WEBVTT - Why Is May 4th a Star Wars Holiday?

0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:06.960
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:11.040
<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren bog obam here. The first time the

0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.520
<v Speaker 1>phrase may the fourth be with You appeared in the

0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:17.000
<v Speaker 1>world was in nineteen seventy nine, just a smidge less

0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:19.680
<v Speaker 1>than two years after what's now known as Star Wars

0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:24.080
<v Speaker 1>Episode four A New Hope premiered. May four of nineteen

0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:27.319
<v Speaker 1>seventy nine was the day that Britain's first female Prime

0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.440
<v Speaker 1>Minister was elected to that office, and the phrase appeared

0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:34.920
<v Speaker 1>in a newspaper ad congratulating Margaret Thatcher on her historic victory.

0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:38.479
<v Speaker 1>But that seems like a long time ago in a

0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:42.120
<v Speaker 1>galaxy far far away. Since then, there have been eight

0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:45.879
<v Speaker 1>additional movies in the Skywalker Saga alone, plus other films,

0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:50.640
<v Speaker 1>a holiday special, animated and live action television series, video games,

0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:54.960
<v Speaker 1>books and on and on, and now May fourth is

0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:59.920
<v Speaker 1>something of an international Star Wars holiday. May has traded

0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:02.600
<v Speaker 1>no only been a month for Star Wars. The first

0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:05.520
<v Speaker 1>six films in the Skywalker Saga all debuted in May

0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.640
<v Speaker 1>during their years of release. It's also the month that

0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:11.840
<v Speaker 1>boasts the birthday of the creator himself, George Lucas. On

0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.640
<v Speaker 1>May fourteen, a compelling argument was made at one point

0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.800
<v Speaker 1>by Star Wars fans that May would be the best

0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:20.880
<v Speaker 1>to day for a Star Wars day, as it's the

0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.479
<v Speaker 1>date that a new hope was originally released in nine,

0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:29.120
<v Speaker 1>but that idea never quite gained traction. It was the

0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.880
<v Speaker 1>Internet and social media that eventually revived the May the

0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:36.120
<v Speaker 1>fourth be with You word play. In the twenty teens,

0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:39.759
<v Speaker 1>fans across platforms began talking about May fourth as Star

0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.360
<v Speaker 1>Wars Day and tagging posts as such. They've used it

0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:45.800
<v Speaker 1>as an excuse to watch the movies all over again

0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.720
<v Speaker 1>if you need such an excuse, and to talk about

0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:53.560
<v Speaker 1>it under unified hashtags like May the four before the article.

0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:55.840
<v Speaker 1>This episode is based on How Stuff Work. Spoke by

0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:59.360
<v Speaker 1>email back in with Amy Ratcliffe, a writer for Star

0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:01.880
<v Speaker 1>Wars dot com um and a correspondent for The Nartist.

0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:05.040
<v Speaker 1>She said that the best thing about this new holiday

0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:08.320
<v Speaker 1>is that there's no set way to celebrate quote. I've

0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.680
<v Speaker 1>seen fans throw special parties with themed food and cocktails

0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:14.720
<v Speaker 1>for the occasion. I've seen fans gather at restaurants, bars,

0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:17.400
<v Speaker 1>and comic book shops. I've seen fans head to Disney

0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.639
<v Speaker 1>parks to celebrate with special events or by riding Star tours.

0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.480
<v Speaker 1>Since there are no official guidelines for the holiday, there's

0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.280
<v Speaker 1>no wrong way to celebrate it. To that end, other

0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.720
<v Speaker 1>organizations have gotten in on the festivities to support great causes.

0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:36.120
<v Speaker 1>For instance, Rancho Obiwan, a Star Wars museum run by

0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:40.000
<v Speaker 1>former Lucasfilm head of fan Relations Steve Sansweet, has used

0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:43.120
<v Speaker 1>this week to highlight a fundraiser for their Education and

0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:48.720
<v Speaker 1>Preservation Mission, and the US Rebel Alliance, an organization created

0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:51.440
<v Speaker 1>by fan activist Andrew Slack, has used the day to

0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:54.760
<v Speaker 1>talk about the importance of mentors and teachers by way

0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:59.080
<v Speaker 1>of Yoda, using the hashtag teach me You did. They've

0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:01.520
<v Speaker 1>tried to make the Hall Day an opportunity to honor

0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.959
<v Speaker 1>the teachers of our lives, and for many, Star Wars

0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:10.400
<v Speaker 1>itself is that teacher. However, people celebrate. It's good news

0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:14.079
<v Speaker 1>for Disney and Lucasfilm as it's essentially free publicity, a

0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:16.840
<v Speaker 1>Ratcliffe said, and the holiday has gained traction in the

0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:18.960
<v Speaker 1>media in the last five or so years, to the

0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:21.560
<v Speaker 1>point where even people who don't know Star Wars, like

0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:24.120
<v Speaker 1>my mom, will text me to say May the Fourth

0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:27.760
<v Speaker 1>be with you. Of course, the owners of Star Wars

0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.959
<v Speaker 1>and their merchandising partners get in on this celebration as well.

0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:34.440
<v Speaker 1>The sales on every type of Star Wars merchandise available

0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.960
<v Speaker 1>abound on May fourth, and let's be honest, it wouldn't

0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:43.120
<v Speaker 1>be a true American holiday without this feature. But however

0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.320
<v Speaker 1>you decide to celebrate, one thing is certain. The fourth

0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:54.440
<v Speaker 1>will be with you always. Today's episode is based on

0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:57.400
<v Speaker 1>the article why exactly is May fourth a Star Wars

0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.960
<v Speaker 1>Holiday on how stuff works dot com written by Brian Um.

0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:03.400
<v Speaker 1>To hear more from Brian about Star Wars, check out

0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:06.640
<v Speaker 1>his podcast Full of Sith, also co hosted by Holly

0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:09.640
<v Speaker 1>Fry of Stuff You Missed in History Class. Brain Stuff

0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:11.560
<v Speaker 1>is production of by Heart Radio in partnership with has

0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:14.440
<v Speaker 1>stuffworks dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. For

0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.880
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart

0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:19.560
<v Speaker 1>Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:20.280
<v Speaker 1>favorite shows.