Star Wars has evolved a lot over the last four, nearly five decades. Stories like these have to evolve with their audiences; it's how they maintain their longevity. There are some classic elements of a galaxy far, far away that have remained the same all the way through -- and will continue to do so in the best possible ways. Here are just a few of them.
1. Referencing but not explaining things in detail ... at first
Remember how Princess Leia references the Clone Wars in A New Hope, or how a little later on in the movie Han Solo quickly tries to explain hyperspace travel to Luke Skywalker on the Millennium Falcon? Decades later, plenty of stories have since filled the gaps and made these references make a lot more sense. But back in 1977, George Lucas didn't further explain these things. This is one of the most classic and magical things about Star Wars storytelling, and it continues on to this day.
When Star Wars doesn't immediately explain itself -- and instead just keeps rolling on as if we are all supposed to know what a restraining bolt really does to a droid -- two magical things occur. One: you're immediately immersed fully into the story like you're a bystander to real events. Two: Everything that isn't explained immediately creates an instant story idea for someone to tackle later on.
2. Making up its own curse words because it can
If I were allowed to curse in these articles, I would -- but you're already thinking of all the Star Wars swear words you know off the top of your head, so I guess I don't have to worry about that. From the beginning, Star Wars has taken the care to craft its own unique languages. Sometimes literally. But part of language is the ever forbidden curse word, and Star Wars has plenty. New ones pop up all the time.
As George Lucas has always reiterated, Star Wars is for 12-year-olds. So there's a solid reason for replacing a lot of our own swearing with fake words that mean more or less the same thing. But there's also something extremely fun about hearing characters utter these words and phrases. There's that immersion factor again. If you were in Star Wars, you would probably say k**** all the time. Because it's fun. Even as an adult, it feels like your parents are going to walk in any minute and scold you. At least, mine would have.
3. Not abiding by any laws of physics ... or sometimes, logic
Star Wars is fake and in space. It takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. If these were real spaceships, there wouldn't be sound in the endless vacuum outside of a planet's atmosphere. If this were real life, Obi-Wan Kenobi might have just ended Darth Vader right there on the Death Star and the next two movies wouldn't have needed to exist.
But none of this is real. And that's what makes it fun. As Star Wars fans, we love to point out all the things in Star Wars that don't make sense. But that's part of the joy of the experience. Star Wars is part sci-fi, part fantasy. It's all made up. If it were more realistic, most of its stories wouldn't logically work. This is something that will never change about Star Wars, and I sincerely hope it never does.