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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Chic, IL That first time you saw Star Wars...

Discussion in 'MidWest Regional Discussion' started by Sithman, Jun 2, 2003.

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  1. Sithman

    Sithman Jedi Grand Master star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 1999
    At the latest Errant Venture book club, when we were talking afterwards at Fuddruckers, Dan (Dak_Ferris), Gina (Frosty), Scott (General Kenobi) and myself were all sitting around, and we got to talking about that first time we had experienced Star Wars; the very first time we had seen it. I love hearing such stories. They pump me up about Star Wars, and, I think, give us all a twinkle in the eye: we've all had it happen to us and so it excites us to hear other people's stories.

    Hearing about the first time other people saw Star Wars for the first time excites me, at least, and I'd love to hear what it was like when you first saw Star Wars for the first time.

    Dan and Gina might remember from our conversation at Fuddruckers that I wrote an english paper about the first time I saw Star Wars, and so I'll use that to explain the first time *I* saw Star Wars (it got an "A", in case you were wondering :p )! Remember, this was written last fall, so some of the dates and figures and totals are off a little. :)

    I hope you enjoy my story, and I can't wait to hear all of yours! I love hearing these stories! :D Maybe this'll also help us understand each other's love for Star Wars better... Knowing how it all started. Especially people like me who experienced it first on the small screen.


    So, here's mine:




    Everyone has his thing. Although some people wouldn?t admit it, just about every person has that one hobby that they love and enjoy, the thing that kindles the flame of excitement in them. Old grandfathers have golf clubs, young boys have Tonka trucks, teenage girls have pop singers, men have power tools, and for me it?s Star Wars. If many of my friends were asked about my Star Wars fanaticism, most would say that I?ve ?always been like this? or that I am a ?Star Wars fanatic through and through?. However, it wasn?t always like this. Before I saw Star Wars, movies in general were not even an interest of mine; movies didn?t yank me out of my recliner and into another reality; they didn?t entice me. The night I saw Star Wars changed everything. It changed the types of movies that I watched, it changed my perception of film as a whole, and the aftermath completely restructured the way I spent my leisure hours as well as my hard-earned cash. This is how I acquired my thing.

    In order to illustrate more profoundly the fateful night that I saw Star Wars, a more colorful background is in order. The genres as well as amount of films that I had seen at nine years of age (the age at which I first underwent the Star Wars experience) were scarce to say the least. Animated Disney home videos dominated the movie spectrum of my life for my first nine years; the death of Bambi?s mother was probably the most traumatic scene I had ever experienced. Essentially, I was sheltered. Action movies in particular had a moral red ?x? through them. Even though fantastical action movies have now become a favorite of mine, I dare not let a sense of ill feelings toward my parents for shielding me pervade. In fact, I am thankful for the filtering my parents instituted at that young age. Being the skittish child that I was, intense and suspenseful action flicks would have kept me quivering beneath the covers to all hours of the night. With this miniscule background of movies, it was only a matter of time before I would witness an utterly new type of movie, a movie that would rock my understanding of what a film could truly be.

    The sun rose over the chilly Saturday morn of March 23rd, 1996, much as it always had. The brisk morning was no different from any other late winter morning, yet little did I know that by the time the sun would set my world would change. With mom out of town for a weekend get-away, my dad, brother and I were left to fend for ourselves. Deciding to make a ?guys night? out of it, we ordered pizza and agreed to rent a movie. The question was, what movie? After evaluating the circumstances, we thought an action movie would be appropriate
     
  2. General Kenobi

    General Kenobi Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Dec 31, 1998
    I've read that before, Sithy. It's way cool. :cool:

    I went on a hot summer night to the Strand Theater on the square in Madison, WI in 1977...

    details to follow...

    if I can remember. :p
     
  3. Bosh_Talk

    Bosh_Talk Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 29, 2000
    It was 1978 and my father had just been murdered by a clown. I was at the police station with my mother and my uncle took me to see Star Wars (during it's 2nd theatrical release) to get my mind off of having found the body butchered in the basement.
    I didn't really understand everything that was going on in the movie because I was just 7 years old, plus they tell me I would start screaming hysterically from time to time and they'd have to take me outside till I calmed down.
     
  4. Lt_Dak-Ferris

    Lt_Dak-Ferris Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 26, 2003
    Wow . . . Kevin . . . Wow!

    That is a magnificent piece of writing! As someone who reads high school papers all the time, this is really something special. Please pass on to your parents my hearty congratulations at doing such a good job home-schooling you. I've had the opportunity over the last two years to teach some really smart kids in the honors and IB programs at my school. You know, kids who are going to some pretty fancy colleges in the fall, some of whom are pretty amazing writers themselves. This piece is just awesome!

    I am curious what the original assignment was. What course was it for?

    As for my own story, I'm too tired and it is way past my bedtime. Besides, who wants to try and compete with that essay?
     
  5. Sithman

    Sithman Jedi Grand Master star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 1999
    "I am curious what the original assignment was. What course was it for?"

