On Saturday 4th June 1983, I was queuing, with my brother, outside the ABC Cinema in Falkirk hoping to get in to see Return of the Jedi.
Back then, you didn’t pre-book tickets, you just had to rock up really early and hope the line wasn’t already round the block. Thus the term, blockbuster.
Also, there were only 3 showings a day. We were trying to get in to the afternoon screening and hoping desperately that the morning crowd wouldn’t walk past us, whilst we waited, and ruin the story in a Homer Simpson “who’d have thought Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father” style. That was the closest you got to an internet spoiler back then.
Luckily, after turning up nearly two hours early, we managed to get in. My excitement was palpable as we quickly made our way up the stairs, hoping to get decent seats. I was finally going to see the conclusion to the greatest trilogy in film history and complete a story that had enthralled me since I was 6 years old. My collection of toys, books and memorabilia would have testified to that.
However, just the week before, I had doubts that I should be feeling that way.
My announcement to my high school classmates of what I was doing that weekend, was met with pitying looks and incredulity. “But that’s a film for babies!” I was twelve years old.
This was completely baffling to me. According to George Lucas, the great man himself, this was who the movies were made for “this is a film for 12 year olds when you’re about to enter the real world.” Also, Star Wars was so cool. There were space battles, lightsaber duels, strange looking aliens, good versus evil and, of course, there was Carrie Fisher with whom a lot of 12 year old boys, me included, had a massive crush on. What was not to like?
This would be the first time but certainly not the last I would encounter this disdainful attitude towards Star Wars. Be it either, the story telling was basic, the script was bad, the acting even worse and, most commonly of all, you’re too old for that sort of thing. I heard it all.
Fast forward nearly forty years and I found myself at Star Wars Celebration in the Excel London standing with my son in another queue but this time of thousands of people waiting to meet their heroes from a very different galaxy far, far away than I had experienced.
In that time prequels and sequels meant that the greatest trilogy of all time was now an ennealogy. The Star Wars universe had expanded in ways that were unimaginable when the credits had rolled at the end of Jedi.
The prequels had, for various reasons, passed me by when they were released. I had greeted them with an indifferent shrug when finally watching them on DVD. However, in 2007, my son was born and, after a brief dinosaur fascination, he became a huge fan of everything Star Wars and, particularly, the prequels. Until, eventually, through a process of osmosis, I began to enjoy and admire these three movies for what they had tried to do. Some more successfully than others. Obi Wan Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor, was his favourite character. And thus began his collection of vinyl pops, statues and lightsabers.
Lucasfilm had by now, like everything else in the entertainment world, been purchased by Disney, with part of that deal being yet another 3 movies and multiple TV shows. When The Force Awakes was announced in 2014 with the original cast returning my waning interested was piqued once again. My son had also embraced the adventures of Luke Skywalker in the first 3 movies so he was keen to see them. I’ll never forget his first Star Wars on the big screen and the excitement in his eyes when the opening crawl started and that theme tune kicked in.
Again those movies had their highs and lows. And the same could be said for the TV shows that Disney commissioned. Clearly, the highlight, in our house, was the Obi Wan Kenobi limited series which, much to my sons relief, was a triumph.
However, this show once again highlighted the toxic and racist nature of the online community of so called Star Wars fans. It had started on the prequels with Ahmed Best, continued with Kelly Marie Tran on The Last Jedi and reared it’s head again with Moses Ingram on Kenobi. It got so bad that Ewan McGregor was forced to come onto social media, which he usually ignores, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms. It is a sad fact that these fans consider Star Wars to be theirs and only theirs. If it deviates from what they want to happen or how the story should be told, then they will spew out all their bile to whoever has supposedly wronged them the most, which always seems to be minorities or women or both.
So, it was with a degree of trepidation that we agreed to get tickets for the Celebration. The deciding factor had been the late inclusion of Ewan McGregor onto the guest list. A photo opportunity was clearly also required and we were on our way.
Any misgivings I had were soon dispelled. As the car pulled up, you could already see dozens of cosplayers walking into the centre. All of them talking and laughing together or standing in the early spring sunshine fixing the final piece of their costume before heading in. It’s very easy to sneer but I thought it looked absolutely brilliant.
The good feeling carried on as we began to make our way towards the doors. The show opened at 10am and it was just after 9am so, in my naivety, I thought we would just be strolling in. However, it soon became apparent that with the sheer volume of people already in front of us, we wouldn’t be going anywhere fast but again there was no complaining or huffing until we eventually shuffled in 90 minutes later.
For the next 6 hours we were swept along in the exuberance of panels, interviews, new shows and movies being launched and hunting for rare merchandise. My interest in Star Wars may have waxed and waned over the years but I felt myself getting oddly emotional listening to people like Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, Rosario Dawson and others talking about the connection they now have with the universe. And it was clear their feelings were genuine with many of them getting choked up trying to express what it means to them. The highlight, of course, was my son getting to meet Ewan McGregor and how he took it in his stride whilst I stood gawping like a fool.
It was just a great day and one that we’ll both remember for a long time. In a time of polarity and hatred across the world, it showed that the online trolls aren’t really reflective of the Star Wars community, and it was life affirming to see people of all races, ages and genders come together for a few days to show their appreciation for something that means so much to so many.
And then, at the very end, it was announced that forty years since it was first released, The Return of the Jedi would be coming back to cinemas. We’ve both watched it many times but never together on the big screen. And, as the lights go down, the title crawl begins and that John Williams score soars, I’m sure we’ll both be sitting there with the same sense of anticipation and wonder I felt all those years ago. Star Wars is like that. It’s with you. Always.
Great post. I admit I'm not into the current Disney Era of Star Wars. I first saw TFA and I liked it, but after the Last Jedi I was disappointed. I was hyped for Kenobi and I'm glad you and your son enjoyed it, but I believe it should've been a trilogy of movies. I watched the first episode of Andor and couldn't get into it. I do enjoy Rogue One though and it's apart of my rewatch every few years. Personally, I prefer the old expanded universe. You should get into it, it can be daunting, so I would recommend to pick one era and jump in. My personal pick would be the Post-ROTJ (Return of the Jedi) era. The first book of the Thrawn Trilogy Heir to the Empire is really good.
P.S. I do not condone sending death threats to the cast & crew and the behavior of the trolls but there is genuine criticism from genuine fans who are disappointed.