Well today is a day that many geeks, nerds, freaks, and any other term you can think of, look forward to during the year. It's Star Wars Day! So called because May the fourth, when said aloud, sounds very similar to the good luck saying in the Star Wars franchise of "May the Force be with you" (I am sure 99% of those reading this knew that but I felt I should give some background). The "holiday" started in 2011 when the details for the complete blu-ray box set of the first 6 Star Wars movies were released.
While I enjoy this day, and will be forcing my very understanding girlfriend to watch "The Force Awakens" again this evening, the whole day got me thinking about some things. 20 years ago, though millions of people loved and still regularly watched the original Star Wars trilogy, if an idea like "Star Wars Day" had been brought up in a group of 10 people by one of them, most likely the other 9 would have looked at him/her funny and made jokes about it. Now, thanks to the overwhelming acceptance of "geek culture" in this and many other countries, it is an accepted event.
Gone are the days, thanks in no small part to the wildly popular Marvel Comics-based movies, where a grown man can't walk down the street proudly wearing a shirt emblazoned with Captain America's shield, the Spiderman logo, or Superman's "S". Comic books are almost back to the popularity that they were in the early 90's, when Stan Lee was a young 70-year old!
Video games, once thought to be a fad and for a specific type of counter-culture, are now mainstream, with nearly half of the United States having some kind of video game system in their homes. And they aren't just for the pre-teen/teen-aged sons. Soccer moms play games on their phones while waiting for their kids to get out of school. Some companies even support "civilization-style" war games because it encourages team building. We've come a long way from playing "Joust" and "Galaga" in a shopping mall arcade or neighborhood pizzeria. One of the most acclaimed novels in the last couple of years, "Ready Player One", has to do with video games and the legacy that they have and will have.
Once upon a time the idea that TENS OF THOUSANDS of people would converge on a convention center in a major metropolitan area, dressed as their favorite comic book superhero, video game star, television character, or a storm trooper would have been considered ludicrous. Now it brings in MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to an area in just a few days. Even my hometown of Pensacola has gotten in on the act with Pensacon, which sells out within days of the announcement of when it will occur. For reference, the area of San Diego that hosts San Diego Comic-con, by far the largest convention in the world, brings in roughly $140 million for that week. THAT WEEK.
But, not all elements of this world have been so greatly accepted. The stigma of role-playing games still abounds. The idea of five or six pimply-faced teenage boys playing a pen and paper game with dungeons (oh no), dragons (oh my), and demons (oh Christ!), while scarfing down large amounts of pizza and sugary soda still scares people (we won't even get into LARPers). Why? Is it because unlike something on a movie or television screen it requires one to think more? By the way, some pretty famous people have at least TRIED to play role-playing games: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kevin Smith, Stephen King, Joss Whedon (ok, we knew that one), Stephen Colbert, and even Tim Duncan. Hopefully one day this will go away as well and more people will give it a try. Until then, my girlfriend will continue to clutch my arm tighter as we walk past those rolling around a D-20 when I make her go to a comic book store with me.
I guess what I am trying to say is, while yes, all "geek culture" is not the same, I admit this, but a few short years ago almost none of this would have been looked at favorably or even acknowledged. I think that if more people sat down and watched some people playing D&D or Rifts or even Warhammer 40K and saw the work that goes into playing one of these games then their opinion may change some.
Maybe the modern "geek" has changed. Maybe the world has also changed a little as well. And maybe it could stand to change a little more. All of that having been said, May the Fourth be with you and have a fun day no matter who you are.
Oh yeah, May the 5th, while known to most of us as "Cinco de Mayo", or the day we all drink a lot of margaritas, Coronas, and Dos Equis and pretend we are Mexican, is apparently also known as "Sith Day"...something I admit I didn't know. Either way, be safe and have a strawberry margarita for me for "Sitho de Mayo".
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