Thirty Years Ago

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I wasn't even born when Star Wars came out. It seems kind of weird watching all of these things about it on the news. Seeing footage of people today attending celebrations and gatherings about it is kind of cool I suppose, but at the same time when you see newsreaders or reporters trying to tell you why it is all so important I just think, "Who are you to tell me this? What are you even adding to the story?"

I have trouble understanding how someone could not be a Star Wars fan. I've never understood the groups of girls (disclaimer: I have known and know girls who have seen and like Star Wars) I have known as I have grown up who had never seen any of the films, or who would say, "Meh, it's alright..." What is there that you don't get? I think (although I am sure there are people who would claim otherwise) that even the people who genuinely don't like Star Wars have to acknowledge the impact it has had on film, cinema and global popular culture.

If I were to make the breathing sound of Darth Vader's helmet you would immediately know what I was doing. Or the sound of a lightsaber as it hums through the air. How could you not? In just thirty years these sounds, never mind the iconic stories presented in the original trilogy have become seared into the collective mind.

That's why, in many ways, this story just doesn't seem to ring true. I can almost believe that he genuinely hasn't seen any of the films, but his utter lack of knowledge about the films (come on, who doesnt know that the first film is Episode IV? Or even who the characters are?) is unbelievable. Who is he trying to kid? The way the article is written made me laugh out loud when I read it this morning, simply because of the awful way that it is written.

Also, at the top of the article, "Warning: This story contains plot spoilers" - oh come on!

Thirty years ago I was minus three years old, a little glimmer of cellular potential... I never saw the original films at the cinema until their 1997 re-release. I loved them long before that time. I know that I had seen Star Wars many times before, but the first time that I remember watching them on TV was at my nan's house one Saturday afternoon. I would have been ten at most I imagine, but that is the first time that sticks in my mind.

I remember jumping out of my chair in sheer childish joy when the Millennium Falcon first jumps into hyperspace, and I still get a shiver up my spine to this day when that happens.

And in just the same way I get goosebumps during the dramatic moments at the end of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. I prefer Empire, and I think if I remember right noisms prefers Jedi. We're going to watch one of them tonight I think, and I am going to press hard for Empire.

"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father..."
"He told me enough! He told me you killed him!"
"No. I am your father."