With many of the movies I write about, I feel like a drop in the bucket. So many people have written and reflected on them that anything I have to say is superfluous. However, it still is fun to talk about some of my favorites...even when I'm just a face in the crowd.
Invoking Star Wars, for many of us, is sort of like invoking George Washington and the cherry tree. It is such a part of our consciousness that it becomes part of us and how we think. For me, it is now taking on a new dimension as my kids have begun to become immersed in this world. I want to do two things: first, I want to talk about both me and my kids and how they have grow to love these movies, and I want to share a favorite scene.
Why do these movies mean so much to me? For me, it's the simplicity of them combined with the complexity. The stories are simple, but the pacing of the films is complex. If you take a look at Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope, the action never lets up. When the film came out, the pace of the movie was new. I have heard people say that the first time they saw the film, they immediately got in line to watch it again because they were so enthralled.
A couple of weeks ago, while on vacation, I popped in the original movie and watched it (again), but with my kids. Now, Wesley is playing with Stormtrooper Legos, and my kids are role playing around the house. I love telling them that I did the exact same thing at their age with their aunt and with my friends. Then it hits me. This is why these movies mean so much. Of course they are wonderful to watch and tell a captivating story, but even more, what they do is they make us want to be a part of their world. We wish we could inhabit these peoples' roles and their world. How many movies can we truly say that about? Meanwhile, the story is simple enough that they have no problem following the story.
For a favorite scene, I have to go with Luke Skywalker gazing on the twin suns of Tatooine. Everything I love about these movies is in this scene. There is the corniness of Luke pouting by kicking the dirt as he leaves the dining room, knowing his uncle has once again squashed his dream. There is the magical way the John Williams' score evokes the yearning that Luke feels. And there is the visual...the haunting picture of this young boy who looks to the stars and dreams of something bigger. Those of us who know where he ends up going know that with the adventure comes pain and triumph. But in the end, even when we live out our dreams, they are always more complicated than we think. George Lucas was able to catch this youthful yearning in this movie and in "American Graffiti" so well that he secured his place in the American movie pantheon with these two movies.
But maybe I am letting these movies make me too cerebral. In the end I love this movie and the other movies because they are AWESOME!
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