Last weekend, TNT ran a Star
Wars marathon. Since I was in the middle of inputting receipts into Quicken
and needed some background noise, I turned on the marathon, catching Episode I: The Phantom Menace close to
the beginning. Fortunately, the football game of the year for Michigan residents
(University of Michigan vs Michigan State University) didn’t come on until 7:30
pm, so I had control of the remote all afternoon. 😊
Having watched each episode about a million times (slight
exaggeration), I knew I could do the financial stuff and follow the movies.
Hah. Too many times, a scene would snag my attention. It didn’t take much to
yank me away from data input. (Bo-ring) Each time I watch one of the movies, I
see something new. Yes, even after a million times. During the big pep talk
scene in A New Hope and Mon Mothma says
“Many Bothans died to bring us this information” I immediately thought of Rogue One that told that story.
I love the expansion of Star
Wars to include side stories, like Rogue
One. I’m looking forward to more of them. Just as I’m anxiously awaiting
the release of Star Wars VIII: The Last
Jedi.
Why this fascination with a forty-year-old movie and its
sequels? And why are new fans made every generation? I can’t speak for
everyone, only my family. (If this sounds vaguely familiar, my post almost
three years ago speaks of my family’s fascination with the series.)
Hubs and I saw the original Star Wars in the theater. We enjoyed it so much, we took our kids. When
the VCR of the first trilogy came out, I bought it (still have the original
tapes), and we watched the films many times. I took my son and his best friend
(ages 5 and 6) to Star Wars V: The Empire
Strikes Back and sitting in the front row because we didn’t arrive early
enough. (I still remember the crick in my neck.) We’ve watched the entire
series on DVD so many times, I think they’re starting to wear out. LOL We
passed the torch to our children who in turn have passed it on to their children,
all of whom share our passion. Our 7.5-year-old grandson beats everyone at Star Wars Trivial Pursuit. His
10-year-old sister comes in a close second.
When I wrote the previous post (December, 2014), my
granddaughter, Toddler Girl, hadn’t been born yet. I did say we’d indoctrinate her
in Star Wars. Now, she’s two and a
half. Her favorite toys at my house are the three sets of Star Wars nesting dolls. Guess who’s been teaching her the names of
the characters? Hehehe. She remembers Chewbacca, BB-8, and the princesses Leia
and Rey. Well, I think Rey is a princess. She has to be Luke’s daughter, right?
I guess we’ll find out when Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi comes out on December 15th.
You can bet our three generations of Star
Wars fans will be at the opening. Seeing the trailer yesterday added to the
anticipation.
For me, the fascination of the movies is the adventure. Before
1977, I never read science fiction, and I thought previous sci-fi movies were
hokey, unbelievable. Because of the manner in which Star Wars was written and filmed, the viewer can easily suspend
disbelief. Of course ships travel through space and hop from planet to planet. This
was adventure (and romance) that happened to take place in a “galaxy far, far
away.” As I’ve said many times, that’s when my love of science fiction romance
began. Consequently, I was thrilled when Disney bought the franchise and began
making new movies.
I’ve never felt this way about a movie series. I compare every
sci-fi film I see to Star Wars. None measure
up. (The only ones that come close are the Star
Trek series.) As you can tell, I’m still an unabashed fangirl.
What movie series captured you?
Diane Burton once knew the
name of every Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronaut. After watching the first Star Wars movie, she knew she wanted to
write about space adventure. Her Outer Rim series (The Pilot, The Chameleon,and The Protector)
are about strong women (like Star Wars heroines Leia, Rey, and Jyn) on the
frontier of space. Read about Diane's books at www.dianeburton.com
