What is Star Wars to you?

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I don’t remember when I first saw Star Wars. All I know is that it was a long time ago on a beat-up VHS tape, recorded off of HBO way back in 1983-ish. I thought it was cool back then, and a fun space flick to watch. I knew there were others, but I never really ended up watching ESB and ROTJ until years and years later. My interest was in just drawing, with no real direction other than (what I thought at the time to be) cool looking people with guns and swords.

It wasn’t really until I saw all of the Star Wars (ANH, ESB, and ROTJ) movies that I thought, ‘man, I can do that, too. I’ve got a good imagination; I can make up neat aliens and heroes and villains and neat technologies.’

Being an artist with a Navy pilot for a dad is interesting, let me tell you. While most little girls were playing dress-up and Barbies, I was playing ‘War’ or ‘POW’ with the neighborhood boys and getting with GI Joes for Birthdays and Christmases. I love science fiction; always have. I love reading about future wars and I’ve always been somewhat militaristic in many things. It’s one of the better attributes I inherited from my father, if not one of the only ones. Everyone has a different view of the future and what happens, and I like to see people’s take on it. I pretty much eat it up. Heck, I still remember my father pulling me out of class on a Tuesday morning and driving to the theatre to go see Starship Troopers opening day.

But with Star Wars, it’s something different. Unlike the sterile and formaldehyde feeling I get from Star Trek (which don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy to a degree) and a few others I’ve seen, Star Wars is simply a very used and very lived-in universe. To me, it always seemed like Lucas just took the world we live in now, and advanced it along a bit while still keeping that grungy, day-in and day-out feel, making it gritty and believable.

The aliens are crazy, imaginative, and exciting. Things that were once unheard of are now being seen and the amount of thought and effort put into each creature to bring it to life is staggering. Charley got me ‘The Art of Episode 3’, and I love looking through that and the ‘Wildlife of Star Wars’ book; the latter of which shows the amazing amount of effort put in to each drawing.

The sheer creativity is staggering to me, that one man and a simple script could explode the imaginations of millions of people all over the world.

But I look around today, and most of the time I’m disappointed with people who call themselves Star Wars fans; who praise the old trilogy and condemn the new. I wasn’t even a twinkle in my dad’s eye when the first Star Wars hit the screens back in 1977. But I do know that when Star Wars first came out it was very much an unknown. No one knew what to expect, and I bet the ones who went to see it were thinking it’d be just another cheap-looking sci-fi flick with little to no redeeming value. What they got however was something so vast, so epic, and so different, that it blew them out of their seats. It far and away scaled over every other sci-fi show/movie ever made. It was exciting, opening up people’s eyes to new worlds and aliens that weren’t simply people with green paint or full-body space suits.

When ESB debuted, of course it was highly anticipated. It was another Star Wars!! More aliens, more ships, more space battles, and more of those forever-classic heroes and villains. Same with ROTJ.

And then, to me, something changed. In the time between ROTJ and TPM, Star Wars fans lost something. And in my opinion, it was that child-like wonderment that was present through most of the OT. Now all I see are nitpickers and people who want to nag away at every little detail and basically take the fun out of it for myself and others like me. I like them all. I enjoy watching them to a very large degree. And it’s such a killjoy to hear someone say ‘Well that was just stupid and ridiculous’, or ‘it could have been better’.

There’s two things that take over my brain when I watch Star Wars.

1) The artist in me. I’m an artist. If you don’t know that then you haven’t been a member here for very long. I love art. I love to draw and paint and poke around in Photoshop. I’m also an animator. When I watch any of the newer Star Wars movies, I know just how long it takes to do stuff like this. Heck, to render a simple scene with lighting effects and a fog atmospheric can take all day. With that in mind, look at the incredible detail that went in to these movies. I can guarantee you that without a render farm, we’d still be waiting for TPM to come out; that’s how time consuming animation is. Oh it’s rewarding at the end; vastly rewarding to the point that I cried when I watched my demo reel for the first time all the way through, completely rendered out and on VHS. I can only imagine the complete sense of accomplishment the animators working on Star Wars feel at this point in time; heck, even after just TPM. The advancements made in digital media thanks to Lucas and his guys is phenomenal. So what if he used CG when he didn’t have to? He very well could have made a challenge to his animators to see if they could do it.

