The Church of Star Wars

  
Today is the day! It’s finally here. The moment many have been waiting on for well over a year now. We’ve watched every trailer associated with it. We bought our tickets 6 months in advance. And tonight… It happens. 

The new Star Wars comes to the big screen!

The force who has laid dormant for years awakens. And with that… So does a renewed excitement for the greatest movie saga of all time. 

This is truly exciting! Those who grew up watching the movie series feel as though a piece of their childhood has come back. Those who are kids now… are excited about the being able to watch something their parents watched as kids. And those who never watched Star Wars… I’m so sorry your childhood was incomplete. But it’s not to late to start. 

Spoiler Alert!

“If anyone spoils the movie for me… Our friendship is over!” 

If I’ve seen this post on social media once… I’ve seen it a thousand times over the past few days. We obviously can’t all go see the movie at one time. People will be talking about the movie. Why? Because they’re stinking excited about it. That’s what we do! When we’re excited about something… We tell people!

So good luck to everyone who has tickets for this weekend. Your only chance to not find out any information is to go hide in the woods until show time. 

There is no denying that George Lucas has created disciples and the news of Star Wars has been spread from generation to generation. 

So how have they been able to spread the message of Star Wars so effectively?

1. The Presentation

Lucas understands the power of story telling. Not just connecting people to the movie… But connecting people to the characters. Within the story of Star Wars, there are numerous stories happening. You aren’t just introduced to Luke as a grown man. You get the back story of Luke. How he got to where is was now. 

We think of characters like Jar Jar and BoBa as real people. There are love stories, family conflict and much more happening all within one story. It’s stories we understand and relate to. 

That my friends is the power of presentation. Taking people on a journey and connecting them with the story.

2. The Timing

Star Wars was released at the height of Space Exploration. The entire nation was very curious about space. We were sending people up in rockets. Trying to land them on the moon. Televising every big NASA event. 

Astronauts were more famous than movie stars. 

It was a fascinating moment in our nations history. And Lucas knew it. There was no better time to release a story about space then at a moment where space exploration had so much attention. 

If people aren’t curious about a subject… They will not spend any effort or energy to learn more about it. And this is something that Lucas knew. So he struck while the iron was hot!

3. The Multitudes

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed… But Star Wars has more followers than any other film. Ever. And there is one major reason for it. 

They continue to reinvent themselves in every generation. 

I grew up under episodes 4-6. Teenagers today grew up under episodes 1-3. And now my 9 year old and her class mates are excited about a new wave of Star Wars. That Genius!

Sure… They could have stayed right where they were with the first three episodes. It was a classic even with those three. But they understood the world was changing. And with it… the technology. So at some point the old movies I loved would look like the “Claymation Rudolph” in a “Pixar” world. 

And if they wanted to capture the attention of future generations… They knew they had to change their approach. And they have done so very well!

4. The Excitement

Once they have all generations sucked into the story… The excitement begins to build for all. We can’t wait to see what’s next. We talk about it with anyone who will listen. 

We make our predictions about what will happen. And we buy tickets well in advance and stand outside for hours to get the best seat possible. 

We can’t wait for it to begin. We wouldn’t dare be late. And if you try to talk to anyone while it’s going on… It may be the death of you. 

The excitement of what’s to come is part of the fun. The anticipation. Lucas does an excellent job of creating that atmosphere. 

The presentation sucks you in to the story. The timing of the story is everything. And they have constantly changed the presentation to fit the current generation. From there the excitement builds. 
That my friends… That is how the church or Star Wars has grown it’s congregation. 

There are many lessons we can learn from George Lucas and the Star Wars saga. But I will let you figure those out!

Happy Star Wars day friends….

P.S.

If you tell me what happens… We won’t be friends! Ha! J/K

Essex