Star Wars
5.21.99

I can actually remember being a 3-year-old, going into the tiny theatre at the local mall, and looking up at the cardboard R2-D2 hanging from the ceiling, on my way in to see the original Star Wars (Episode IV). I vaguely remember watching the movie then, but the vision of the theatre always remained clear.

And I remember getting the Death Star play set for Christmas one year, complete with retracting bridge, and working trash compactor with rubber creature inside. And there were little studs throughout the set where I could stand my Luke and Leia figures (remember, the studs fit into the holes in their feet). And I remember my land speeder, X-Wing, Tie-Fighter, and Millennium Falcon being my favorite toys. I also remember my parents throwing them out eventually... that still kills me.

Then there were the video and arcade games. There were books (that I never actually got into, really. You know the rest... Star Wars is, and always has been EVERYWHERE... well, for as long as I can remember, at least. That's why I was so happy to be able to bring my nine-year-old cousin to see the new Episode. Star Wars is as big of a part of American culture as hamburgers and Elvis (personally, I don't get the whole Elvis thing).

Anyways, the show I brought my cousin to was my second time seeing Episode I, and I'll probably be back one more time before it's out of the theatre. It's a source of major nostalgia for me, pointing back to a time when all I did was play. Actually, those days weren't the happiest in the world either... I can't remember how many times my sister and I talked about running away. But those toys, and the Star Wars fantasy, that there was a magical Force that could help us in life if we believed in it (other than the God that my catholic school teachers were always babbling about) always provided a little fantasy. So to me, bringing her to the theatre was like passing on the legacy. This goes beyond just "going to the movies". This is opening up a whole new generation to a boundless source of imagination, adventure, and commercialism. Sure, the commercial aspects of the Star Wars franchise is kinda rough to deal with, especially since Lucas made back the $115 million he put out for this flick, just on merchandising before the movie even opened.

It's the two-sided nature of the beast. On the surface, there's a hatred for the fat cat that is using our source of wonderment to continue amassing his HUGE fortune. But beneath that is the absolute LOVE that is probably going to have me, a 25-year-old, dressing up as Darth Maul for Halloween this year (I just hope they make double-sided light saber that is cool enough to go with the intense makeup job I'll be doing n myself). Maybe George Lucas is the Devil. It would make sense, wouldn't it. Well, at least as much sense as saying that Dick Clark is. We just can't resist the Star Wars phenomenon, can we? If you do, you're un-American. If you denounce Star Wars, it's almost sacrilegious... not that I mind sacrilegious... hell, I'm a huge supporter of sacrilege. It's a weird balance... if you waited on line for more than an hour and a half for Star Wars tickets, you're a loser... If you showed up at the theatre in costume, you're a geek... If you slept on line for a month, just to get in and see the show first, you're suffering from such huge issues that you should probably just kill yourself now to prevent your family's embarrassment, and to be sure that you never reproduce. Personally, I'd like to know what kinds of jobs these people have that waited on these lines. What the hell do you do all day, that you can just leave it all to go wait on line. I know I'd be fired. Anyone else? But... if you said you had no desire to see the movie or weren't very excited for it, you either a) are a Star Trek fan; b) are too old to have really enjoyed the original trilogy; or c) are too cool to allow something as silly as a movie excite you so much.

I guess the point is that, even though people are making a REALLY big deal about this movie, in a way, it IS a big deal. I wouldn't say it's big enough to leave my life for a month to wait on line and then see it six times in the first day it's out... but it IS a big deal, to a lot of people. It's a source of beautifully developed fantasy. It's a chance to be truly entertained without having to think about the negativity in life that's represented on screen. It's very possible to detach completely from the tragedies of life and engulf yourself into the saga that happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away... not in our past or possible future, or in our sometimes horrific present. Star Wars is proof (in some weird way) that good DOES conquer evil, that we ALL can be heroes in some way, and that even the most obscure character in life can become the most popular person in the world (remember Boba Fett only had one or two lines in two whole movies).

So if you haven't seen it yet... do it. And continue the legacy.