2) The child in me. On more than one occasion I’ve been called a big kid. And I am. To a magnificent degree. When I watch Star Wars, that artist part of me watches in rapt fascination at the skill and dedication put forth by those that brought the movies to life, and the child in me completely and utterly wallows in that sense of being immersed in a different setting. For two and a half hours, I’m no longer on Earth. I’m on different planets watching governments fall, spectacular space battles being fought right in front of me, and people having to make drastically life-altering decisions. Do I sometimes wish I lived on one of those planets? Who doesn’t? Who hasn’t seen a Star Wars movie and wanted to visit the Mos Eisly Cantina to have a couple drinks? Or walk through the museums on Naboo? Or even (if you’re really nuts like me) go snowboarding on Hoth? I know I always wanted a speeder bike like the ones in ROTJ and a podracer. There’s a sort of naïve innocence that has to be present when you watch any Star Wars movie. Where you look forward to meeting new aliens and visiting new worlds that do indeed have not only breadth and scope, but history as well. You have to watch these movies without any expectations at all. They’re stories. They are meant to entertain us and transport us away from our normal lives for a few hours; to let us see things that we never see in our daily grinds. To watch people go about their business on Tatooine and Cloud City, to watch huge factories churn out druids like the Mercedes plant a half hour away from me roll their cars off of their conveyer belts. It’s something new yet ordinary at the same time.


I loved ROTS. I loved TPM and AOTC. Do I watch them very much? Not really. But when I do I allow myself to be drawn in to this universe that Lucas spawned; I smile and chuckle at R2, and even Jar Jar. In a world where many movies now days have underlying political messages and agendas, I take Star Wars for what it originally was and for what I still believe it to be: a journey to new worlds where I can be introduced to aliens I could never have thought up and a front row seat to exciting action and stories. This is what I think a lot of Star Wars’ fans have lost; the ability to let go and just live in the moment of the movie. They always find something to nag on, something to gripe and moan about, and in my opinion they’re missing out on just sitting back and letting Lucas take them for a ride through his imagination. Nothing will ever be perfect I do admit that, but all those years ago, that 8 year old child that watched wide-eyed as the first Death Star was destroyed is gone. Now he/she is replaced by someone whose expectations will never be met because let’s face it – that just doesn’t happen.

To me, as I’ve said before, Star Wars is something different. Not a ‘religious’ experience to me, but certainly a tremendous phenomenon and a part of our culture. It inspires me to branch out with my own creativity, and to create my own universe of aliens and heroes and villains. I know Hollie knows this as I’ve been sharing a lot of it with her, but I write my own science fiction stories. Since I was thirteen I’ve been writing and making up aliens, worlds, and cultures each with their own histories. I've come up with my own terminologies and technologies/gadgets. I have my own universe that I work on and am constantly developing with its’ own unique cast of characters from all ends of the spectrum. In fact, it’s where Lok s’Ilancy first came from. I pulled her from my own work and dropped her into Fans; though the s’Il in my stories and the s’Il here have taken very different paths and are a bit different from eachother.

But the fact remains. Star Wars makes me want to use my imagination. It’s an igniting spark that gives me a significant drive to push on and continue creating and drawing my own fanciful aliens and creatures.

Because frankly, if George Lucas can do it than by goodness so can I.

[JMK]

This is a terrific question, and one that could take days for one to answer, if they can answer it at all. Myself I know I can't put it into words. It's the first thing I was passionate about. It was the first thing to completely and totally hold my attention for longer than 10 minutes. And as it turns out it's had my attention for for over 20 years now. I can't possibly express how much the movies have meant to me, or in what capacity they've inspired or influenced me. I think the easiest way to express what Star Wars has meant to me is to picture my life had Star Wars never been invented. I don't know what would have taken its place but it leaves a terrible empty feeling when I try to picture what my life would be without it.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I don't remember the first time I saw Star Wars, because quite frankly, I can't remember a time before Star Wars. I was born two years after ANH blasted into theatres, and it seems like my family always had some battered copies of the original trilogy hanging around in the entertainment center.

