Rebellions Are Built On Hope
By K.B. Wagers
I was sitting in the movie theatre dazed as Jyn Erso schools the Rebel council with an impassioned speech about not giving up even when the odds are so stacked against you. I was halfway through December in a year that wasn’t kind. 2016 was the year that snuck up behind you in a bar fight it started and shivved you in the kidney with malicious glee.
For me, it had been a hard year. My family endured some major struggles, and there was a lot of chaos, a lot of fear, a lot of wondering if — to be brutally honest — my son was going to survive the year or if his depression would get the upper hand and take him from us. During all this, I was working a full-time job, my husband was out of work part of the year, and I somehow managed to write and edit two books in a headlong rush to the publication of “Behind the Throne” and “After the Crown.”
Then came the brutal blow of the election and what seemed like an unbearable weight had settled on my chest. My family depends on the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid to keep us alive. My friends and family could marry the people they love and didn’t have to worry about if they could come home after travelling outside the country.
I finished writing book three in the Indranan War trilogy and turned it in December 1st, leaving me with the whole final month of the year to myself. I knew very little about “Rogue One” when I went into the theatre on Dec. 16, but given the context and location in the Star Wars timeline, I was expecting a sort of “Dirty Dozen in space” movie. Rogue One didn’t disappoint me on that front.
What was surprising is that in this dark little tale was the hope I so desperately needed. I shouldn’t have been surprised; Star Wars has always been the place for me to find hope. I was a year and a month old when “Episode IV: A New Hope” came out and I’m pretty sure my folks didn’t go to the theatre with me. I would have been old enough in 1983 to see “Episode VI: Return of the Jedi” and have memories of watching Ewoks on the big screen (as well as a snazzy bright yellow Wicket shirt in my collection of childhood things).
I had Star Wars toys as a kid and used to happily play out stories where Leia would save Luke and Han from Jabba, because even back then I was a fan of the dude in distress scenario. I’m also a fan of the hopeless fight, the rebellion, the desperate cause. My love affair with these things has existed hand-in-hand with Star Wars and without a doubt has influenced my own writing style. Though the choice to compare Hail and company to the Star Wars crew wasn’t my doing, it’s a comparison that has stuck.
In “Rogue One” I found a brief moment of hope. The feeling that we’re not too far gone and there’s a chance we’ll win this fight.
So I asked around social media for the moments in Star Wars that filled other people with hope. The scenes, music, and dialog were so varied but every time someone would mention something new I’d have that feeling of, “Oh yes, that one too!”
“Rogue One” and “Episode VII: The Force Awakens” are, of course, fresh in people’s minds, so the end of “Rogue One” where the plans make it to Princess Leia topped the list and the scene on the beach between Jyn and Cassian, though sad, was filled with the hope of people who won’t live to see the good deed they’ve done come to fruition. The sacrifice of the Rogue One team and the hope for the rebellion speak to themes we gravitate toward as a source of hope: loyalty, dedication, and love.
Another scene mentioned was the moment when Finn and Poe realize the other is alive. There’s an overwhelming sense of relief, of delight, and of hope. The moment for me in The Force Awakens was during the fight scene in the forest at the end. Rey had been knocked out, Finn was fighting Kylo Ren, and I thought for sure they were going to steal all the agency Rey had fought so hard for the whole film by letting the men battle it out. So when Rey woke up and took the lightsaber and proceeded to use the Force to fight Kylo to a standstill I was overjoyed and overcome with hope.
The music for all the Star Wars movies is a thing of beauty, but the music in “A New Hope” and especially on Tatooine was mentioned specifically as a piece of music that brings the listener a sense of peace and hope. The score by John Williams has withstood the test of time as one of the most iconic soundtracks.
Two folks named the end of films as great sources of hope. Perhaps more surprisingly is that the films are “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” and “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” both of which are pretty dark endings for the Star Wars sagas. But these endings carry with them bright spots of hope. In “Revenge of the Sith,” it’s the rescue of the twins, the saving grace of the galaxy itself being hidden away from their father. And in “Empire Strikes Back,” despite having been beaten, despite the loss of their friend, those same twins stand resolutely looking out over the rebel fleet and you know they are planning their next attack, not trying to figure out how to run away.
