Today sees the “midnight premiere” of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in the United States, and with that a new era of Star Wars films and entertainment. We have been promised by Disney a new Star Wars film each year as long as there are people willing to buy tickets for them. And so, in lieu of the traditional Black Market piece that would have ran today, I have decided to take a different approach to commemorate this historic event.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (then titled just Star Wars) was released 38 years ago and since then has spawned five more movies within the Saga and hundreds of spin-off books, video games, and other forms of entertainment. This doesn’t even begin to touch the fan-created material or the physical merchandise such as action figures and other toys released under the Star Wars logo. It was and still continues to be a huge Force to be reckoned with.*
I grew up with the original trilogy. Born in 1985, I missed the theatrical releases of the original trilogy, but I still vividly recall my father sitting me down in front of the television set one night when Episode IV was playing. I don’t know what it was about the movie captured me, but it did so in a way that was so complete and all encompassing that it still hasn’t let go in fervor or zeal over two decades later. It got me into gaming, first through the Collectible Card Game that Decipher put out, and then later through the West End Games version of the Roleplaying Game. Over the years that love of the universe and gaming brought me into contact with many wonderful people, and in fact, is why I am able to write this piece now. This movie franchise has touched me in so many different ways, on so many different levels that I’m sure I’ll never be able to suss out ever instance.
But the franchise hasn’t been without it’s dark times. It hasn’t always been a great time to be a Star Wars fan. I saw Special Edition releases of the original trilogy in the theaters, but for me it was exciting to witness the films that I had grown up with on the big screen for the first time. I didn’t care about the changes that were made that seemed to make so many people furious. But in 1999, when we finally got to see Episode I: The Phantom Menace I started to see the dark side of George Lucas. He was having trouble letting go of his creation – his universe – and the film, along with the other two installments, suffered for it. I have since learned to appreciate the prequel trilogy for what it is instead of what it isn’t or what it could have been, but there are still fans out there that have deep grievances with these films, some legitimate, others not so much.
Still – we had a complete saga. Six episodes that told the story of Darth Vader and his son and the galaxy far far away they helped to shape. With that, along the wealth of material in the Expanded Universe, I was content to continue to play in the Star Wars universe for a long time to come. I was happy to get new media in the form of The Clone Wars and Rebels, but I never expected to see Star Wars on the big screen again in my lifetime.
And then it happened. The announcement that completely shattered the internet. In October 2012 it was announced that George Lucas was selling Lucasfilm to Disney. Furthermore, there would be new Star Wars films released. The fandom was understandably divided. More Star Wars was exciting, but many of them had been burned by the prequel trilogy. True, George Lucas wasn’t going to be involved with these new films. But Disney? Hey, they’d done a phenomenal job handling the Marvel franchise.
So it was with nervous anticipation that we set our eyes towards the future, waiting for any announcements about the new film. And from every announcement to every trailer release to every television spot I have been there, watching them over and over with the same breathless wonderment as I did when I was a child seeing Luke race down the Death Star trench or watching the Millennium Falcon blast out of Mos Eisley for the first time. And as the calendar moved ever closer towards December 18th, 2015 the knot in my stomach tightened – but not with dread. Everything that I have seen and read makes me confident that I am going to be absolutely thrilled with what I see up on the big screen.
Rather, the knot exists because of what the franchise means to me. All of the feelings that I have associated with it are about to come back to the surface – all of the friendships that were formed because of a mutual love for the films, all of the late night gaming sessions in a myriad of different systems due to my finding the Star Wars Roleplaying Game in grade school, all of the business opportunities that came from the same; it’s all fighting for my attention. Simply put, I know it’s going to be emotionally overwhelming to see this film on the big screen because of the role the franchise has had in my life.
Today, as you’re reading this article, I am watching the clock with the same nervous anticipation that has been building for the past three years, getting nothing productive done at work. I’m not expecting to get much sleep tonight. And I’m fully expecting to get even less work done tomorrow. I’m instead counting down the hours until the evening of December 18th at 7:00 PM when I get to go into my own theater and turn into a young child again. And I’m left with one thought in my head:
It’s a damn good time to be a Star Wars fan.
*See what I did there?
Ben Erickson
