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STAR WARS FANDOM PHOTO GALLERY #01 |
Updated: June 18, 2022
If there is any popular culture phenomenon that can be referred to as religion, it would be
the fandom associated with the Star Wars films. In the 2001 census in many English-speaking
countries, a number of people identified their religion as Jediism, including 70,000 in
Australia, 21,000 in Canada, 53,000 in New Zealand, and 390,127 in England and Wales ( Jedi Census
2012 ). This may well have begun as a joke ( Emery 2001 ), but it is also clear that at least
some of those who support this movement take it seriously, such as the online Jedi Church
( Jedi Church 2012 ). More significant, perhaps, is the number of fan activities related to
Star Wars which might express some of the markers of religion, such as communal identity, a
system of beliefs and values, myths and ritual practices. One cannot attribute all of these
to marketing, as a number of fan activities clearly do not originate from corporations such as
Lucasfilm but are generated by the fans themselves. Although it is hard to track all of this,
one can find a sampling in fan-made videos posted on youtube.com and other web sites, fan
stories based on Star Wars categories, fan art and comic books, fan-designed games, costume
events ( including weddings ), and various artifact recreations. The interactive nature of the
internet has allowed these activities to develop in unforeseen ways, as it is possible to
easily post content that can be edited by users around the world who can interact in real time,
and who can network in ways that formerly would have been impossible.
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