One of the best things from my question was that three separate people mentioned the opening of “Return of the Jedi” — from the shot of C-3PO and R2-D2 at the massive door to Jabba’s palace to Luke’s arrival in the criminal stronghold to the fact that despite the rebellion being in a desperate fight for their lives, these friends all drop what they are doing to rescue Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt.
There were other, singular moments mentioned also: when Darth Vader throws Emperor Palpatine into the reactor, saving his son at the cost of his own life. When Bosche takes off their helmet to reveal Leia there to save Han. When R2D2 takes off from Luke’s farm in search of Obi-wan Kenobi.
And while we’re at it, let’s talk about that little droid. My friend Brian says R2-D2 is the hero of episodes four through six and his reasoning is pretty sound. Here’s what he had to say about our little droid:
“R2-D2 at the most basic level is seen as the sidekick, the comic relief, and the loyal companion. He doesn’t have fantastic powers, no special skills, at first glance he is just an artificial intelligence unit that is conveniently portable with various tools and programs at this companion’s disposal.
“It has always been my opinion, however, that the true hero of the Star Wars movies was R2-D2. He was central to just about every plan/operation/undertaking. Repeatedly, R2 showed that if he wasn’t present to do the little things he does, the ‘real stars’ would have repeatedly failed — or died — over and over again.”
It’s so true. There are more than a handful of moments where R2 saves the day. Of course, the biggest of them is that the entire rebellion would have been over had R2 not escaped from Princess Leia’s ship after she gave him the plans. That little droid doggedly made his way across Tatooine to find Obi-wan. He didn’t let sand, or Jawas, or restraining bolts, or Sand People stop him.
Brian continues: “R2 shows that no matter how little you are, no matter how insignificant you think you may be … even when standing amongst people who you may think are more important than you, we all play an important role. Not only should we recognize our own self-worth, but we should never take another person for granted or underestimate them.”
For Brian the singular scene that encapsulated R2D2 and small acts saving the day was the moment when the droid fixed the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon. Even when R2 was being told he couldn’t do it, that he couldn’t possibly know “how” to fix a hyperdrive, when everything was on the line, the droid decided he was going to fix it and he did, enabling the heroes to escape to fight another day.
We find hope in the smallest of places: a word or two from a stranger, a piece of music, a movie line that sticks with us when all the world seems to be coming apart at the seams. We find that hope in the sacrifices of others, in the care we show for each other, and in the overwhelming outpouring of support even in the most difficult of times.
The triumph of good over evil provides hope in a time when it seems there is none on the horizon. Whether on a grand scale or in smaller, more personal ways, Star Wars has been there to provide hope to so many. With “Rogue One,” they gave that hope not only with the story but with the casting choices that were made; in a move that finally put some faces into the universe that weren’t the same white folks we’ve seen all these years.
My hope was that Star Wars would continue that trend. However, it doesn’t seem that is in the cards, which is disappointing. Audiences want more diversity in their casts, in their stories, and the Star Wars universe has zero excuse not to carry that into their next round of films.
Because in the end, the hope that humanity will somehow survive all our petty, horrible, and devastating conflicts to go roam among the stars has been the foundation of science fiction since the early days. We have seen a turn lately into more dystopian, grittier form of science fiction, and while I’m not saying it’s wrong, it certainly would be nice right now to read stories where the rebels prevail and good wins the day.
K. B. Wagers has a bachelor’s degree in Russian Studies and her non-fiction writing has earned her two Air Force Space Command media contest awards. A native of Colorado, she lives at the base of the Rocky Mountains with her husband and son. In between books, she can be found lifting heavy things, running on trails, dancing to music, and scribbling on spare bits of paper.
Find her at kbwagers.com and on Twitter at @kbwagers.
