Revelations of a Child

In the Star Wars community, much has been said about how different generations perceive the franchise. For those of us like me, who grew up when the original trilogy was playing in theaters, the biggest revelation was that Darth Vader was Luke's dad.

Recently I caught my young son talking to his cousin, who is only a little older than him, about Star Wars. He was telling him that Anakin Skywalker turns into Darth Vader. It's funny that he really doesn't identify with Luke, Han, or Leia. It took many viewings of Return of the Jedi before I even remembered Darth Vader's former name.

But he has his own Star Wars - made up of Anakin, Darth Vader, Captain Rex, and Asoka Tano. The good thing is that we can still both share in the fun of being fans of the galaxy far, far away.

How It All Began

Some say sons are born with the desire to be like their fathers. That could explain why my toddler is already into Star Wars. But I also think that this one object helped him start his fandom. My sister gave me a Darth Vader bank for my birthday; it was just after my son was born.

It was pretty neat. If you put a coin into the bank, the Imperial March would play, Vader's lightsaber would light up as his arm raised up, and his torso would pivot left and right. After the music, Vader's voice would say, "The Force is with you young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet." But it was also a little annoying in that the music sample only included the first nine notes of the trumpets and it repeated it twice.

When my son was one year old, he found the bank and discovered that if you press the Star Wars button on the base of the bank, it would play as if you put a coin in the bank. At first he was scared of it, but still really interested in it. Over time, he got used to it and would press the button over and over again, much to the chagrin of mama who had to endure it all day!

When I was changing his diaper one evening, he started saying, "ba ba ba blblb ba." It took me a little while to figure out, but it hit me that he was trying to sing the Imperial March song! It was the first time he had actually sang something.

Today, years later, the bank is not in good shape. The arm has broken off and the batteries have worn down (mama is happy about that!). But even though the toy is broken, the fandom lives on: Star Wars is forever!