Comics / Comics News

May 4th Is Star Wars Day

By Hervé St-Louis
May 5, 2014 - 06:55

May Fourth was Star Wars Day for many fans of the franchise around the world. A British Conservative Party ad celebrating Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s electoral victory inspired the officious celebration. The politicians placed the ad in the London Evening News on May 4 1979. The copy stated “May the Fourth Be With You.” Toronto's Underground Cinema organized the first May Fourth Day in 2011. In 2013, Disney, the new owner of the Star Wars franchise, embraced Star Wars Day. It began running promotions supporting the celebration.

The political inspiration of May Fourth is insidious. The Conservatives fought against an older and often forgotten celebration on May 1st. May 1st is the International Workers Day in many countries. Civil society and authorities in North America do not celebrate May 1st. There, people have unreasonable fears against socialism, communism and any left-leaning movements. The association of Thatcher and Disney with May Fourth is problematic and ironic. Thatcher’s legacy is closer to that of Darth Vader than Luke Sky Walker’s. Star Wars Day celebrates unremitting consumerism and the promotion of a privately-owned cultural franchise. May Fourth has become an excuse to sell more overpriced Star Wars collectibles for Disney. The corporation has co-opted the ground up involvement of fans.

May Fourth, unlike Free Comic Book Day which in 2014 happened the day before does not give anything back to fans. Free Comic Book Day is a promotional campaign to sell products. Still, the participating public gets something free from it. It gets free comics. Star Wars Day gives nothing back to the fans that have supported the franchise for decades. Will Star Wars fans ever take back this celebration or will they let Disney take the Force away from them? Precedents such as the adoption of the Guy Fawkes mask designed by V for Vendetta’s David Lloyd exist. The 2011 Occupy movement used the mask, a design of Warner Brothers’ DC Comics, as a symbol of the 99 Percent. Let us remember that V for Vedetta's Alan Moore wrote the comic book as a critique of Margaret Thatcher.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12