Alright, dear reader, I need to poll the audience on something. I’ve gotten to the point that I think I’m going crazy about the following issue: people never having seen Star Wars. Now, I’m not talking Episodes 1 – 3, but the originals (a.k.a. the good ones). I am running into a surprisingly large number of people who have never seen any of the films. What makes it worse is their almost militant about not seeing them.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not an obsessive fan that dresses up as a Ewok every chance I get. (I leave a moment to let that sink in…) Edit: Okay, one more side note to throw in here: the spell check recognized the word Ewok, further proof that Star Wars has touched all areas of society. Now if I can just get it to recognize AATS. Alright, so I really added them into my dictionary, but Ewok, Hoth, and Skywalker should be in it any way. Star Wars is a cultural “touchstone” that has gone beyond some random scifi film.
It was a film that captured the imagination of a generation. It explored good and evil, and the struggles that we all have in finding ourselves. (For the record, I am not a film scholar, but instead a schlep that like films. Just check out my post on not being a hipster for proof.) Empire Strikes Back was a movie that made it okay to know that other people had weird relationships with their families. I’m thinking of “I am your father” and Leia kiss Luke while on Hoth. Talk about family issues, the Skywalkers could be on Springer if they were in the Chicago area. And still to mention, it has been parodied numerous times.
I might be most likely to attribute this to my status as an active member of AATS. (For those of you who are not regular readers, that’s the American Association of Thirty Somethings, or a.k.a. my made up most awesome group ever!) Most of the folks I’m talking to are in their early 20s and don’t seem to get the significance of Star Wars. This tragedy doesn’t stop there, but it includes lost of other great films that they should have seen: Airplane, Blazing Saddles, Brave Heart, Caddy Shack, Transformers: The Movie. Okay, perhaps not the last one, but the others seem like classic movies that all people should at least be familiar with.
So, I guess the signs can only point in one direction: I’m getting old, and I don’t want to admit it! That or the generation under me has lost their minds. But, most likely it’s the first option.
So, dear reader, I have a couple of questions for you (which appears to be my new thing):
- Am I going crazy on this whole not ever watching Star Wars thing or, is it nothing? Tell me the truth…
- What movie or movies should all living Americans see?
- Who’s up for starting a chapter of AATS?
Well, dear reader, it’s time to let those comments fly, and we’ll see you on the comment board. And remember, these are not the droids you are looking for…
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