Star Wars Identities

I went to see the Star Wars Identities exhibit last Thursday. Even if you aren't a huge Star Wars fan, this was a whole lot of fun. The exhibit isn't so much about the movies themselves but it concentrates on the characters (as the name might suggest). There were a ton of movie props from the original movies, not reproductions. They had the original R2D2 and C3PO among a ton of costumes, helmets and models as well as a dozens of sketches from when they were building the storyboard and the characters.

The exhibit allowed the visitors to walk around freely, but still following the designated order of things. This was important especially since every visitor would create their own character.

At the beginning of the tour, we were given audio guides and bracelets for creating our characters. Once you walked up to a display, your audio guide would start playing the blurb of that particular section. Each of the section would talk about either the different aspects of the characters, say their childhood or the events that shaped their lives or optionally discuss the development of each character in the movie, say how Yoda came to be what he is in the movies.

Each section that discussed the specifics of events and traits that shaped the characters, mainly Luke and Anakin, each visitor could make a choice or react to a situation, then record that action to their bracelet. These actions would then build your character further.

Without revealing too much, I can say that there were 10 different answers required to build your character. They range from a simple selection from a number of options, to reacting to a situation to answering more specific questions about your character.


At the very end of the exhibit, you had the option to see your character on a large screen. Naturally we all geeked out and had to make sure we timed it right and got a photo with the 4 of us who went there together.

A bit more under the cut, don't read if you don't want spoilers!

I loved the exhibit, I absolutely did. Especially the character building was fun. I was hoping that the results would've been a bit more interactive. You can send a summary of your character to your e-mail, which was a nice touch, but the text that came with it was just a summary of your answers. I can't deny I was hoping some sort of conclusions.

For example, I would've loved to hear, based on my answers, whether my character would've ended on the dark side. I would've like to read maybe a little more information what happens to her in the future. I understand that this exhibit needs to cater to thousands of visitors, so I wasn't expecting anything too complex, but a little something would've been great!

I would also like to address the fact that at the very end, choice number 11, was the emperor becoming you to the dark side. I would've loved this to be only revealed when you saw your character in the end. But in all honesty, I can see why it was done this way. First, to stay true to the films, wouldn't you agree that going to the dark side was ultimately always a decision? Second, there were a lot of kids there. I'd hate to have to explain to a little kid why they ended up on the 'wrong side'.

My real surprise was at the very end where you were to choose your side. I ended there just after a large group of people. They all denied the emperor's summons. Every last one of them. WTF People?

Why was I the only one going to the dark side?

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