George Lucas’ work is culturally pervasive and here in Germany this is certainly no exception. The other day, I was teaching a music class of first year students and did a quick survey as to their favorite music. I was expecting pop hits, both German and otherwise or childrens jams such as ‘Head Shoulders…’ or ‘Frere Jacques’ but was amazed at the responses I received. Certainly by no means a scientific poll, my impromptu query resulted in a shocking amount of youth crushing on John Williams’ theme from Star Wars are their identifiable favorite ‘song.’ In fact, the only delineation of the class favorite was not among boys vs. girls, but rather, the upstart ‘Imperial March’ and the theme itself.
On a similar intergallactic note, I recently taught a student, aged seven years with the middle name of Lando, presumably after the former mayor of Cloud City, one Lando Calrissian. With parents at my school around my age (thus qualifying them to have seen at least one of the original chapters of the Star Wars series in the cinema), it is not too much to assume that they might have been influenced by Billy Dee Williams’ turn as a disgraced politician seeking redemption through his dedication to the Rebel Alliance. It is a lot to ask of a seven-year old, but I think things will work out for him- maybe not in the form of a generalship in the Rebel Alliance, but surely in the shape of a passing mark in English this year.