And they got watched. Oh yes they did.

My older brother had nearly a complete set of all the action figures, including the Millennium Falcon (all that remains is the dejerrik table) and my younger brother and I played with them to death! We were too young to understand completely how all the different figures fit in with each other (at one point I recall thinking that all the different Leia figures were all different people!) but we did have a blast. And the Yoda figure of course was the most powerful and could kill whoever he wanted.

As I grew up my understanding of the movies matured, as did my imagination. I discovered the EU novels, and also found out that I knew much more about the universe of Star Wars than just about anyone else (but my younger brother) around me. Star Wars is to me as natural as breathing. I've been marinated in it since I was born, and of course I managed to hook myself a Star Wars fan for a husband. (His collection obsession is a little more expensive than my fan habits ;)) On one of our first dates I doodled TIE fighters and a death star on our takeout boxes while we chatted at the restaurant.

Quite simply, Star Wars is an incredible story that takes me to a galaxy far, far away. I love all science fiction, but Star Wars is my first love.

[CMJ]

I also don't remember the first time I saw a Star Wars movie. The first film I remember seeing in a theater was ROTJ. I believe it was on my 5th birthday in July of '83. I'd seen ANH before - but I don't THINK I'd seen ESB(though I'd heard from other kids that Vader was Luke's dad).

Anyways, those really were the films of my youth. I watched them countless times. My brother and I had basically all the toys. They were a blast to play with but somewhere down the line we got more into Transformers - because lets face it...those toys just kicked @ss. ;)

When the 15th aniversary video's were released in '92 I think I watched one a day for a good 2 months straight. It was during this time that I came to regard ESB as the best. They were the movies that really got me into movies(though the movie that most heavily influenced my desire to get into the industry was Jurassic Park but that's another thread).

I never 'left" the SW legions, but I was a pretty dormant member for about 4 years(my HS years of course) till I saw the trailer for the Special Editions in the Fall of '96. My fandom reawoke and it really hasn't waned since.

[Jedieb]

I was practically the same age my son is now when I saw ANH, 6 going on 7. My friends and I had never seen anything like it. Nothing could really compare to it. We'd never seen ships move like that before. Never seen a used universe before. Swords made of light, are you frickin' kidding me?! We'd never seen anything that cool.

But, you grow up. You exerience years of things that do and SHOULD mean more to you than your favorite childhood film so you change. Objectively, I can see that ROTS is just as good, if not better than ROTJ. But it's not going to ever mean as much to me as ROTJ. It's just the way it is. I'll still love it, probably rank it #3 and ahead of ROTJ from time to time, but it'll never mean as much.

So now we're at the 'end.' What happens next? Well, unlike 83, Lucas has a plan. For better or worse, it's both business and art. The business side of it is determined to keep generating cash, pure and simple. There's an established market out there that wasn't in place in the mid 80's. Novels, cable channels that can carry both the animated and live TV shows, comics, and of course merchandising. Lucas has stated that he now wants the opportunity to fail. To make the kind of movies he wants, regardless of what they'll make at that B.O. Yet at the same time he says he'll get the TV show off the ground and get the first few episodes, maybe the first season, off the ground. Who knows which will come to pass.

What's SW going to mean to me these next few years? I'll continue to be a 3 3/4" inch completist while simultaneously working on my vintage collection. I'll definitely watch the animated show. Probably watch the live action show. For better or worse, I'll keep reading the EU novels. When I see a decent graphic novel, I'll pick it up. So for the next 3-5 years SW is still going to be a part of my life. Scaled back, but still there. I'll enjoy it. Hell, I'll appreciate that it's slowed down a bit. And it will slow down. It's inevitable. Neither TV show will run forever. Eventually the sales of the comics and novels will diminish. Next year will be the first time in 20 years I think that there won't be a Star Trek series on TV. It happened to them it'll eventually happen to SW. We've already been through it once. This next time will be different though. The prequels were always a distant promise. That promise has been fullfilled and there isn't another one under the Christmans tree.

