T is for Tatooine

         (My A-Z Blog Challenge theme this year is Mythical and Imaginary Places.)

        Tatooine is a desert planet in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy.  It has three moons and two suns, keeping things hot and dry, and its native peoples are Jawas and Tusken Raiders.  It is now also inhabited by many other people, notably the Hutts, and humans including first Anakin and later Luke Skywalker.  The largest city is Mos Espa, known for its pod-racing, but perhaps the most famous (or infamous) town is Mos Eisley, that most wretched hive of scum and villainy.  Despite Tatooine’s insignificance by any normal measure, a surprising number of events of great historical significance have happened here.  But perhaps it isn’t so surprising after all, when those events are interrelated.  After all, one thing leads to another.

        I first encountered Tatooine in the theater seeing “A New Hope” as a child, and it was pure magic to be transported to that place a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.  I’ve mentioned Tolkien as a great influence in my love of fantasy and world creation, but “Star 

Wars” came first.  After seeing the movie I immediately set to work devising a space opera of my own (not that I knew that genre designation at the time, being 7 years old).  So what is it that was so amazing about these new worlds that George Lucas showed us?  It was the way the world seemed truly inhabitated, a place where real people of all races and species lived their lives.  You can find a longer, more detailed post about this here: Fantasy Worlds Need Depth.  The Mos Eisley cantina was possibly the most magical place in the whole galaxy, and this was because it looked like the people pursuing their business in that insalubrious dive didn’t actually care about the story I was there to watch.  They didn’t care about Luke’s little problems, and they didn’t even care about the Empire or the Rebellion.  They just wanted to make a quick buck, spend it on some cheap booze, listen to some most excellent music, and then head on their way, wherever that happened to be.  I didn’t care about their stories any more than they cared about mine, but the fact that they clearly had stories was  key in making the world seem deep, and round, and believable, and magical.

        Actually, it turns out that a number of these people’s stories were later added to canon in various other Star Wars movies, books, series, and so on.  For example, the bartender of Chalmun’s Spaceport Cantina (for so it is called) is named Wuher and is an orphan whose parents were killed by battle droids; the disfigured man who threatens Luke is named Cornelius Evazan and is a mad torture doctor; and the band is called Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes, and their hit single is “Mad About Me.”  (Listen to it here!)  I honestly still don’t care about their stories, and really prefer not to know.  When they make up a story about everyone, it stops seeming so much like a real world, and, paradoxically, starts seeming more shallow again.  After all, when you walk into a bar on Earth, you don’t know the entire history of every person sitting in there.  That would just be weird.  The exception to my indifference, however, is the band.  I seriously think they should be the subjects of their own spin-off series, now that we’re doing that.

        The MORAL of Tatooine:  Every person is the hero of their own story.

              OR:  The Force will be with you.  Always.

        So, what Star Wars character or place would you like to learn more about — or meet over drinks?  (Make mine blue milk, please.)

[Pictures: Mos Espa in the distance, and at closer view, from “Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones”;

The Lars Family moisture farm, and Jabba the Hutt’s palace, from “Star Wars IV: A New Hope”;

Mos Eisley, from “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” (All images from Star Wars and Fandom).]