Originally posted at http://digitaldiatribes.wordpress.com on February 6, 2007.
After all these years, the time had finally come. The girls were to encounter the “Star Wars” experience. This has been a long-awaited time, my friends. My thoughts have rushed back many times to 1976, when I was a mere lad, embarking on a trip to the movie theatre with my cousins Mark and Tammy, along with my mom. Dad, of course, never trifled with silly things like space wars and aliens.
I can still remember the awe I had watching these movies. And then, for years after, Star Wars action figures were staples of the toy collection, along with the X-wings and tie-fighters. Oh, those were the days.
Now, of course, there has been thirty years of similar movies with ever more impressive special effects. I admit that these movies almost seem silly in the modern context. But that matters not, I say! It is better to watch and not judge, because it is simply more enjoyable that way.
I also had a decision to make… do I begin with Episode I, or with Episode IV? Going with the theory that Episode IV made more sense because George Lucas felt it made sense in 1976, we also chose that route.
The first evening was an event. The lights dimmed, popcorn popped, and the surround-sound was activated (except for the left speaker that doesn’t work). The Star Wars experience had officially begun, and now there was no stopping it (although there was required pauses, because Sweettooth has what I call a short-term bladder).
From there, we went to the Empire Strikes Back (which is on DVD as opposed to Video. Everyone say “oooh” in wonderment). According to the young reviewers, that one was “a little scarier” than the first one.
I admit, it had been a while since I saw “Return of the Jedi.” In my head, I’m thinking “it’s just a bunch of little Ewoks running around.” So I let the young boys watch it. That was a brilliant idea. I forgot about this little something called a Bantha that was a huge monster that ate people. Oops.
And so ends Star Wars week. We now will take the next step towards the first three Episodes. Man, these kids are lucky nowadays. They can watch them all back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back without waiting two years (or 20 years, even) between movies!
One can never tell, but this is just one of those moments where, as a parent, you kind of feel like you just did something a little special for your kids. More likely, they made it more special for me – the real kid. For all I know, in a couple years I’ll ask them, “Remember when we watched all the Star Wars movies?” And they’ll look at me with this bright look on their faces and a gleam in their eyes, and respond, “What’s Star Wars?”
