To the saga of ‘Star Wars’ is, without a doubt, one of the most remembered and most fanaticism awake across the globe. Almost five decades after the premiere of the first installment of the original saga, every day is a good one to commemorate the movie collection that, over time, has created a veritable franchise around it. However, there is a date that is marked by the fans to honor the great success of George Lucas: the May 4th.
The legion of devotees of the saga decided that this was the date that would definitively mark the day we know as Star Wars Day o star wars dayin which numerous acts of remembrance to the universe of characters such as Obi Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker are held.
However, few know what the true origin of this festivity born from the well-known trilogy is.
Why is May 4th Star Wars Day?
Although many may believe that the day was selected for some kind of premiere, the truth is that it actually has little to do with the world of cinema. The reality is that the origin of this date has more to do with politics than with deliveries. And it all started in the United Kingdom, the May 4, 1979thanks to a publication in the London Evening News.
It was that day, 44 years ago, when the Conservative Party congratulated Margaret Thatcher for newly released position as prime minister of the country. She did it through a note in «May the fourth be with You, Maggie. Congratulations”, whose translation would be “May 4th be with you”. This made many fans of the movie realize the play on words that could be created with the mythical phrase from the Star Wars movies, ‘May the Force be with you’ (May the Force be with you).
Star Wars Day, an official celebration
Since then, thanks to the ‘tories’, fans of the George Lucas saga began to fight to make May 4 the official day of ‘Star Wars’. And so they have achieved it.
In 2011, during the Toronto Underground Cinema Festival, the first edition of Star Wars Day was officially celebrated. Thus, it has become a tradition for many devotees to dress up as some of their favorite characters and marathon the most important titles in the franchise.
This belief was so widespread that even the White House gave its approval to celebrate the day of the space trilogy every May 4th. In 2016, during the last mandate of Barack Obamathe former president of the United States decided to post on his Instagram account a video with an imperial soldier and R2-D2. «Dance. Or don’t dance. But don’t try it, “they said in the video that was published on May 4 of that year.
Obama’s message is a nod to ‘May the force’ including Yoda’s mythical phrase in ‘The empire strikes back’: «Do it. Or don’t. But don’t try.”
