It’s November, we’re in a shed in Enfield, Greater London, filming a guy called Simon... and his real life R2-D2. I don’t know whether it was the mountain of memorabilia he had on his walls, or the amazing stories he told us about travelling round the country with this 3 foot Star Wars fan favourite, but at some point I realised that Simon isn’t just a professional droid maker whose worked with the likes of Secret Cinema, HP and Disney, but he pretty much embodies everything we love about the robot he builds- he’s kind, funny, dependable and all round do-gooder.
And so when we think about the age old question “Why is Star Wars the greatest movie franchise of all time”(and I’m sure my LOTR friends out there will say otherwise) many would argue it’s the revolutionary special effects, it’s the score, it’s the phenomenal one liners or the fact it fits so many genres- I mean what is the Star Wars?! A sci fi- western- action adventure- fantasy?!
But really, for me, the most important reason for the film’s success is simple: Lucas created aspirational characters that audiences of all ages and backgrounds can relate to…
Our teenage hero who feels unsure of his purpose and has a dysfunctional relationship with his father who wants him to be something he doesn’t want to be, the patient and wise mentor who see’s potential in people other’s cannot, the strong female heroine who simply won’t be intimidated in male dominated world and of course the sweet sidekick droid who never gets enough praise in spite of always does the right thing, even before he’s asked to.
The point is we love these characters because we can relate to them and some of us, like Simon, completely embody them. There’s a little Luke Skywalker, Leia or Yoda in all of us.
PLUG: if you want to see our piece on Simon or the other six episodes (not done purposely although we did debate the first release do be episode 4) you can check them out on our channel here:
*Please note, I love my Dad and he very much approves of what I do :)
Written by: Josh Fineman (Founder and Chief schmoozer at Mattr). Drop us an email with any questions about our experience filming Star Wars Changed My Life, we are London based creative video production agency but we are all ears!