With this the 30th b-day of the series that took us to a galaxy far, far away I thought I'd present my mini biography of this beloved and often misunderstood film series.
May 25, 1977 - A star is born and like a certain messiah, it's birth is celebrated, but far from world famous. It begins its life in a few theaters but word of the power quickly starts to grow. By the end of this momentous summer everyone would be talking about this prodigy, this wunderkind. Word of mouth made this little cult flick in to a world wide phenomenon. How would this ever top the success it had early on in its life?
May 21, 1980 - The next chapter is released on the world to all the fanfare that the first one lacked. Funny thing is? It's better than the original. It managed to do the impossible, it improved upon itself. The legend had truly arrived as was foretold in the prophecies of hollywoodland. Star Wars mania was in full effect. There was merchandising like which the world had never seen before. Sure there was some from the start, but this was different. This was everywhere. You could hardly blink without seeing a lightsaber or Yoda.
May 25, 1983 - The "final" chapter of the trilogy is released to the biggest release of them all. People lined up for pre-release screening. When it was over Star Wars, for the most part, disappeared from the public eye, but never the public consciousness. Like Elvis before it, it had left the building.
Throughout the later years it would be bought, re-bought and in some cases re-re-re-re-bought on various home media mediums. There was beta, vhs, laserdisc, etc etc. But we were basically worshiping something that had made nothing new since the summer of '83. Then 14 years later, on the 20th anniversary of the original, we were told we would again be able to relive the magic in the theaters with shiny new effects and digital sound and all the toys that make us pocket protector types drool. We would receive the "Special Editions" homogenized, pasteurized, drip dried and ready to show. It was like a second coming.
So off to the theaters we went in the fall of '97 to see our baby reborn, so to speak. We'd spent so many years watching and loving this child that this was practically the prom or graduation or who knows. Here we were again sharing what we'd kept like Gollum in our caves for so long. And out walks this tarted up version of our baby. Needless to say we were offended. Nay, we were outraged. You changed it?! We wanted more, but you changed it? Greedo shoots first?? @$#%#$%#!!!1!! In retrospect, and I'm not by any means defending these changes, but this really was our baby after a nose job. She didn't look the same and we didn't like it because of that. Unfortunately this began the turncoating. We began to turn our backs on our baby. Perhaps it was finally leaving the nest, or maybe it had just found someone better and younger. The story could end here, but this was just midpoint.
So by now we knew that a whole new trilogy was coming. We had but wait a mere two years from this "special" re-release to be treated to a truly original tale in our fabled galaxy far (sigh) far away. Past bruises were forgiven, a blank slate created and all forgiven. We were ready to love this quasi sibling to our original child...
May 19, 1999 - The lines are truly drawn now. There is the whole new generation who sees no fault in this newest incarnation. There is the old generation who sees red at the mere mention. In what can only be described as a true love it or hate it, it is what it is. This, in my mind, is the first time our baby got arrested. We were supremely disappointed but in the end we will try and view this as a misstep.
May 16, 2002 - This is better, but the detractors are still voicing their disgust. It's as if millions of nerds went online and were suddenly heard forever. With the global voice now able to fully express its collective opinion, you can't help but hear the boos. I was proud of my baby's ability to bounce back since the arrest. It showed that it's still not perfect, but that it still has some life left in it.
May 19, 2005 - What is being called the true final chapter in this story though perhaps not the yada yada galaxy. Naysayers be damned I am proud as ever in my baby. For a 28 year old once child prodigy, I think it's still pretty impressive. Sure it's made some changes and it isn't the same fresh faced genius we once knew, but that's what love is. Love is sticking by someone no matter what path they go in life. Love is accepting that things may not go the way you plan them in your mind and learning to accept the changes. Love is Star Wars. Happy 30th you big crazy, new nose baby. We still love you.
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