On this day (May 25th) in 1977 Star Wars was released. At the time I was ten years old. I still have a very clear memory of convincing my father to take me and my three brothers and my mother off the ranch and cross country to Shaunavon, SK to see the movie. I remember that first scene where the Imperial ships are moving through space above the camera, larger than any battleship imaginable. Would they ever end? The very molecules of my brain began to vibrate. This was the world I was suppose to live in. And then that entrance of Darth Vader. Was he not evil incarnate? Here was someone who could knock Sauron off his pedestal. And it turned out the story was about a farm boy who was going to learn to use a lightsabre and save the princess. For a ranch boy in South West Saskatchewan this was speaking directly to me. Yes, Luke, get off the farm! Save the princess! Blow up the Deathstar. My brain was altered from that moment forward. I knew I had to live in the world of imagination. As we left the theatre, I felt as though I was floating in the air. My father turned to my Mom and said, "Well, that movie was far fetched."
Obviously the movie isn't for everyone. But thank you, Star Wars, for blowing my mind.
Art
4 comments:
Thanks for reminding me of the shivers I had in the summer of '77!
It was a great summer. Must have seen the movie three or more times after that.
I adored it and when I had children, they were equally blown away. My older son lined up in front of the Mann Chinese Theatre 45 days in advance. He and his fellow fanatics raised 25,000 for the Starlight Foundation using the line as marathon. Think I saw your comment over at Nathan's Star Wars Post.
Now that's a cool story. Actually camping out!
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