We all remember our first time. I was sixteen and had no idea what was in store for me. I didn't think it was going to be so...intense. But there I was, in that dark room, and there was no turning back. And when it was over, I knew it was something I'd never forget. The friends who were there with me will never forget it either.
Of course, I'm talking about the first time I saw "Star Wars." What did you THINK I was talking about?
The newest installment of the saga premieres May 19. The official title is "Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace," and people have actually begun lining up for tickets already. All I can say is, a person who's been in line for three weeks with no shower facilities is not someone I want to sit next to at the premiere. I'll wait till the crowds die down, sometime around July 2001.
Hopefully, the new series will answer some of the tantalizing questions left hanging by the end of the first series over sixteen years ago. Such as, what really happened to turn the good Jedi Anakin Skywalker into the evil Darth Vader? How did that butt-ugly guy in the hood get to be Emperor ? And why does Yoda, supposedly the wisest creature in the galaxy, talk like Grover from "Sesame Street"?
One question that the movie probably won't answer concerns Sir Alec Guiness. Do you think Sir Alec, the fine British actor who earned a knighthood for his roles in movies like "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Bridge on the River Kwai" minds that he'll forever be known for lines like "that's no moon, that's a space station" and "you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy"? I mean, I like "Star Wars" a lot, but "Twelfth Night" this ain't. I suspect that Sir Alec is laughing all the way to the bank, or more likely chortling in a dignified manner. (He is British, after all.) .
Of course, the mania for the "Star Wars" action figures has begun, with collectors already haunting the toy stores, hoping to snag a first edition Obi-Wan Kenobi figurine. I suppose I shouldn't mock. If I'd snagged a handful of the original action figures, I could probably buy a beach house with the profits by now. It is truly a great country where a twenty-one year old plastic doll can sell for as much as $2500. And that's for one of the bit players.
What is it about these "Star Wars" movies? What is it that holds the public imagination? Oh we can talk in learned tones about subtexts and go on and on, as Bill Moyers did in his series "The Power of Myth" about how "Star Wars" follows the structure of ancient hero tales. But all the theorizing fades away before the memory of how blown away I was when I saw that first shot of the Imperial Destroyer passing "over me" onto the screen and realized "good god, that thing's the size of Toledo." Or that moment when Han Solo first took the Millennium Falcon into hyperspace and the whole theater went "Wowwww," in unison.
It's not just the special effects. It's that sense of wonder you feel at being immersed in another, perfectly realized world, one where you can see every rivet on the spaceships. This world, like any "real" world, has a history, and part of the fun is discovering that history as you go along. It's a world with noble heroes, black-hearted villains, likable rogues, and beautiful princesses, but it's also so real that you actually get to see where they put the garbage. As far as I know, Captain Kirk's U.S.S. Enterprise doesn't even have garbage.
Even the names are perfect. The heroes have cool-sounding names: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian. The villains have evil, sinister names: Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt, Newt Gingrich...oh, wait, that last one was real. Sorry.
We're all older now. George Lucas has a lot more salt than pepper in his beard, and a look at me will show that I've obviously been to the snack bar a few times, if you know what I mean. But when "The Phantom Menace" comes to town, I'll be right there in the dark with my big buttered popcorn and my sense of wonder, ready to be swept again into a galaxy far, far away.