Star Wars - the next generation
The youngster grew up post Star Wars. By that I mean, after the original three were long done and packaged 25 different ways in box sets of VHS tapes. His first real 'in the theater' Star Wars movie was, what he calls, "Starwarsepisodeonethephantommenace." I wrote it like that because even now, while the movie has been out for years, that's what he calls it and how he says it....in one long string without so much as taking a breath.
The youngster is a Star Wars fan, a trait definitely inherited from his father. His mother could take or leave the whole Star Wars thing while the youngster and I will watch hours of it. We got into many discussions early on that began with, if not the direct question, the concept....so who is this Luke Skywalker guy anyway? Where does he fit into the story? The first time he asked, the question kind-of threw me. Whaddya mean, who's Luke Skywalker? He is Star Wars! It made sense after I got past the initial shock. He knew who Annikin was, but he kept hearing me talk about Luke, and he didn't know who he was. But we got past it as he saw all the movies, but that's where we differ. To me, Luke Skywalker is Star Wars, because that's what I grew up with, assuming I've stopped doing that. To him, it's Annikin and Obi-Wan, and Luke just sorta comes later.
Last night we watched part of the original movie, which I call Star Wars. He calls it A New Hope. (A New Hope? What the hell is that all about? It's the hope! It's the basis for the whole story. It's where it all began. Without it you wouldn't have Annikin, or Padme, or Jango Fett, or Jar Jar, which might not be such a bad...but I digress.) There were pieces in the DVD version (a conversation with Jabba the Hut, for example) that weren't in the original, and when I commented on it, he just looked at me and said, "Dad, it doesn't matter. I've never seen the original."
It's just kind of strange, and interesting, sitting with him, and his perspective, watching it all.
The youngster is a Star Wars fan, a trait definitely inherited from his father. His mother could take or leave the whole Star Wars thing while the youngster and I will watch hours of it. We got into many discussions early on that began with, if not the direct question, the concept....so who is this Luke Skywalker guy anyway? Where does he fit into the story? The first time he asked, the question kind-of threw me. Whaddya mean, who's Luke Skywalker? He is Star Wars! It made sense after I got past the initial shock. He knew who Annikin was, but he kept hearing me talk about Luke, and he didn't know who he was. But we got past it as he saw all the movies, but that's where we differ. To me, Luke Skywalker is Star Wars, because that's what I grew up with, assuming I've stopped doing that. To him, it's Annikin and Obi-Wan, and Luke just sorta comes later.
Last night we watched part of the original movie, which I call Star Wars. He calls it A New Hope. (A New Hope? What the hell is that all about? It's the hope! It's the basis for the whole story. It's where it all began. Without it you wouldn't have Annikin, or Padme, or Jango Fett, or Jar Jar, which might not be such a bad...but I digress.) There were pieces in the DVD version (a conversation with Jabba the Hut, for example) that weren't in the original, and when I commented on it, he just looked at me and said, "Dad, it doesn't matter. I've never seen the original."
It's just kind of strange, and interesting, sitting with him, and his perspective, watching it all.
John put this out here at 8:43 AM
2 Comments:
john, I just teared up a little thinking about what to comment here...
Those were our Star Wars, the middle three- most of us hate the new scenes, yes, but they aren't in there for us; it's for them, the new generation, the generation that the prequel trilogy was made for.
Amazing, isn't it, that we share something so compelling in our pop culture- between a nice big generation gap- and yet we each have our own for our own time? brilliant marketing.
I was seven when we got cable, and we had free HBO the first month. Star Wars was playing. I watched it over and over and over again. 37 times in that one month is my conservative estimate. It captured our imagination. I cannot expect this new generation to be inspired by it, as we were... therefore I am thankful they have their own to embrace, for it ensures they will at least watch ours-
is it silly to be so sentimental about a movie?
I remember going to see the first movie in the theater. I was home from college (yes, college) for the weekend and a bunch of us went to see it. I remember walking out and thinking "Whoa! That was outrageous!" That was just the beginning. Those movies are some of the bookmarks in my life and things that influenced it. I don't think it's silly at all to get sentimental about them.
I love the fact that even though we see them from different perspectives, it's something that the youngster and I share.
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