Enjoy it while you can and take it in anyway you want. MTFBWY.

[Oriadin]

Like a few already, Im not sure when I first watched Star Wars, to be honest, im not completely sure when I became a real fan. I'd seen the OT films as a kid and loved them, played around pretending my torch were a lightsaber and all. It didnt have a huge impact on me.

It wasnt until I heard episode I was coming out that I borrowed the OT films and saw them back to back that I truly understood the beaty that was Star Wars. I was so excited about seeing episode I, I could hardly contain myself. I took the day off, saw it the first showing I could and sat there for two hours. From that moment on, I was hooked. I havent been able to get enough since then. I wanted to be Obi Wan, save the galaxy and most of all, learn to fight with a lightsaber!

People can say what they like about Phantom Menace, but for me it brought me the whole Star Wars story and I loved it. If it hadnt been for Episode I, then I probably wouldnt be the fan I am today.

[Darth McBain]

I saw this topic a while ago and meant to respond, but couldn't quite think of how. Even now, it's tough to put into words...

I was almost exactly a year old (born 5/26/76) when A New Hope came out. Obviously I didn't see it in the theaters. In fact, I don't think I saw any of them in the theaters on their first runs. The first real memory I have of them was going to my friend's house where we would watch them on TV. We would watch Empire and Jedi all the time, and before long, it would degenerate into mock lightsaber battles with broomstick handles (which invariably ended with one of us having a bloody nose or mashed knuckles) and arguments over who would win in a Force fight - Yoda or Vader (of course, at this time we had no idea what a great warrior Yoda actually was...) And I remember the first time my friend told me about the Emperor (before I had seen Return of the Jedi), I couldn't believe there was someone more powerful than Vader...

Those are the memories that stick with you - the fun times you had when you were a kid. That was where I got started with Star Wars. From there, I was always a fan, but wasn't an uber-nerd about it. Then in high school, I read the Zahn trilogy, and ended up doing a book report on it. I discussed how a lot of the themes in these books, and moreso in the movies, are the same as in the great literature of the world. Basically, it was a cheesy, half-witted (and ultimately unsuccessful) attempt at what Joseph Campbell did, tying in the mythology aspect. While I didn't do nearly as good a job as he did, that really gave me a resurgence into the Star Wars world, because they were no longer just isolated stories for me - they were almost parables for a lot of things in real life. I started to realize that in real life, there truly is a Dark Side and a Light Side... That sometimes you need to trust your feelings... That there is redemption... That a mindset of "trying to do something" is doomed to fail - but a mindset of "doing it" goes a lot farther...

This was further fueled in college, when they released the special editions. I went to the midnight shows for all three of those, and seeing how many other fans shared my love for these movies really got me going with it again.

With the release of the prequels, it is great to see that the movies I knew and loved continue to exist within a larger context. Whether or not the prequels are as good movies as the originals is everyone's individual choice, but the ideas and story presented by the prequels fit right into the original movies, and it is great to see such a well-crafted series come to an end. At the same time, it is a little sad, knowing there will be no more movies, but what these movies have meant to me will last much longer than the movies' box office runs...

[JMK]

Nice. :)

While I can safely say that I was captivated by Star Wars the very first time I saw it, I wasn't the obsessed fan that I am today 20 years ago.

I had toys, and I played with my brother, but most, if not all of my friends were more into G.I. Joe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than they were Star Wars. So, like Sidious, I hid in the background, I was also fan of all these other things as well, but nothing had the choke hold on me like Star Wars did.

Once the THX release was out, the cat was out of the bag. After that point, everyone knew I was a nut. Then came the re-launching of the 3 3/4" lines, then came the SE's, and everyone was looking at me as the local Star Wars guru. Among my friends, it's still that way. I'm the die hard fanatic and they're all more or less casual fans.

