My father introduced me to Star Wars at an early age. I’ll be honest, I absolutely loved The Phantom Menace as a kid, and often I think back and wonder how I was so naive to think Jar Jar Binks was cool.
But the movie was cool because it was something I could bond over with my dad, much like interests we share now such as archery or motorcycles, though he hates the idea of me crashing one.
Originally when I asked my dad to see The Force Awakens with me, I didn’t think he’d like it since he mentioned he didn’t have the best memory of the Star Wars timeline. It’s now a seven movie series, if you count what’s already hit theatres.
But I think he more than liked it.
The Force Awakens is one of those movies in a series where you learn to love every character, new and old, even without knowing who they are from previous films. It sets up a story which needs no introduction besides a classic script roll at the start.
It’s like watching an episode of The Office. You don’t need to know the backstory of every character because they’re funny on their own. With Star Wars, every character is interesting, witty, and relatable on their own, even if they all fly spaceships or have crazy mind powers.
As Rey and Finn, the movie’s main protagonists, invaded Starkiller Base, we leaned in closer to the screen to see what would unfold.
Both of our eyes were glued to the screen, but the glue suddenly melted as the conflict between Han Solo and Kylo Ren appeared on screen.
You see, Han Solo is a well-aged bounty hunter while his son Kylo has turned to the dark side. A father-son conflict couldn’t get tenser.
I looked over at my dad as Ren thrusted the lightsaber into Solo’s chest, and I could see his eyes get teary.
“Does my dad see me as Kylo Ren? The son who killed his father?” I thought.
But no, I could tell it was my dad thinking of his father who had passed years earlier. This scene is so powerful on its own, it is truly a testament to how a movie can make you express emotions you thought you never had, or bring back feelings of happiness, despair, or sadness which you never thought you would feel again.
I’ve always wanted to write about this, and it was always this line which prompted me to:
“Han Solo, I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” Ren says.
I’ve been waiting for a day which I know is inevitable. With my father being in his early 60s, it hits me harder every time he points to something in our house and says “this will be yours someday.”
My dad was always the Jedi master, I am still the padawan in training.
It was only after watching The Force Awakens with him when I realized how much I rely on my father. The same father who woke me up for every day of high school no matter how much I wanted to stay home, made me try new foods no matter how much I didn’t want to, and who cheered me on in hockey, no matter how many shitty games I had.
It’s these kind of things we often don’t think about once we get to university because we’re so caught up in essays, internships, eating something other than Mr. Noodles, and getting a job when we graduate.
Your parents are always thinking of you, in everything they do, no matter how far away at school we are.
My word of the wise is don’t wait till your parents die to thank them for everything they do for you.
Remember who got you here in the first place.
