In Star Wars the climax in the final battle of the rebels against the Empire happens when Luke speeds in his starfighter through the metal canyon on the surface of the Death Star towards the ventilation opening that he must, precisely, hit with his photon torpedoes. He knows he can only try once. If he fails the lasers of the Death Star will destroy the rebel base and kill all his friends. The war will be over and freedom will be lost.

To accomplish this task his starfighter is equipped with a targeting computer. It tells Luke the exact moment when to pull the trigger. However, just moments before he is to shoot his torpedo the voice of his mentor, Obi Wan, tells him to switch it off and to fly the attack manually. (First he thinks it’s a voice in his helmet radio but then he realizes it’s from within.)

Luke is conflicted, he has to choose between the correct way to do it, as perhaps taught in space cadet school, or to go with the voice in his head, which is a stand in for his gut feeling. The gut feeling which comes from his personal experience flying similar approaches through canyons back on his home planet when he was a teenager.

It’s a left brain vs. right brain thing for Luke. He, of course, goes with the voice, with his gut feeling, switches off the targeting computer and the rest is history.

Sigh. What a movie.

Star Wars.. It’s packed with symbolism. After all, it’s supposedly inspired by the writings of Joseph Campbell. A philosopher and historian who wrote a lot about myths and symbols.

A symbol is something the audience will recognize, because it’s already there, deep down within us. They will feel what the Empire stands for, (lets say school, society, the established hierarchy) without George Lucas having to tell them. They will understand Luke’s decision (go with his own convictions vs what he has learned at school, for example). They will see themselves and the influences in their own life in the characters of the story. (Who is your C3PO?)

We, the audience, are of course also faced with many choices in our lives. We select our actions based on who we are and based on our experiences. Maybe we had a mentor or a role model when we were young. Maybe we have read certain books. Maybe a key event shaped our view on life in a strong way. And there are also our preferences and our unique combination of talents that we are born with. We process it all. It’s all data for the subconscious. This data is remixed and compiled for us benneath the treshold of our knowing. And the result is our own version of Obi-Wan.

This is the inspiration of the inventor. This is the muse of the artist. It is the voice in our head that at some point may surprise us and say: “Luke, turn off the targeting computer.”

This is the beginning of the end of conforming. And the start of living our life true to ourselves.