30 Years Later

What did Cyclonic get me to do that no one else could? Not family nor boyfriends nor all of the fates combined could get me to cave in to watching the iconic Star Wars until today. For years I stubbornly refused to not only avoid it in the theaters but liked to smugly shock people that I had escaped all of the many times the movie was on television during the holidays. Cyclonic did what noone else ever had the guts to do, he handed me his copy of Star Wars and said, "Watch it." If he cared enough to remember my bragging about not seeing it, for him I would watch it, and I LIKED IT!

With years of hype about the movie making me determined to avoid seeing it, it did get me into trouble a few times. It caused a few arguments with lesser friends, made me clueless as to what my family was talking about and made me wonder what all of the merchandise on the store shelves was all about. My junior year in high school found me at an apathetic loss for what to write for a paper in English class. My sister had been doing some writing in her spare time and it wasn't too bad. I snatched up her idea, copying most of her lines verbatim. The paper was part of a project in class where it's grade was determined by classmates. The girl who graded mine turned to my best friend and said, "This is Star Wars! Why did she write that?" My friend honestly told her, "She has never seen the movie." I think I got a "C" on the paper.

It was so odd to watch a film for the first time yet to recognize every character and reference. First the Storm Troopers talking with their dark lord Darth Vadar about the Death Star and watching Princess Leia (Carrie looks like a young Debbie Reynolds!) shoot to defend herself. All 30 years since it's debut, my thoughts on it follow.

I never realized just how young the Luke Skywalker character was meant to be against the desert-like backdrop of the late 1970's imagined outer space. When the little holographic image of the princess appears and pleads to Obi-Wan Kenobi, my main hope was that Luke could get together with him and start to learn to flesh out the the young space farmer he portrayed. It reminded me of a scene out of Oklahoma and was sad when he didn't break into song about a bright golden haze on the droid as he looked out onto the 2 setting suns.

The sand people really spooked me and their attack on C-3PO made me think of the poor Scarecrow from the Wizard of OZ who was torn apart. I was grateful Luke could put him back together. Earlier this week, I devoured the final book in the Harry Potter series and kept wondering as I read if J.K. Rowling was going to pull a "Luke, I am your father," moment. Star Wars is a huge part of how people in our society make reference to things. It made me feel badly that I had waited so long to watch Star Wars that special scenes in the film have become so characterized that I couldn't appreciate them solely as the meaningful moments they were intended to be. Thanks to all of the You-tube videos of the Star Wars kid, I couldn't be impressed with Luke's rite of passage receiving his futuristic samurai sword. I cracked up every time I saw a lightsaber.

Even after years of up to date Disney graphics the space port where Obi-Wan and Luke meet Chewbacca and Han is still visually well done. The scene holds up well more than a quarter of a century after it's introduction to celluloid. The bar was, years later, well echoed by Quark's in Star Trek's DS9. Colorful characters must have been a real feast for the eyes and I am envious of those who innocently saw it the year it came out. They, however, did not have the pleasure of being reminded just how handsome Harrison Ford has been for oh so many years. If you are a fan and never saw The Conversation, make sure to see it.

I was shocked that I had built Jabba into a much bigger Hut than he actually was. Never having seen the character but hearing people make reference to him, I used his name in describing a nearby mountain. He is only an overgrown slug.

Before their escape from the Death Star, the masked Darth Vader meets hooded Obi-Wan. Maybe it was that their light sabers looking like wands but no, it was Obi-Wan allowing himself to be struck down that put to mind Dumbledoor stepping down to allow Harry's battling Voldemort. Young blood taking on the centuries old theme of good vs evil.

I admire this movie for representing the diversity of the universe. Not only in races but species and the many languages. It was a bold thing to suggest, I can't say that I have seen any other movie that has succeeded in pulling it off to this extent.

Cyclonic was right, I am grateful for hearing the origins of many of those great lines that have been the spice of our conversations for years. It is one thing to hear people quote them but the aplomb with which they are delivered by the characters is priceless. I might not remember all of the great lines and scenes as the die hards, just remember that I have only seen Star Wars... ONCE.