The Genius of George Lucas

Now, I love Star Wars as much as any geek and more than most normal people. But to line up in front of a theater a month before the movie premieres, when the movie isn't even showing in that theater? And to refuse to move the line to the theater where the movie will be playing? That's a little.....extreme. I read on Wil Wheaton's excellent site that this is actually happening, though.

I said in my intro post that I love these movies, and I am soooo very excited about Revenge of the Sith. SO EXCITED!!! I think the trailer looks awesome, and I simply cannot wait. I'm trying to keep very busy with school, family, and life so that I don't have to think about how long a wait I still have before it opens. I've never been able to make my friends and family completely understand why I bow before the genius that is George Lucas (Episode I and parts of Episode II notwithstanding). But Star Wars is a part of me. Seeing it for the first time was one of those life-altering moments that affects us so deeply and intimately that it makes us who we are.

I was six that fateful summer. I had heard rumblings about this amazing movie that was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. I wanted to see it. I don't even remember why I wanted to see it so badly. Maybe I had seen R2-D2 and C-3PO in an ad and thought they were cool. I don't know. But my dad said he wasn't sure if it was a movie for kids. So he took my sister (who was only 11 at the time - excuse me, since when does being 11 make you a grown-up?!) and said he would take me another time if he thought it was suitable. So I waited. In the meantime, my best friend at the time saw it and told me how incredible it was. My sister kept telling me how unbelievably good it was and how much I would love it. Not that she was rubbing it in or anything. A loving big sis would never do that. No way. And pigs fly all over the world without the help of airplanes, helicopters, or Santa's sleigh in case you didn't know.

Finally my time came. My dad was going to take me to see it. We got to the theater and the line was around the corner. It had been out for some time, but the lines hadn't gotten any shorter. You've all seen the pictures. We got closer and closer to the front of the line. I was getting tired, it was hot, I was getting bored, I knew I was going to see something amazing and I wanted to see it RIGHT AWAY. Then the manager came out and said they were sold out for this showing, but we were welcome to buy tickets to whatever completely lame and unfortunately timed other movie (this was before the days of the gigantor multi-plexes, remember, so there were only two screens at this theater) was playing there. (You have to feel a little sorry for the movies that came out in the summer of 1977 that didn't star wookies, robots, and Jedis.) Dad wasn't going to wait around for a showtime that wasn't sold out. He'd already seen it, after all. So he said he'd bring me back another time. Life sucked.

I was beginning to think I'd never see it, so I made my best friend re-create it for me, scene by scene. It wasn't quite the same. I HAD TO SEE THIS MOVIE! When my big day finally arrived, (and in all honesty, it's possible I may have only had to wait a day or two longer, but at six, that's an eternity) I sat patiently (sort of) with my popcorn in my lap, excited to finally be there. When those infamous words, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." scrolled up the screen, I started asking questions, much to my father's dismay. I could read it fine, but I didn't understand what it all meant. Then the reading portion of our evening was over and this gigantic spaceship was looming overhead. I think I was too entranced to say another word until we left the theater. SW was a part of me from the minute Darth Vader stepped on board the rebel ship. He scared the bejeezus out of me. Not like the boogeyman that was in my closet, but a deeper, more visceral fear. This. Was. One. Bad. Dude. And I was hooked. For life.

As I said, no one had ever seen anything like this movie before. But at six years old, my only previous movie-going experience was limited to Winnie the Pooh, Benji, and Pippi Longstocking. I loved those movies, and still do, but this was a completely different experience. This movie had everything! Fantastic creatures, the aforementioned wookies, robots, and Jedis, action, humor, romance (albeit a very twisted romance, but we wouldn't realize that until ROTJ years later), good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, cute boys, the wise old grandfather figure, cool new weapons, magic, mysticism, everything! When you see a phenomenon like this at six years old, on the big screen, it changes who you are. Meg Ryan's character in You've Got Mail said that when you read a book as a child, it's like no other reading you'll ever do in life; it becomes a part of you in a way that no other reading will ever do. She said that when her mother gave children books she was helping them figure out who it was they were going to become. Well, George Lucas gave me this movie and helped shape the person I am today. For better or for worse.

My friends and family like the movies well enough. But they've never been into it the way I am. I wasn't going to get married dressed up as Princess Leia, but I did want to see every new movie the day it opened, read everything about the movies that I could, watch every interview George Lucas ever did, and own every toy that was ever made. I'm still buying the toys, claiming they're for my son, but telling him he has to share. With me. You get the idea. It's a part of me. I keep it with me all the time. The humor in it helped set the tone for my own sense of humor. Han Solo showed me how to be a true smart-ass. Obi-Wan taught me the importance of honor, justice, right and wrong way better than any Sunday school teacher ever could have. A few years later, Yoda let me know that I will never accomplish anything if I don't give it all I have and believe in myself.

The bottom line is, with Star Wars, you either get it or you don't. Those that don't get it can watch the movies and enjoy them for entertainment's sake. But they'll never really understand it. Those that get it, understand it instinctively. The Force is With Us.