This coming Monday I am going to turn 36. Just ten days later George Lucas and company are going to release the last of the Star Wars movies. I can say that I am part of the generation that watched the movies as they were released and was just enthralled and enraptured by them.
In 1977 my family and I watched the first movie at a drive-in. It was in Chatsworth and I remember the day exceptionally well. I remember sitting in the back of the station wagon, a Chevy Impala and just soaking it all up.
The Force, light sabers, droids, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Han Solo and the Millenium Falcon. I loved it all. When Empire came out I sat there with baited breath as they froze Han. During Return of The Jedi I got off watching the battles, loved watching Vader turn back into Anakin and save Luke from the Emperor.
In the years that have passed I can't count the number of times we have used some kind of Star Wars reference.
"How did your date go?"
"I tried the Jedi Mind trick on her, but it just didn't work."
"Luke, I am your father, come to the Dark Side."
"Fear leads to Anger, anger leads to the Dark Side"
I was never as hard core in my devotion as some of my friends and other people I knew. The quotes above might not be exact, but millions of people know exactly what I am referring to.
I didn't have the toys or the sheets, but I can say that all of the movies made an impact on me. And unlike so many others, I enjoyed The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. How could you not love watching Darth Maul. How could you not get excited watching Yoda, the ultimate Jedi master wield his light saber.
How many of us openly or in secret wished that we could use The Force. I have no problem admitting to having spent time staring at objects and trying to bring them to my hand strictly by willing them there.
I guess what I am saying is that the eight year-old boy who first fell in love with Star Wars still lives inside me. Somewhere deep inside he lives on, rooting for the Rebels and he always will. I am part of the Star Wars generation.
It doesn't matter to me if people get it or not anymore than it matters whether they understand why I love the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. There is a magic there that I love being connected to. I may have to blog a little bit about this in another post.
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