Review: Star Wars Identities

One of my favourite parts of visiting the lovely city of Montreal is going to museums. I have my usual spots that I like to visit, including the McCord Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art.

Two weeks ago, during my two day visit in Montreal, I was really excited to visit the Montreal Science Centre for the very first time.We visited for a very specific reason: the new Star Wars exhibit.

Disclaimer: I am not a Star Wars fan. I have seen Star Wars episode 1 and that's about it. BUT I was still unbelievably excited to see this exhibit.

Review: Star Wars Identities

If you are planning to visit the Star Wars exhibit, get your wallets prepared. The admission fee to see the exhibit is pretty steep ($52 for two).

Then you have to wait before you can enter the exhibit. Groups of twenty people are only allowed to go in at a time, every fifteen minute.At first, this can be a bit frustrating. However, you'll soon realize that this is to facilitate everyone's time in the exhibit.

Every visitor is given a headset and a bracelet. When you first enter the exhibit, you watch a five minute video, introducing the overall theme of the exhibit. The exhibit will explore all of the things that contribute to your identity, by using Luke and Anakin Skywalker as examples.



You are then responsible to create your own character. Throughout the exhibit, you explore the ten components that contribute to your identity, which include species, genes, parents, culture, mentors, friends, events, occupation, personality, and values. In order to build your character, you go to ten different stations and make a selection on the various choices for each component of your character. In addition, there are videos in each section that explain how your identity is created. The videos discuss how the identities of Luke and Anakin were formed and include video clips of the various Star Wars films.

The exhibit also features audio clips, explained some of the background stories about the films, and stories about George Lucas' and his motivation behind his characters. In addition, visitors are lucky to be able to see the various costumes that were worn by the actors in the actual Star Wars  films. Quite unbelievable!

Having worked in a museum guide, I have very high standards when it comes to museum exhibits. In all honesty, I was very impressed. The exhibit is highly interactive. As a visitor, if you are expecting just to walk in and look at artefacts, this exhibit is not designed for you.

Despite the hefty admission price, this exhibit is definitely worth checking out. It took us about two hours to go through the whole exhibit. I left the museum, wanting to watch all of the Star Wars films. In addition, you get to save the Star Wars character that you created and email it to yourself to keep! So all your hard work doesn't go to waste...

Essentially, the exhibit allows you to define what forces shape you... Besides, you have to admit, I look pretty badass as a Star Wars character.