It's hard to say how much of a fanatic I would be today if Lucas hadn't gotten the ball rolling again with the THX release. I can safely say that the SW movies would still be my favorites, but I don't think I'd be the enthusiast I am today without the re-inventing of the saga after 1994.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The Special Editions really fueled the fire in me too. :) Sort of re-awakened me to Star Wars, and also I got to see them for the first time ever on the big screen. It really was genius of Lucas to do that.

[JMK]

It was genius. To recognize the fact that he could have released them with no changes and still have some success was one thing. To make some changes and then use that money to pay for TPM is another sort of genius. ;)

[Charley]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....

The earliest memories I have involve Star Wars. I can remember going to the theater to see Return of the Jedi when I was two years old. It was the first movie I'd been to, or at least that I can remember. Everything was larger than life.

I still have my original Star Wars tape. It's beaten and battered, taped off of CBS back in 1984. I have absolutely no idea how many hundreds of times I have seen each of these movies.

Star Wars is the cultural tale of at at least two generations. The ways it reaches out to people are limitless, even if the substance itself appeals to general audiences. Never before has a story been written and evolved into myth within the author's lifetime. The lessons and references within its thousands of layers are limitless, and even as one is entertained, they gain understanding about themselves, and the world around them.

Will add to this later. Gotta go to work!

[Morgan Evanar]

I need to take some pictures, but I'll post something for now.

I was born indoctrinated into Science Fiction. My Mother is a complete sci-fi junkie, and loves the great stuff completely, and loves the bad stuff too. I was 1 when Jedi came out, and I'm fairly certain I watched it from a snuggly strapped to my mother's chest.

Wizard of Oz or Empire Strikes Back? Is that even a question?

For a long time we had a crappy SLP recorded tape with the entire trilogy on it, but in the early 90s mom bought the THX remastered versions! My sisters and I have probably seen each movie more that 50 times. When the summer thunderstorms took over, we watched Star Wars.

I know this is going to sound bizzare but X-Wing and Jedi Knight were these huge experinces for me. I bought a Thrustmaster FCS joystick back in the 486 days for Falcon 3.0, and X-Wing with a good joystick was some kind of nerd nirvana, and Tie Fighter was somehow even better. Jedi Knight was the last great Lucasarts inhouse Star Wars title, and one of the few games to come across with the correct feeling of epic hugeness of the world of Star Wars.

So I have been indoctrinated into Science Fiction since birth, but Star Wars is the Neuromancer, a perfect blend of technology and magic.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

The first memory I have of Star Wars is from sometime just after Episode 1 was released. I was 12. I’d been on holiday somewhere with my family, and managed to convince my mum to buy me this binder of Episode 1 related facts and activities to keep me busy on the way there. We were spending a week in a cottage somewhere in the south of the country, only it turned it that it rained for a lot of the time – so we ended up staying in a fair bit. This binder had a lot about pod racing in it, and I just remember spending ages pouring over all of the facts about the different racers and diagrams of their pods – then drawing some of my own.

I’m sure that I must have seen the OT before then, but Episode 1 was the first time I really got excited. Looking back, I find it pretty weird that I was more into pod racing than (for instance) Darth Maul, but that’s the way it was.

My interest in the rest of the whole vast ‘galaxy’ only really surfaced when I started role-playing. I came in with very little knowledge about Star Wars, and not that much of a passion for it really, but over time I’ve grown to love it. Like Oriadin, if it wasn’t for Episode 1, I doubt that I’d have ever taken the time to look up Star Wars sites on the internet, and consequently would never have grown so attached – to the movies, the games, the books, all – as I am today. :)

[Doc Milo]

This is an interesting question. I, too, have seen this thread, and read others stories, trying to come up with the words that accurately describe my own relationship with Star Wars.

In 1977, I was 8 years old when Star Wars came out -- and I wasn't allowed to see it. I remember begging my father to take me to see it, and him saying I was too young. He took my brother and sister instead. It wasn't until the re-release of Star Wars right before Empire came out that I was allowed to see Star Wars. But this wasn't, by far, my first experience with the saga.

