I’m exactly the kind of mother who does not, under normal circumstances, allow guns in the house toy or otherwise. We are a TV free but DVD full household and anything with a PG-13 or above only gets watched by my husband and I after hours when the wee ones are sleeping.

But my husband lobbied hard for me to make a couple exceptions the big being Star Wars. Not unlike many men his age (35), my husband still has a warm place in his heart for the original trilogy. He sadly reminisces about being a young impressionable poor kid who got hand me down Star Wars action figures from his cousins when they were done playing with them. As an immigrant child, it was his introduction into American pop culture. Couldn’t I see past the light sabers and endless storm trooper missed gunshots?  
    
    “It’s not about guns,” my husband exclaimed.
    “Dude,” I retorted, “hello it has ‘war’ in the title.”
    “But that’s not what it’s about. It’s about overcoming the odds. Having faith in yourself. Trust in your friends.” Sounds like a whole bunch of fantasy bull to me.

But finally he wore me down and I relented. I let Star Wars in gradually. The original movie, now episode 4, and some Star Wars Lego––which are completely cool! Then came the Star Wars Lego computer game. You can mix and match characters so you have the Darth Vadar helmet on Yoda. It makes ya think…And then came the DK published full color encyclopedia of the trilogy. My son’s last birthday was completely Star Wars—with a few small pirate exceptions.

But I was starting to get annoyed. Why is it my son suddenly seemed to have such working knowledge of the script? Why does he walk around exclaiming that Ewoks are really baby Wookies? Why does he size me up when I’m getting dressed  and putting on my bra and say that  I could be Leia in Jabba’s pleasure place at the beginning of Return of the Jedi?! I started getting scared. I’ve walked in on parents playing all sorts of R rated fair in front of their toddlers, but would Star Wars warp my child at warp speed?

But now my son is asking about motivation. Why is there a Dark Side? Do we have one here? How does one become a Jedi? Why are the rebels rebelling? Why are there bad people who won’t let you just live your life? All questions with long dissertation type answers, to be sure. And sometimes he answers them himself-quickly and both logically and non logically in the way only five year olds seem to be able to do.

Then one day I was getting ready to go to a political house party fundraiser for Charles Brown—he’s the Democrat running for corrupt, wasteful, slick and religious John Doolittle for California’s 4th Congressional district¬––and Diego asked where I was going and why. I tried the conventional way.

“I’m going to a political fundraiser to raise money and support the guy running against Doolittle---the guy who runs our district into the ground.  He’s corrupt, mean and evil.”  Diego looked at me a little blankly for a minute and then said.

“….like..Darth Vadar?” I was immediately shocked. I had no idea he’d gotten that far into his understanding of all things good, evil, and black and white with no gray American.
“Yes, “ I agreed, “kind of like Darth Vadar.”
“So other guy is like…? Who mama?” That was a good question. He certainly wasn’t gungho hokey Luke, or swashbuckling Han. The core friends that put others above self in the end? Hmm…that didn’t seem to fit. And nothing against Mr. Brown, but that just didn’t work for me.

“He’s kind of like Lando Calrissian,” I said, “basically a good guy but I’m sure we don’t see eye to eye on everything.”

“Lando. Okay, mommy. Have a good time.” And off I went with Diego’s full understanding and embrace. But one incident does not a rule make. So we’ve been testing out the Star Wars metaphors—which is pretty fun with the Bush administration. Karl Rove/Dick Cheney as the Emperor and millions of conservative storm troopers, carrying out senseless commands that hurt themselves almost as much as they hurt the rebels. And I don’t mind any more that my son sees me as the mom version of Leia. People who waste resources are Death Star engineers. And Han Solo is any hot man that I get too flustered to talk to---to my kids that means Han Solo isn’t just Harrison Ford––it’s Johnny Depp in anything, David Duchovny in anything, Gabriel Byrne in Miller’s Crossing, the cute pharmacist, a sexy waiter, their father/my husband, the guy friends I’ve stayed in touch with…it’s all making sense now---they are all Han Solos and worthy of mommy’s however brief attention.

So thanks to Star Wars we have a new code.  My kids know what empires are and why they aren’t such a hot idea. We’ve started reading Wrinkle in Time and watched the DVD version and I’m convinced they understand it better because of Star Wars. The planet that’s given into the darkness where Meg Murray’s father is trapped is a planet that’s fallen to the dark side. It’s an empire planet as far as my kids are concerned. And my goodness they are mixing worlds! How about that post-modern two for one deal they pulled with that one? Marvelous.

And the remarkable thing about kids’ political savvy is that they remind you of things you’ve been brainwashed into not considering. A rebel, we’ve been trained in our Star Wars world, is a good thing---someone risking his or her live, livelihood, and popularity to do what’s right for the cause. That means that explanations are starting (as they should be) to get more complicated. The people we like are rebels but other rebels---terrorists don’t get to be rebels since rebel is a good word. What are they? Is Barack Obama going to be our Luke Skywalker? How come Star Wars in the original trilogy only had room for one woman? We can’t all be Leia. And how come her mother is the only woman of the silly prequels? (FYI the prequels are way too violent for a five year old--those are still banned).

Perhaps the questions will help them outgrow Star Wars—but until then it will remain the base of our political discussions which ain’t a bad place to start with a five year old.

And you? What have you used to teach your child about how the political world works? And if Barack IS Luke Skywalker what does that make Hilary and John McCain?