Monday, May 06, 2013

I want to be friends with STAR WARS again

Hi Gang,

It's been a while since I posted anything with the complete lack of anything 24-related in the world. And I've had little to add to the internet other than my tweets about cigars, sunsets and bourbon. I guess there's a time for everything to recede and then there comes a time for something new to grow. Maybe I'm back to writing or maybe this is my single post for 2013. I have no idea, and I make no promises about the frequency of posts moving forward.



All of that aside, the reason I logged back into Blogger today was to write out my thoughts concerning STAR WARS, the pillar of my childhood, the albatross on my teenage dating prospective years and the calamitously expensive hobby I delved into during the "prequel" years when the series was marketed and merchandized into new life.

I gave up on STAR WARS. It happened around the time I sat through REVENGE OF THE SITH and realized I didn't care who lived, who died or why I was even sitting in the seat. I was bored by the spectacle. I am not alone in this feeling, and the internet is full of millions of folks saying some version of this essay. I don't have anything Tatooine-shattering to offer here but while reading an interview with Mark Hamill regarding the upcoming movies (Episodes 7, 8 and 9) I realized that I would be seeing Luke Skywalker again on the big screen.  This was the first time I felt genuinely happy about STAR WARS in years. More than any other "original" character, Luke was the guy that made these films. Sure, he whined, he moped around and he kept pissing off the level-headed Yoda and Ben Kenobi, but Luke was the kid. Luke was all of us, thrust into an odd world, told to live a certain kind of life but always looking off to the future, hoping for a new destiny. There is much more I could write about this character, a thesis on Western Individualist thought is just waiting to be applied to Young Skywalker, but I'll skip all of that for now and just go on about my emotions. And the big surprise here is that I feel warmth towards STAR WARS, and more specifically, Luke Skywalker, again. Will it last? Will the new movies be good? That's all up to the filmmakers. I may not be a fanatic anymore, but maybe that was never sustainable. Growing up is not necessarily inevitable, but it does make it difficult to obsess over anything in particular when you have to deal with real issues.

I would really like to have my old childhood friend come back, if not for me but for a new generation of kids that could experience the same joy and imaginative thrill that I had from these stories. I hope STAR WARS comes back for real this time.

4 comments:

Brian Pelts said...

It's a trap.

TheJackSack said...

Well, it's ALWAYS a trap!

Granny Annie said...

I am old but raised a few Star Wars fans. They must be excited by this prospect. Regardless of why you are here, it is always good to see you. Jack Bauer, my counter terrorist rooster is alive and well and two of his offspring are leading my flock these days.

TheJackSack said...

Hi Annie! How are you? I'm so happy you stopped by to say hi. I still crack up thinking about your rooster. Just tell his kids to stay away from cougars.

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