My brother had the novelization in paperback, the one with the photos of different scenes in it, and I remember looking at those pictures. I don't remember reading the book, so I'm not sure if I did or not. The toys, of course. I had the toys. I remember getting an X-Wing when I was younger, and my younger brother got a TIE fighter. We had a bunch of action figures. And an slide projector.

At that age, I didn't quite comprehend the meaning behind Rebel Alliance and Empire. All I knew was one was good and one was evil. The politics of it went completely over my head -- and thus, a big portion of the meaning of the movie went right over my head. Even after I saw the movie in 1979 (I think that's when it was rereleased) at ten years of age, it was just a story about a farm boy turned hero in a fight between good and evil.

I don't remember how I felt the first time I saw it on screen. Overwhelmed really isn't enough to describe it.

I saw Empire on the big screen only months later, at an old RKO theater that has since closed down. It was a huge screen, and there wasn't a bad seat in the house! Even the front row was far enough away from the screen to allow a very enjoyable experience (there was an ochestra pit between the seats and the stage) and there was a balcony section. It really was a great place to see a film (the RKO Keiths, this was) and it's a shame it's been closed down.

Funny thing, I remember thinking Empire was a bit boring compared to Star Wars ... until the end ... and the revelation. I was too young to go to the theaters on my own and thus, that one time was the only time I saw Empire in theaters.

Then came RotJ, and I was 14 by then. I was in Junior High School and me and my friends cut school to go to the movies. (As an adult now, there is no way I would tolerate my own kids skipping school for a movie!) When I got home, I actually told my mother what I had done! She was a bit miffed, but she didn't come down too hard on me. (Had it been my brothers, who each were doing much worse in school than I was, it would have played out differently. Being a "goody-goody" had its advantages -- I rarely did anything wrong, so when I did, I got lienient treatment...) I remember thinking and debating with friends in the time between Empire and Jedi that Darth Vader had to be lying. When Yoda confirmed it that Vader was Luke's father, I feel I must have felt the same way Luke felt at that moment.

Everyone in my family wanted to know how the movie was. And I told them it was great! Jedi was the one movie I went to the theaters over and over again that year to see (my paper route money put to good use!) And it is the movie that has marked my obsession with the Star Wars saga. For the longest time, it was my favorite of the three -- the one I remember most. I started writing in High School, and it was Jedi that inspired the tales I spun. Return of the Jedi, and Stephen King were my inspirations.

When we got a VCR and taped the trilogy off of HBO, I began watching all the films over and over again. And I grew to understand the politics of it -- and this just intrigued me more and more. That the Empire ruled the galaxy, a tyranical regime, and the rebels were fighting for freedom, the same way the colonists fought for freedom (history was another love of mine...) in the United States ... the political allegory was very intriguing as I became more and more interested in real world politics, and the meaning of freedom, and how it is won with the blood of heroes, and protected by the same. The moral play -- the Force and its spiritual message -- always intrigued me as well, and I soon discovered that it has such a universal message that it could not be pinned to any one religion, but encompassing the good morals of them all.

As I grew and matured, it seemed that Star Wars grew and matured with me. This was no "simple child's tale." It was more than just a summer blockbuster. It was more than a movie. It was a piece of literature!

But ... as with all things ... my obsession with Star Wars waned ... up until Heir to the Empire came out. Those books brought me back to that universe full force. I remember thinking that Lucas might make episodes 7 thru 9 (I had always been under the impression that this was a nine episode saga.) It didn't occur to me that he would ever make the prequels. When that news hit, I was in eager anticipation. And when the SEs came out, I was in heaven! The Jabba the Hutt scene in ANH, all of the additions, I loved them! I didn't care if they looked a little off. But the most important thing about those SEs, to me, was that the prequels were not to be far behind.

