A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away…
I am a Star Wars baby.
In 1997, I went to the opening night of Star Wars: Special Edition with at least ten other people. Out of that crowd I was the only person who had seen Star Wars in the theatres during its original theatrical release in ’77 or ’78. Star Wars changed my life. I’ve never known anything else.
Who would have guessed that settling into those velvety chairs near the concession stand – so Mom could keep an eye on me – in our 1920s theatre would have made such a difference? That life would have begun at 6:30 or 7:00 on that Friday night in the late 70s?
I still call my little brother – born in April, 1978 – “Kid” because that’s what Han Solo called Luke Skywalker. I’m still sore that the “cheek cannons” on my new AT-AT broke on Christmas Day 1980 because my inflatable R2-D2 punching bag bounced it into our 300 year old scottish high boy chest. The best way for me to relax into sleep when my mind is anxious is to imagine myself climbing into my X-Wing in the dark recesses of Yavin Four’s temples and launching against the first Death Star. Every time I move, I find my old threadbare Star Wars bedsheet and think about framing it. Somewhere in my collection is an original one-sheet from when we showed Star Wars all those years ago. I have a broken Landspeeder, a wingless X-Wing, a Luke without the lightsaber, a Ben Kenobi without his plastic cape. But I never had a TIE Fighter. Bollocks to the Empire!
Movie history has very few phases: pre-talkie, black and white, everything before Star Wars, and everything after. Without Star Wars there would be no quality sci-fi: no Blade Runner, Star Trek movies, Robocop, or The Matrix. Without Star Wars there would be no stunning comic book movies: no Sin City, Spider-Man or 300. Without Star Wars there would be no Indiana Jones, and without Indy there would be no Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator or Lord of the Rings.
Go on, listen to this and tell me you don’t get a lump in your throat.
Happy Birthday Star Wars! Thanks for thirty years of wildly imaginative entertainment. Here’s to thirty years of Star Wars and thirty years of Star Wars babies.