Is "dark side" capitalized?
Actually, no. According to the official Star Wars Web site, it's not.
Really, the AP should have planned better for this media blitz surrounding the (supposedly) last Star Wars movie; it should have released a stylebook supplement. Besides the "dark side" question, issues that arose during yesterday's proofing of our big movie blowout included:
- whether the opposite of the dark side can be described as the Force (it can't; the dark side also uses the Force)
- how to capitalize ice planet Hoth (that seems to be the correct way; the planet's name is Hoth, not Ice Planet Hoth)
- whether the planets depicted on our Star Wars board game (that's right!) bore the proper resemblence to the planets in the films (Tattooine is brown and dry; Hoth is, you know, icy-looking)
- how to spell Wookiee
- how to spell damn near everything
These sorts of details become even more important when you're writing about a beloved (well, once-beloved) cultural phenomenon such as Star Wars. The people who are reading the Star Wars stories – or rather, who are saving all Star Wars stories to read after they go to the 12:01 a.m. Thursday showing, because, oh no, they wouldn't want to have it spoiled for them that ANAKIN SKYWALKER BECOMES DARTH VADER – these people know how Wookiee is spelled. Heck, some of them know the population of Kashyyyk at the moment Luke Skywalker was born. If you misspell Wookiee, you will look like 1) a moron for misspelling Wookiee, and 2) an asshat for trying to tell people what to think about Star Wars when you obviously don't know anything about the Star Wars universe.
That is all for now. May the Force be with you . . . is a cliche and should be avoided.