Cultural impact of Star Wars

George Lucas's epic space opera multi-film Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern popular culture.

[4] Many efforts produced in the science fiction genre (particularly in filming) can now be seen to draw heavy influence and inspiration from the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the magnitude of sequels, spin-offs, series, games, and texts that it spawned.

Fox purchased the Aspen skiing and Pebble Beach golf corporations with the increased cash flow and still declared excess profits in 1977.

[8][better source needed] The plot of a second-season episode of The CW television series Legends of Tomorrow (2017), entitled "Raiders of the Lost Art", centered on the impact of George Lucas's films on the titular heroes.

According to Frances FitzGerald, Reagan was annoyed by this, but Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle told colleagues that he "thought the name was not so bad.

Trademark laws regulate unfair competition, not the parallel development of new dictionary meanings in the everyday give and take of human discourse.

[45]When Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 United Kingdom general election held on May 3, the Tories took out a newspaper ad that read "May the Fourth Be with You Maggie.

"[46] On May 4, 1995, during a defence debate in the UK parliament, MP Harry Cohen related the Star Wars Day joke: "May 4 be with you".

The holographic video effect associated with Star Wars served as a technological tool for CNN during its 2008 Election Night coverage.

CNN reporter Jessica Yellin and musician will.i.am looked as though they were in the network's New York City studios talking face-to-face with hosts Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer, when in reality, they were in Chicago at Barack Obama's rally.

The process involved Yellin and will.i.am standing in front of a blue screen in a special tent, while being shot by 35 HD cameras.

[49] In the 2014 Ukrainian presidential elections, the Internet Party of Ukraine tried to nominate a man named Darth Vader;[50][51] but his registration was refused because his real identity could not be verified.

[56][57][58] In 2015, as a part of the decommunization process in Ukraine, a statue of a Vladimir Lenin was modified into a monument to Darth Vader at the territory of Pressmash plant in Odesa.

[62] A real-life religion based on Star Wars called Jediism follows a modified version of the Jedi Code, and they believe in the concept of The Force as an energy field of all living things, which "surrounds us... penetrates us" and "binds the galaxy together", as is depicted within Star Wars movies, although without the fictional elements such as telekinesis.

[63][64] Many citizens around the world answer list their religion as Jedi during their countries respective Census, among them Australia and New Zealand getting high percentages.

[70][71][72] Professional sports teams in the United States and Canada regularly hold Star Wars-themed promotional nights.

[73] Several organizations worldwide teach lightsaber combat as a competitive sport, instructing on techniques interpreted from the films, and using life-size replica weapons composed of highly durable plastic that emit lights and sounds.

During the 2012 Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, Washington, several prominent cartoon voice actors, consisting of Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Tara Strong and Kevin Conroy, performed a parody reading of A New Hope as a radio play in each of their signature voice roles; i.e. Paulsen and Harnell as Yakko and Wakko Warner from Animaniacs, Strong as Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls and Timmy Turner from The Fairly OddParents, LaMarche and DiMaggio as Kif Kroker and Bender from Futurama, and Conroy narrating as Batman.

In the theme parks fans will be transported to a Galaxy Far Far Away and live their own Star Wars experience, through flying the Millennium Falcon, or stopping at Oga's Cantina for some food and drinks.

This is because the "Mos Eisley Cantina", and the events depicted therein during the original Star Wars film, is a sufficiently well known cultural reference for the term to have become useful in everyday conversation.