Mexican ‘Star Wars’ fans dive into the fantasy in ‘Fanatic Wars’

If you’ve ever been curious what dinner with Darth Vader might be like, imagine a lime-green room with color-coordinated tablecloth (calla lily motif) and sweet baby photos on the wall.

Wondering what a thirsty Stormtrooper would drink? The answer is milk. (Probably nonfat?)

Chewbacca keeps a tidy kitchen, judging from the washed dishes and glasses drying on his counter. As for Leia: Who would have guessed that the blaster-shooting princess is a baby-doll and stuffed-animal kind of gal?

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These are among the revelations of “Fanatic Wars,� Oaxaca-based photographer Marcel Rius’ book depicting “Star Wars� fans at home in Mexico.

Rius conceived his project as diptychs, each photo of someone in costumed glory presented next to a mirror image of that person in earthling street clothes. The concept, Rius said in an interview, was “to know who is behind the mask.�

But the domestic settings also are what give the images their humor and an endearing sweetness. “The idea was to make it very Mexican,� Rius said, and the result is the surprising collision of space-traveling fantasy and earthbound reality.

“There are fans of all social strata, all kinds of mentalities, different ages, different professions,� he said, adding that subjects include a bank manager, a lawyer and a graphic designer.

But look at the Yoda child in green face paint, the homemade R2D2 crafted from what looks like a garbage can and aluminum foil, or the blue-faced Jedi holding her light saber by the spatula caddy on her kitchen counter, and one has to wonder: Does “Star Wars� make fans just a little mad?

“I think, ‘Who is not a little crazy?’� Rius said. If some people have their football or soccer, and teenagers have their video games, he asked, why can’t others go nuts over “Star Wars�?

Rius, 44, a Barcelona native who left Spain for Mexico about 10 years ago, has a gallery in Oaxaca called Tingladography (eltinglado.com.mx/#expo). The publisher of “Fanatic Wars� is Trilce; in the U.S. the book is distributed by ACC. More work: marcelrius.net.

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Twitter: @cnakano