My feelings on the prequels on this board is pretty much common knowledge -- since I've been visiting this board since TPM (and the EZBoard days, remember them?) I have enjoyed a whole new experience with these films that didn't exist when the OT first was released -- the abilty to discuss and debate all the Star Wars movies with fans just as obsessed (some even more so, some less so) as I am.

I now view Star Wars as a whole, for the first time. I can't wait to see it in episodic order (I plan an entire day event one day, if life -- and the wife -- permits it :) )

Since Episode III came out, I have not yet viewed any of the OT. I plan on watching ANH tonight. I have a feeling that when Vader comes through that burned out door on the Tantive, I will not view him in the same menacing manner; perhaps I will not see Vader at all, but the tragic Anakin. And maybe, just maybe, the misty eyes I had at the end of RotS will come back as I see just what he has become....

[Wyl Staedtler]

It was 1991 the first time I ever came into contact with anything Star Wars. Before that summer my life had consisted mainly of trekking through the thick brush that surrounded our little town (population 640) with my cousin and cohort, Sean. Neither of us owned a VCR, and throughout the span of our four-year-old lives we had probably watched a combined ammount of 20 hours of television (we only had one between my parents and my aunt and uncle, who we shared a house with).

And then came that fateful night. I came home from a doctors appointment and Sean greeted me with the awed words, "My mom rented movies!"

This was quite an event, you have to understand. The only movies I had seen prior to this were Land Before Time and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Practically buzzing, I grabbed Sean and demanded to know what she had rented. He jumped up and down, clutching me like we'd won the lottery. "TRON! I've seen it before it's SO cool! Oh," he paused and scrunched his face. "And something called Star Wars."

I was immediatly cynical. Hey, Star Wars didn't sound like the epic musicals I had always watched. "Star Wars? That sounds stupid."

"Yeah, I know. But at least we have TRON!"

TRON was a big hit. By the time we finished it was 9:30, a record hour and half past our bedtime. We were nodding off on the couch, trying hard not to fall asleep when my Uncle Kent suggested that we go to bed. Desperate to find some exuse to avoid getting tucked in after such a victorious battle against the clock, Sean halfhazzardly protested, "But we haven't watched Star Wars yet!" In went ANH.

And that was it.

All I remember after the end credits rolled was being dumbstruck on the couch. Star Wars wasn't just a movie. Star Wars was a whole new universe.

From that day on things drastically changed for Sean and I. Our games in the ravine no longer consisted of cavemen and cougers, but of tree villages, lightsabers, and evil stormtroopers. I remember vividly being terrified as 'Luke' led me across a tree branch, grabbed hold of my waist, and tried to swing to the next branch with a piece of rope from the shed--not terrified of falling, but of the Empires drones who were behind us.

Later that same year my family moved to a house acriss the street, which made sharing information with Sean just a tad more complicated. When our parents were busy, we would stand on our driveways and yell to one another.

"Hey Sean!"

"What?"

"My mom said that Luke and Leia are brother and sister!"

"What! Ew!"

"I know!"

We wept bitterly when we discovered who Darth Vader was. For years our lives hinged on the worn out VHS tapes. Everything we did was weighed carefully against what Obi-Wan would do, or whether or not we were inviting the darkside into our lives by pushing our younger brothers into the kiddie pool.

As we got older, we tried to forget about Star Wars, and briefly went through a stage with POGS. As fate would have it of course, Sean eventually aquired a Darth Vader steelie, and we were thrown back into the mix with renewed force. We discovered books, and pretty soon our shelves had been stripped of The Hardy Boys to make more room for our first love.

It's continued this way ever since. Though Sean and I have long since realized that we aren't Luke and Leia, or Jacen and Jaina, we still know that somewhere, way down deep, we're totally Jedi. And even though last year I moved away from Sean for the first time, we had the privelege of meeting up again for Episode III.

We cried at the opening scroll. We cried as Obi-Wan, our long-time favorite, battled Anakin with such nobility and anguish. We cried when it ended. In the emptying theatre Sean and I once again realized what we had so many years ago: The Star Wars saga aren't just movies; they're an adventure that anyone can live.

And heck, I'm gonna live it as long as I can.