Thinking About "Star Wars"

Firstborn and I had a wonderful talk today about the new "Star Wars" movie. He's seen it in his country, I've seen it in mine, and we shared the experience after the fact. That series of movies resonates with me and my sons; it's a recurring theme in the story of our lives. The fact that with the release of this movie it's now complete is sobering and thought-provoking.

The original Star Wars movie -- "Episode 4: A New Hope" -- came out twenty-eight years ago. I was twenty-three years old, married to the man who would be Firstborn's father. We'd heard a lot about this new science-fiction movie, so we were prepared to enjoy it. We weren't prepared to be astonished, spellbound, left breathless. There really had been nothing like this on the screen before -- the special effects were beyond comparison. A few days after seeing the movie, we went on vacation, and spent a few days with a friend who lived in Beeville, Texas. The theatre there didn't have "Star Wars" yet, but it was coming soon, and they had Star Wars T-shirts for sale. This was the first we'd seen of them, so we eagerly bought a couple. The people at the movie theatre who sold us the shirts were curious: was the movie really that good? We assured them it was way more than good, and that once it opened they'd quickly sell out of those shirts! (I've still got mine, stored away these many years, a souvenir of a phenomenon.)

In the years that followed, the next two movies in the series were released. We had a baby, who grew up watching the Star Wars series at his grandparents' house. They had premium TV channels long before we did, and they often made VHS copies of movies. When Firstborn stayed at their house, he always wanted to watch "A New Hope", "The Empire Strikes Back", and "Return of the Jedi". Eventually he had all three of them memorized.

By the time the fourth movie but first in the series, "The Phantom Menace", came out, Firstborn was nineteen years old and in college. Although that movie had its bad points, it was exciting to see the backstory hinted at in "A New Hope" and the others finally being told in detail. "Episode 2: Attack of the Clones" we saw in Chicago, at a digital theatre downtown. Firstborn, who lived in Chicago at the time, had got us the tickets, and we lined up about an hour ahead of time in order to get good seats (and we did get excellent ones). I'll always remember the wild ride that opened the show, with Anakin driving and Obi-Wan his white-knuckled passenger: it was almost exactly like my ride to the theatre with Firstborn at the wheel of my Neon!) After seeing that episode, we talked about what Episode 3 would have to be like. We'd seen the two pieces that it would have to join...

And now I've seen that piece, I've seen the arc completed. I found this episode to be the most tragic and moving of them all. I knew what had to happen, but not how it would happen -- or how painful it would be to watch it happen. When we see the choices Anakin makes, we realize how and why Luke's choice will someday redeem him. There are foreshadowings of "A New Hope", recognized like old friends long unseen. The end... is also the beginning.