Star Wars is being released this weekend

Last updated on: December 14, 2015 at 2:59 pm by Dave Griffey

Star Wars is being released this weekend 2015-12-14T14:59:00-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In case you missed the hype for the last year or so. Now that the House of Mouse has the rights, expect marketing that will make the post-Star Wars merchandising of the first post-Star Wars era look tame by comparison.

Still, I’m optimistic. Not that it will match the first. You can’t. As I’ve said before, you can’t match that any more than you can match the Beatles playing on Ed Sullivan the first time. It’s one of those cultural ‘lightning in a bottle’ moments. For some reason, the moment in time is set to make that particular incident far bigger and more influential than it ever should have been.

In some ways, Star Wars was to film what The Beatles were to popular music. And in both cases, that is for good and/or for ill. Sure, there were other major movies and films, Citizen Kane and Gone With the Wind (still the box office champ) leap to mind. Sure there were other major pop artists of immense success and influence: Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Michael Jackson. But the Beatles, and Star Wars, stand out. Something about both capture more than just the art they were part of, and went on to impact society at large.

The historical influence nod probably goes to The Beatles over Star Wars, since their influence would seep into the very cracks and crevices of Western Culture and help change the course of Western civilization. Star Wars didn’t quite pull that one off. But for a few years at the end of the dreary 1970s, Star Wars was everywhere. If you didn’t know there was such a thing as movies, you knew who Darth Vader was. You knew the theme song. You knew the name. And it was a breath of fresh air, just like Rocky before it, for a generation in the doldrums of ‘America’s best is behind it.’

I first heard about Star Wars because my best friend had a godfather who worked in Los Angeles. He even had a poster, showing scenes from the interior Millennium Falcon and the Death Star. It looked so foreign to me. I had never seen anything like it. Then, in the summer of 77, an individual my parents knew by way of the CB radio craze told them to take me to see it. My sister had just gotten married, and I was adjusting to being the only kid at home. To take my mind off it, he said if I liked space movies and things like Star Trek, I might like this new space movie coming out called Star Wars.

So my Mom took me one afternoon to the movies that were located next to the Richland Mall in Ontario, Ohio. Like Spielberg is reputed to have said, when the first 30 seconds past the opening scroll was finished, I knew something had just happened that would make movies look different from then on. Even though I was only just out of 4th Grade, I knew it was different.

Like most kids that age, it captured my imagination. My parents took me to see it a couple more times over the next year. Once at a Drive In theater with my best friend Kelly. It didn’t make it to our town’s little movie house until the following summer. Demand was so great that it took that long. With a year notice, I worked my tail off to save enough money to see it every day it was there. Back then, our town movie theater usually only played movies one week at a time. It only had one screen. But for Star Wars, it made an exception. It played it for two weeks. And I had enough money saved and earned to see it ten of those days.

Despite it being a year later, lines still formed. On one day, I had to wait the length of the movie standing outside to see it again. The movie house began having back to back showings because of the demand. Even then, I remember people sitting in the aisles and standing along the back in an effort to accommodate the crowds. And we weren’t alone. I remember a movie theater in Cincinnati being in the news with a giant “Happy Birthday Star Wars: 1 Year Old!” on its marquee. It had held it for the entire year.

The Star Wars mania continued until past the release of The Empire Strikes Back. By then, movies had changed. Star Wars was no longer unique. Though arguably the best of the series in terms of quality, Empire failed to pass the receipts of the original. And likely few movies could. But it was what I have come to call the Great Fantasy Renaissance. Sci-Fi was everywhere by then. Star Wars was now just part of many. And while still a strong fanbase, and still popular, it simply could not sustain the magic and the frenzy of that first year back in 77. But then, neither did the Beatles.

So this time around? I’m cautiously optimistic. With Lucas out of the picture, it might make a fair enough showing. Look at Jurassic World after all. Many scoffed when it was first announced, but by many accounts, it was the best of the franchise since the first. Force Awakens will not be the original. It likely won’t match the quality of The Empire Strikes Back. But with any luck, it might just be the best since Return of the Jedi. If so, it will make the wait worth it, and possibly redeem the ill will and bad memories brought about by the threefold cinematic train wrecks that were the prequels.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

December 12, 2015

Speaking of Global Climate Change

Next Post

December 16, 2015 Is Islam different?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who led the first group of exiles back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Zerubbabel Ezra Haggai Nehemiah