My girlfriend and I headed for Montreal to visit some of the relocated derby family with the added multi-tasking bonus that the Star Wars Identities exhibit happened to be on at the Montreal Science Centre.

Last year the same Science Centre hosted an Indiana Jones exhibit which mixed historical and mythological themes with costumes, props and behind-the-scenes items. The educational quotient for the new Star Wars exhibit explores the identity that a culture and individual has via origin, influence and choices. What makes an orphaned teen-aged farm-boy raised by an uncle and aunt become a hero? What makes a freed slave raised by a single mom become evil?

You receive a bracelet so at check in at points through-out the exhibit you can answer questions about your upbringing, views, community and world views. Because it's a Star Wars exhibit, you can also choose whether you are a Wookiee, Mon Calamari, or Ewok (amongst other species choices). You also get a thing to hang around your neck with an attached ear-piece so you can watch / listen to a number of video screens through-out the exhibit.

Not being tied down to a tour guide or time limit worked out very well for me, we were told that walking through would take about 90 minutes, it took us about an hour longer than that. I studied every story-board and character design intently, stood in awe before a giant fleet of space-ship and vehicle models, and got choked up in the presence of C3P0, Boba Fett and Chewbacca. Most impressively, I made it out of the thing without making a run for it after grabbing a lightsaber off of a Jedi costumed mannequin and being tackled by a security guard or two.