Let's talk briefly about Star Wars. It is one of my greatest passions, so what better way to get meaningful on a journal sort of thing, right?
First, some back story:
Star Wars was the first movie I ever went to in my entire life. I was two and a half years old in May of 1977, and my mother took me to go see a movie. She couldn't possibly have known at the time that it would be the single most influential movie in my life. This is not to say that I actually recall that occurrence some 27 years later. Nor do I recall being taken to see The Empire Strikes Back three years after that. I have to take my parents' word for both of those events.
I do, however, vividly recall walking out of the theatre in 1983 after having just seen Return of the Jedi for the first time with the image of Luke Skywalker emblazoned on my impressionable mind and feeling an unimaginably huge desire to BE him wielding that green lightsaber in the name of Good. So it would be safe to say that my fanaticism started there.
It has evolved considerably over the intervening years. Then, it was more about something so incredibly cool that I had never even conceived of it. But even then, I'm sure that there was a part of me that was touched by the underlying mythology and mythos that George Lucas intentionally incorporated into his story. On the door of my office I have taped a picture of Yoda instructing Luke in the ways of the Force with the caption, "Try not. Do; or do not. There is no try." It is the simple ideology of statements like this that underlie the entire series and which has helped to create such broad appeal that has spanned decades.
Ultimately, that's why I think it's generally unfair that Lucas has come under such criticism for making the prequel trilogy in the manner that he has. I'd even go so far as to defend him, or at least withhold condemnation, for revising the original trilogy in 1997 and again for the DVD release that took place on 21-September. The only thing I've really come to hate is the fact that Greedo shoots first in the Mos Eisley Cantina; which I personally think is anathema to Han Solo's character as it was developed to that introductory point. But even that does not undermine the flow of the story. It's a niggling point. And as such, I'll feel free to niggle away at it without allowing it to affect my opinion of the Story as a whole. Neither am I a fan of Jar-Jar Binks, but Lucas has always held to the fact that he made these films for kids. The kid in me that was so enthralled with my first contact with Star Wars can see the appeal Binks would have to a younger generation. I still think he's a silly git. There's a correlation in there to Ewoks too.
I've told several friends that I'll take a grinder to my shoulders, where rest my Star Wars tattoos, should Episode III: Revenge of the Sith turn out to be less than what it should be. That claim is wide open to interpretation, so I know I'm not going to look like Mel Gibson did in Bird on a Wire. I've defended the prequels since The Phantom Menace came out in 1999. I think they're true to the original vision of Star Wars. And I think that there is going to be a grand tying-together that takes place in Sith. Mind you, I acknowledge the fact that I'm an idealist in many ways and will look at a situation at how I'd like it to turn out. There is a pragmatist lurking in there though. My Jedi powers have successfully suppressed him to date.
Only 229 days and 9 hours until the circle is complete.
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