May the 4th be with you: Star Wars Day
2 min read
By: Caleb Shaulis
Stars Wars day comes from a saying “May the fourth be with you” which sparked the creation of the day. The day is meant to celebrate all of Star Wars and the creators. Why and how did one saying spark a whole holiday around a set of movies?
The day Star Wars Day is a fan-made celebration of the iconic sci-fi saga of Star Wars. Even though the day isn’t an official holiday, it still is celebrated by Star Wars fans around the world. The day came from the saying “May the 4th be with you,” a play on words from the saying “may the force be with you”. The earliest use of “May the 4th be with you” is dated back to 1978. In a documentary called the “Empire of Dreams,” Professor Leo Braudy made a comment that “May the 4th be with you” became similar to a hand shake.
When shooting in the red wood forest Thom recalled the saying when he was contemplating the date, sharing it with others on set which would cause the company declaring it as an annual message for years to come. During 2005 the term was used again in the sense of the Fourth of July, promoting an ad of Yoda with fireworks behind him saying “May the Fourth Be with You! Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of The Sith.” The ad became a poster later on. Lucasfilm eventually had a more active role in the holiday by sponsoring or even hosting events.
Lucasfilm even began promoting the holiday and sharing resources to help events. Some ways people spend the holiday include watching or re-watching Star Wars movies, reading comics, going to events, or cosplaying as the characters themselves. Some people dress up dogs to look like the smaller characters, such as Yoda or R2-D2 for events. Some even build massive Lego structures that look like the space ships used in the movies.
Star Wars day came from a saying that started out as a joke and quickly grew into a holiday. The day went from being on ads to quickly escalating to events and even to ads on TVs or billboards. Star Wars day should become an official holiday as it holds the spirit and soul of Star Wars.
Citations: starwars.com ftw.usatoday.com
