wrote, you can get this year's book (and support my favorite independent bookstore) here. 

Next, I got to the Academic Keynote, featuring Dr. Carmelo Esterrich, Columbia College-Chicago.

Dr. Carmelo Esterrich discussed looking at Star Wars in a context beyond what is typically thought about.

Beyond Universality:

While Star Wars is often considered universal, it is actually rooted in a very American context. Dr. Carmelo mentioned the series Star Wars Visions, which features shorts from celebrated animation studios from across the globe and looks at what Star Wars would look like in different national contexts. I have to say it looks really good, and I plan on watching some soon.

Beyond Monolithic

When many people think about Star Wars, they only think George Lucas was involved. It is important to consider all the people who collaborated on creating Star Wars: the cinematographer, the person who created the sound effects, etc. In addition, the Star Wars multiverse is not monolithic; for example, in the novels, there is much more LGBTQ+ content than in the movies.

Beyond Hierarchy

 

Many people see the Star Wars multiverse in terms of hierarchy, such as movies above everything else, live-action movies, or TV shows being above animated TV shows or comics, etc. In truth, we should consider all media. As Dr. Carmelo said, he sees Star Wars less in terms of cannon and more in terms of legends, and with legends, you often hear different versions of a legend without it being an issue of cannon.

Next, I attended the Continuity, Disconnection, and Transformations: The Transmedial, Paratextual, and Aural after lives of the Original Trilogy panel. 

 

Then was the Professional Keynote, featuring Claudia Gray, author of Star Wars: Bloodline, Leia, Lost Stars, Master and Apprentice, and more! Claudia Gray was a lot of fun. It was interesting to hear about her writing journey, from writing fanfiction to writing Star Wars novels. And that she chose Claudia for her pen name because of I Claudius. 

Next was The Cultural Center of the Universe: The Cultural Studies of Star Wars. which covered everything from queerness to gothic romance to simulated space flight. 

Next was The Empire: Politics, which explored The Use of Private Threat Actors by the Empire and Other Nation States, The Geneva Conventions in a Galaxy Far, Far Away, and “The Clone Wars as Anti-Enlightenment Text."

The last panel I went to was The Mythic Star Wars. It included discussions of mythic themes in the heroine’s journey of the Final Skywalker, The Monomyth of Inclusion: the Hero and Heroine's Journey, and The Power of Myth and Storytelling in Star Wars.