"Oh, how trite," you're probably thinking, "Stars Wars is the most overused reference to end all references." I must admit, I myself thought it painfully cartoonish to use Star Wars as the basis for a discourse on the current state of American culture -- and really, shouldn't I be talking about something more recent, like Lord of the Rings; the series of books and now wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am blockbuster films that George Lucas openly admits his three-act-mystical-space-opera is based on? But the fact that Star Wars is such a tired topic is precisely why I chose to use it, because everything in American culture is tired and overused or on its way to becoming a cliche. Everything is a reference to a reference to a reference, a product of a product of a product. Ideas are bought and sold and used as fuel in the culture machine -- churned out into movies, music, soundtracks and limited-edition action figures. If capitalism has replaced religion, then the only way to express your piety is to consume its products. How else will people know what you believe in unless you own the movies, music, soundtrack and limited-edition action figure? Which brings us back to the topic of Star Wars.
Did you know that in the last major census, you could claim "Jedi" as your official religion? Indeed. "But isn't Star Wars a synthesis of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Catholicism?" Oh, clever reader! You've gotten ahead of me! Although you forgot to mention Gnosticism, Stoicism, Confucianism, and the Code of the Samurai, you are a sharp one nonetheless. But do you still not see? This is why Star Wars is the quintessential American product. Who else but an American could synthesize the world's religions into a three-part motion picture with space ships, Muppets, and a cheesy romance to boot? But please, don't take my mocking tone to mean that I see Star Wars as sacrilege. Far from it! I think a thoroughly convincing case could be made that Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ is tremendously more riveting than a dry reading of the Gospels. After all, widespread literacy is a relatively new invention -- for thousands of years it has been in the hands of artists, actors, and raconteurs to spread mythology.
George Lucas is a modern storyteller, an American storyteller. So next time you open your Star Wars lunch pail and drink from your Hans Solo thermos, think of it as asserting your religious beliefs. (Although Peter Jackson's screen adaptation of Lord of the Rings really is better. I mean, look at the man's resume: Heavenly Creatures, Meet the Feebles...really, now.)