<h3>By Lee Scott</h3>
It is finally here! The movie premier of the year: “The Force Awakens” - the seventh of the Star Wars movies. I realize that there are many people who do not care, but for those of us who love Science Fiction and action adventure movies, this movie hits a home run. I was one of those people back in 1977 that went to see the first Star Wars movie and not just because of my six year old son either. I was just as excited. We sat in the center of the 5th row in order to get the full impact and when the crawl started on the screen I had to lean down and read it to him. He could read, but not that fast. Fortunately, there was a hum in the audience as other parents were reading it also. By the last sentence, excited movie goers were openly reading the lines, “Pursued by the Emperors sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy”. The theatre then went silent. What a way to start!

Needless to say as a female, I was thrilled back then to see a movie that featured a fearless woman willing to stand up to the evil Darth Vader. But the movie hit home to people for other reasons too. Those of us that had watched the television reruns of the Flash Gordon and Buck Rodgers film serials were familiar with the crawl style at the beginning. And the main theme in the movie, Good versus Evil, is one of the most common themes in literature; where the light reflects the good and the dark reflects the evil. Then there is the more subtle reason why it appealed to so many. The ability of the characters that represented different species and genders to come together and fight the dark side.

As we begin a new year, it is refreshing to see a movie released that brings people from many cultures, races and generations together. Our differences are irrelevant when we stand in line at the theatre with fans dressed as Wookies and Storm Troopers. Hopefully in this New Year, and outside of the movie theatre, we see many nationalities come together and fight evil. Happy New Year and May the Force Be with You!