[SW40] Bryan Young: Star Wars is part of our national identity

Journalist and author Bryan Young thinks Star Wars is everywhere, and if you are a fan of this franchise, you are a citizen of the world.

What does Star Wars mean to me and my country

Like any Star Wars fan, I feel a deep connection to the world and the mythology. In the United States, it feels like  Star Wars is everywhere. It’s embedded in all of our pop culture and there are reminders of it everywhere. 

There is virtually no place you can go and NOT find someone who can talk Star Wars with you. I think

Star Wars is part of our national identity because it’s entered into our mythology.

I don’t think it’s replaced religion in its popularity, per se, but it’s certainly getting there.

Where the fandom is heading

As far as where the fandom is heading, I think, for the most part,  it’s heading in the right direction.  The volatile voices at the fringes are so few that they’re hardly worth worrying about and the positive voices outnumber them by far. The shining beacons of fandom are organizations like the costume clubs that do work for charity the world over and I’d love to see us embrace even more of that, up to and including direct political action.

A message to the Hungarian readers

For readers in Hungary, I want them to know that

they’re part of an order of Star Wars fans that makes them citizens of the world.

Go anywhere and find someone that will talk Star Wars with you and you will have made a new friend. One day, I hope to find myself in Hungary and would love to make new friends of all the Star Wars fans there. Because, for me,  Star Wars is as much about community and friendships as it is the movies, cartoons, books, and comics themselves. 

Cover image: Star Wars with the flag of the United States of America (Modern War Institute at West Point)

Bryan Young – A podcaster, journalist, filmmaker, and author. As a journalist, he writes regularly for StarWars.com, Syfy, /Film, and HowStuffWorks, among others. He’s also the founding editor and former editor-in-chief of the geek news site Big Shiny Robot! As a filmmaker, he’s written and directed features, short films, commercials, and short videos. As an author, he’s written a plethora of fiction and non-fiction. As a podcaster, he hosts two shows – Full of Sith is one of the highest rated podcasts covering the world of Star Wars in fandom.

Bryan Young

Bryan Young is a podcaster, journalist, filmmaker, and author. As a journalist, he writes regularly for StarWars.Com, Syfy, /Film, and HowStuffWorks, among others. He’s also the founding editor and former editor-in-chief of the geek news site Big Shiny Robot!