Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Here’s Where The Fun Begins.
It’s just a movie.
I’ve heard that a lot lately from a lot of more cynical pundits, paid or otherwise, in regards to the overwhelming hype machine surrounding Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
And with the marketing weeding into every crevice of our conscience lately, I don’t completely blame them. The Dodge commercial compelling you to join … er… the Dodge side makes me wince harder each time I see it.
Maybe it is all a bit silly. But nowadays, we could use some silly, good old fun.
Star Wars, or Episode IV or A New Hope or “The Original” or whatever title you prefer was the first movie I ever saw (or remember at least). My Dad didn’t tell me what we were seeing, but all of a sudden there it WAS.
My ability to separate reality from celluloid being tenuous at best led me to accept a never-ending spaceship WAS flying overhead. Even more so, the wide framing shot of Darth Vader entering the Rebel Blockade Runner (OK the Tantive IV, yes of course, I know the actual name) seemed real enough to three year old me. Is he coming straight for us? As in literally take a step down into the theater, walk through the aisles, and…
That night, the successful blurring between the real and the imaginary – the linchpin of all movies – took me out of my shoes and securely into the cloth wrapped boots of a mop haired moisture farmer with an annoying predilection for power converters and saving princesses.
And what a transporting experience it was. Through music, sound, costumes, set design, makeup, and of course special effects, Star Wars took you into a completely new world. Yet with the all too human emotions stirred up by the cast, it kept you grounded in the story even as it literally leapt into the stars.
The hum of the lightsabers. “Utini!” The first jump to lightspeed. It’s a veritable hopscotch of one fun scene to the next.
Even in the darker moments (Hello and Goodbye Interrogation Droid!), when our heroes get knocked down, the lighthearted aspects are made all the the stronger knowing what they’d gone through.
The Medal Ceremony that ends the film with its beautiful, inclusive shot that beckons the audience to revel in the proceedings and well… celebrate!
George Lucas wrapped it all up in a veritable greatest hits of action/adventure/fantasy lore combed from mythology, cinema and literature into a the most artistic and lucrative of Feel Good movies ever.
And as the line goes, the fun didn’t stop there.
There are the toys, the games, the costumes, the comics, the books and other miscellaneous ephemera and doodads that expanded his dazzling galaxy far, far away into arguably something greater than anything Lucas based his film upon.
Aside from the millions who have been entertained, there are the many whose whole lives, careers were guided by the fun and excitement of watching Star Wars: Filmmakers to be sure. Artists. Writers. Engineers. Scientistis. A Bounty Hunter – hey why not?
Pundits, paid or otherwise, scoff it’s just a movie. Not by a long shot.
Sure the excitement ebbed in the late 80s/early 90s, but came roaring back with the 20th anniversary of Star Wars and the special editions. The excitement for the prequels expanded and sustained it no matter your opinion (and believe you me, mine is mixed) of Episodes 1, 2 and 3.
One could groan at many of Lucas’s choices (Jar Jar, romantic sand metaphors, one too many table discussions) … it was still Star Wars. And it was still fun – until I see otherwise (which could be fairly soon), I find the Anakin vs. Obi Wan duel from Episode 3 the greatest lightsaber battle of the entire series.
Remember, George Lucas didn’t set out to add another addition to the pantheon of downbeat, morally ambiguous films that were in vogue in the 70s. Quite the opposite. He felt the kids of the Me Decade were missing out on the type of carefree Saturday Morning Serials with their swashbucklers, space heroes, and cliffhangers he himself enjoyed as a youth.
Surely Star Wars can stand up to highbrow dissection if need be, but to me, that almost defeats the purpose, and why comparing it to the presumably loftier concepts of say, Star Trek has always seemed unnecessary. It’s comparing apples and Tribbles.
It was designed first and foremost to please the audience.
And it is just the general fun that Star Wars has always conjured that keeps us interested. It is our greatest escapist fare.
Has anything captured the public’s imagination so strongly? Christmas, I dare say it, almost comes off as anti-climactic in the wake of this movie.
It’s why adults who were kids in 1977 wept at just the flickering images of a movie trailer. It’s why successive generations also want the Force to be with them Always. It’s why pre-sale ticket sales have reached over $100 million.
It’s why I am overjoyed that I will take my own young son with me to sit down in a darkened theater with a group of complete strangers to laugh, cheer, thrill and perhaps even shed a tear together.
It’s going to be fun.