China 39: 7, 6, 5, 4...
Movie of the Week: Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
It seems Star Wars has been a constant in my life. It has followed me almost as long as I can remember in many different forms. I believe sometime around first grade I tried to find the video at the library but it "Out" every time. I probably first heard about it from my friend's dad who is a cool Star Trek/Wars geek. I think the first time I watched Star Wars I was bored out of my mind. The scene with Yoda and Luke in The Empire Strikes Back just didn't have enough action.
So I gave up the Star Wars movies and just played with the toys, an ancient Millenium Falcon and storm troop action figures from the 70's. As time progressed the toys sparked my interest anew somewhere between fourth and fifth grade, a time when collecting trends are rampant. (To name a few trends we've got Tamogotchi, Beanie Babies, Crayola Crayon collections, Goosebumps, Tin Tin comics, etc etc etc) Toys became the new thing and collecting the new Star Wars toys (the movies had been remastered and shown again in theaters) was a competition.
As fifth grade rolled around, my friends and I had seen the movies and, as we now were beginning to mature, began to read the books, a somewhat cult collection of Star Wars inspired trash novels. Nevertheless, we were reading and that was a start. I remember my 8th grade cousin making fun of me because I was reading a "Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia" on a road trip. Right after that, my Grandma asked him a math question about when we'd arrive at our destination given we drove at a constant 60mph. My 8th grade cousin couldn't solve the dilemma, so his 5th grade cousin solved it for him in a matter of seconds.
I estimate between fifth and sixth grade, I must of read at least twenty Star Wars novels just like my friends. The social aspect of the movies was in the cards however, books were simply the information needed to be knowledgable in collecting the cards. My friend Alex Coley must of collected at least 1000 of those cards some of which were worth hundreds of dollars for their rarity. My collection was skimpy; I just didn't seem to have the luck to open a pack of cards and pull the rare Yoda card. My prized possesion was probably the Commander Luke card I traded for.
The funny thing was none of my friends (and this meant probably around 10 boys, a majority in my elementary school) actually knew how to play the card game. We just collected, traded, argued, and quizzed each other on Star Wars minutia. Perhaps this is where my memory grew two sizes more because as I was memorizing the names of Jawas, Ewoks, and droids, who could only be seen in you paused the movie at the right time and started REALLY hard, I began to get my first report cards, which put my name on the high honors list outside my 6th grade classroom every quarter.
I remember reading rumors in the magazine me and Alex Coley suscribed to, Star Wars Insider, that George Lucas might make the three prequals to Episodes 4,5,6 of Star Wars. I was estaticate. The first prequal came out as our interest in Star Wars collecting and obsessing waned, but we still managed to get opening night tickets (not an easy feat) and cheer as R2-D2 made his surprise appearance. Even though the movie was horrible, I loved it. Having not been born for openings of the orginal Star Wars movies, I was an Star Wars junkie without roots. As I prepared to graduate from 8th grade there was nothing better than to find that Star Wars wasn't done yet, and neither was I.
High school is no place to be a Star Wars fan. Princess Leia could of very well been my first crush, but now it was time to find a little reality in my science fictional world. I couldn't pretend that The Force was real anymore. I'm pretty sure that I did manage to see the opening day of Episode II during my years in high school, and I was touched by it. It was gratifying to see things that I had known and imagined from all the Star Wars minutia I knew put on screen. It seemed this saga was an endless epic that traced my life. Watching the young Annakin Skywalker growing up on Tantoinne, I felt special because though billions of people were watching this movie, I was part of a small few that could really understand the implication of this young child's future on this far,far away galaxy's future. I found Star Wars much more interesting than the wars fought in my own history. The history of Earth was so grey and predictable, unlike the drama of the light side vs. the dark side and the unbelievable underdog stories. I watched my own life waver between light and dark sides in high school, and like Star Wars anything that was resolved ended up being the beginning of something else.
And so I came here to China, Star Wars buried somewhere beneath the mop of hair on my head. But apparently the romanticism of Star Wars touches the Chinese as well. Star Wars opened on May 20th, and I missed the date but was to make up for it going just two days after Star Wars officially opened. Unbeknownst to me, the movie turned out to be in Chinese, so as I watched the story unfold on the screen the words soared over my head, but for some reason I was still enthralled, and even sad. This will be the last Star Wars movie, and doubtlessly it will get OK reviews, but where will I go now without Star Wars to outline my life. I see how watching Episode III in Chinese is a lot like being in China. So much stuff is happening that I see everyday and the words are lost yet it's still touching.
Maybe I'm feeling like a parent who's kid is leaving home to become an adult. I've watched these Star Wars movies like they are my own life. Even though I haven't seen a Star Wars card or resuscribed to Star Wars Insider, I'll always be part of it, as geeky and corny as it sounds. My reliance and love on Star Wars perhaps is the ultimate symbol of my childhood and adolescence. It embodies any boy's dream. Exceptional power, glory, good vs. bad, love... it's all there. So my sentimental reaction to Star Wars: Episode III is probably just as trite as my sentiment for what is supposed to be my glorious, youthful dreams. I'll probably feel the same twinge when I leave Xi'an, when I graduate, when I leave Brookline.
I still must watch the new Star Wars movie in English, but it really feels over. Darth Vader has been born along with Luke and Leia, and I know what all their futures will be. So where do I go from here? Should I become a Star Trek fan? I hear that world is even larger than Star Wars'. Or maybe a Lords of the Rings fan? I'd love to become fluent in Elvish. But something tells me it's time to start doing something a little more useful. Fantasy worlds are great, but learning Elvish won't get me anywhere in China. So I'm saying good-bye to the twelve years of Star Wars. It's been great. I hate saying 'bye, in three days I'll have to say it again to Xi'an.
posted by dAVID @ 3:55 AM
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