Steve Mcgillivray found his way back to being a Star Wars fan through watching his daughter’s fascination flourish with the Galaxy Far Far Away.
By Steve McGillivray // Every parent wants to pass on something to their children. You want to give them the best start possible in life and prepare them for adulthood. These are things I certainly aspire to, but there are some very specific things I want for my daughter. I want her to see a wild animal and be moved, to look at the night sky and be amazed and most of all I want her to grow up with a vivid imagination and a sense of wonder. For me, this is pretty important. It was something that was instilled in me at the moment I saw a certain movie as a five-year-old in 1977. On the day I write this, my own daughter Ana has just turned five.
Now, before I continue, I want to make it clear I’m not one of those dads that buys the [insert your sports team of choice] jersey in an infant size and drags the baby along to the game while they are still in nappies, strapped to my chest like an emergency parachute. I like what I like and through osmosis or something, some of that will seep into Ana’s consciousness, but I was determined from the outset that I wouldn’t force my pop culture and sporting interests on her. As she has gotten older though, she has told me the Broncos are her favorites (but I know she has no real interest, she just wants to curry favor with Dad). It’s natural that she’ll gravitate towards my wife and I’s interests.
In the last year, as she started collecting Disney princesses and My Little Pony and with them started creating her own adventures, her eyes became drawn to my Star Wars collection. In particular the action figures seemed to spark her interest, I think, from the collecting bug that she has probably inherited from me. Initially, she’d ask the names of the characters and was quickly able to recite them. She would ask to look at the character guide and encyclopedia and was genuinely interested in the varied array of characters that reside in the Star Wars universe. Naturally, I was only too happy to tell her little bits of back story and to try and connect the dots between some of the characters.
At this point I still fully expected the overwhelming pinkness of My Little Pony and the combined might of the Disney princesses to be too much for a galaxy far, far away. Much to my surprise, however, over the course of several weeks Ana’s interest began to grow. She began to ask when we could open my figures (yes, they were boxed and no, they were not vintage). I admit, I was hesitant to open them but several podcasts–Brews & Blasters included–persuaded me that was a foolish standpoint. Much to my wife’s continued surprise, I busted open my 12” Han Solo/Han Solo in carbonite two-pack from the Power of the Force 2 line. I have never felt so liberated. Ana went crazy. She had a Star Wars character to hang out with her dolls.
I decided I’d seen enough independent interest from her and wanted to try and nurture that interest, so I went and picked up the Topps Force Awakens sticker album and the Topps Force Attax collectible card game so we could have a Star Wars activity together. It would also be a good way to introduce her to the new movie and characters as well as prove beyond doubt if she was really interested or if it was just a case of “I like it because Dad likes it.” I needn’t have worried. She took to it like a fish to water. She was now officially my padawan learner. I must say, I was really pleased she was interested, but I was also finding out something about myself at the same time.
At this point a bit of context would be appropriate. I walked into the Odeon Cinema in Perth, Scotland during the Christmas period of 1977. I was six years old at the time. My Mum and Aunt took me along to see this new film everyone was talking about. I was hooked from the moment I saw the queue outside. The excitement level around the movie affected me even at that age. I am a fan (unapologetically so) of the prequels also. I own a shed load of novels, I have a modest collection of modern figures, own the movies on VHS, DVD and Blu Ray, own soundtracks and all manner of Star Wars merchandise. It’s by no means a unique story but over the last few years I had lapsed into casual fan. I wasn’t actively seeking out Star Wars merchandise. I still enjoyed watching the movies but did not watch them regularly.
Then Episode VII came along and I was transported back in time. There was quite literally an awakening and coupled with my daughter’s increasing interest, it all came rushing back in and it felt good. I could see in my daughter echoes of myself back in the late seventies. She took in as much information as I could give her around the new movie. At the time if writing, she hasn’t yet seen The Force Awakens. We have watched five of the first six movies, with Episode III and VII yet to come. Thanks to the Visual Dictionary and the aforementioned Topps albums, she is very familiar with the new characters. She’s been drawn to Princess Leia, and the first action figure I bought for her was Rey in her Jakku gear. I’ve since delved into my collection and opened about twenty figures for her, from Slave Leia with Sail Barge Cannon to R4-G9. She loves them all and regularly has adventures with them.
It’s particularly enjoyable to watch as it offers a glimpse of the past and all the times I’d sit with my brothers and all our figures and vehicles then revisit battles from the movies or even make up our own adventures. From the way Ana tore at the packaging to the instant storytelling she did with the figures I got an incredible buzz. I was able to witness my own daughter step into the Star Wars universe and in that see myself reflected back all those years ago. It was a unique and emotional experience for me and it’s something I’ll always treasure. Her thirst for Star Wars knowledge is insatiable now. She wants to know who every character is and their relationships to each other. Her ability to remember the smallest detail is incredible and her understanding of the movies is pretty good. When we were watching Attack of the Clones last week she knew Owen Lars was Luke’s uncle! I’m not sure five-year-old me would have worked that one out.
As I said, we have one more of the available movies to watch, Episode III, before we get Episode VII on April 18th (yes, a millennia behind North America. Not fair!). Our more immediate plans include a trip to Edinburgh Comic Con on the first weekend of April. Amongst the confirmed guests are Femi Taylor (Oola), Paul Blake (Greedo), Arti Shah (Maz Kanata) and Peter Roy (Major Brit in Return of the Jedi). Ana is very excited that Oola will be there. She has already asked if she can take her Oola figure along.
Watching Ana discover Star Wars has been really great fun. Given the amount of competing distractions, I’m really pleased Star Wars has made the cut and we can share the journey. In her five years my wife and I have read to her on a daily basis and encouraged her to express herself through playing and drawing so I was delighted to see Star Wars slot in and become a big part of that.
Timing has certainly helped. Ana’s interest began to grow around the time of the hype around Episode VII reaching fever pitch and my own growing excitement at getting more Star Wars. She’s around the same age I was when I first saw Star Wars all those years ago. I’ve enjoyed seeing her identify with the female characters in the same way I latched onto Luke and Han when I was a kid. I’m finding the whole experience fantastic as it not only lets me see Ana discover Star Wars for the first time, it also lets me share that journey with her. My parents didn’t really share the interest with me when I was a kid as they never had that same journey when they were children, so I feel that this is something unique for myself and Ana in that respect. It also lets me retrace my own path which opens up all kinds of wonderful doors for me, but the biggest kick is seeing Ana embrace something that is a big part of my DNA. As a proud Star Wars Dad, that is a very special feeling.