    It was just a basic college (I take my classes at Harper College) English 101 class I took my first semester there. I think the assignment was to descripe a "life changing" event in your life, or something. But I also used it to defend my love, er, crazy-deep-love for Star Wars. I send that essay to anyone who calls me a "weirdo" for liking Star Wars. That shuts them up, and puts them in their place. :p


    And pleeease, you gotta post your story, Dan! All of you! This thread is to hear EVERYONE's stories and comment on them! I already know my story- I want to hear your guys'! :D
     
  6. Hazmatt

    Hazmatt Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    The year was 1976 and my mother received a phone call from my 1st grade teacher, telling her that I didn't participate in the class reading assignments, and she was concerned about my development. The teacher asked my mom to observe me at home, to see if I was reading, and gave her suggestions on some remedial reading courses.

    My mother went looking for me to talk to me about it, and found me on the couch reading "Star Wars" (the novel, mind you, not the storybook). The movie wasn't out yet, so my mother asked me about the story. I was to the part where the Falcon is brought aboard the Death Star, and I gave her a run-down of the story to that point. She called my teacher back and told her to not worry about it, I would be fine.

    My second "Star Wars" memory was getting into a fight (still in 1st grade) with Ryan Whitakind. He said that the Millennium Falcon was the largest ship in the story, and I said no, the Death Star was. We actually came to blows over that one. Ruined nap time for everyone. It was a scandal.

    By the way, since I know ALL of you visit Chicago Force Web all the time, you will remember that if you register a username with us, one of the Biography questions is "Your first Star Wars memory". Good reading there, too.
     
  7. Mos_Eisleian_Radio

    Mos_Eisleian_Radio Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2000
    I first saw Star Wars in late May (or possibly early June) of 1977 at the old Ford City theaters (a different building than the current theaters). It was the end of 3rd grade. I was 8. I remember my friends at school talking excitedly about this new movie called Star Wars. My mom wanted to wait until the crowds died down a bit, so my family and I went to see it a week or more into its run.

    Naturally, I fell in love with the movie. I remember reading the novelization and comic books afterward, first the first 3 issues of the adaptation, then the oversized omnibus containing the entire story of the film. My brothers and I also had the action figures, allowing us to make up our own stories about our favorite galaxy. We had some of the playsets, too, including the Millennium Falcon. I still have that toy.

    Around the time that The Empire Strikes Back came out (an even better movie than the original), I started reading the Marvel comic, eventually subscribing to it. I loved the adventures on the silver screen as well as in four colors. The sense of adventure, tapping into the mystical power of the Force, the evil of Darth Vader and the Empire. These fueled my imagination, taking it to worlds that seemed real to my young mind.

    After Return of the Jedi, I kept up with the comic, but it was cancelled after a few years. I was still a fan, but there wasn't anything to keep the fire going. When the Zahn books were published, my passion was renewed. It only intensified with the Special Editions, and seeing them with my friends from college.

    Now with the prequels, it's been a whole new smashball game. I don't really get into the toys as much as I used to, but I do love the books and comics. It's a whole new environment to explore, in both the past and the future of the Star Wars Galaxy. I don't know what'll happen after Episode III is over and done with, but it's going to be a blast getting there.

    Phil
     
  8. Schph_Gochi

    Schph_Gochi Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 17, 2002
    I'm working on my recollection...1977 is a really long time ago.....

    Hmmmm....things I do remember...
    I was 26 years old when A New Hope came out. I went alone because most of my friends thought it looked stupid and didn't want to go see it.

    While waiting for the movie to start..I was worried about someone stealing my 64 GTO out of the parking lot while I was in the movie...but as soon as that Blockade Runner and Star Destoyer came across the screen in the first moments of the movie...the GTO was forgotten and for the remainder of the film...I am sure I caught at least a dozen flies in my mouth because my mouth just hung open gaping at the screen for the rest of the movie...

    and yes...as I left the parking lot...I tried to see if my GTO could make "hyperspace".....

    :D

    Sithman...your story is awesome.....
    you are homeschooled?
    quite a number of our younger members of The Jedi Assembly are homeschooled as well....they are some of the most astute (sp?) that I have ever "met"....
    I have a deep respect for homeschooling...
     
  9. Sithman

    Sithman Jedi Grand Master star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 1999
    "Sithman...your story is awesome.....
    you are homeschooled?
    quite a number of our younger members of The Jedi Assembly are homeschooled as well....they are some of the most astute (sp?) that I have ever "met"....
    I have a deep respect for homeschooling...
    "


    I was homeschooled all my life until last year, when I started taking my classes at college (Harper college, here in the 'burbs). So yeah, I was homeschooled basically my whole life up until last year. :)



    Oh, and Radio, your story is soooo cool! :D I love hearing those stories from the people who saw it as young kids (you know, lik 5-10 or something) way back on opening day/week. Amazing stuff. :D


    "I don't know what'll happen after Episode III is over and done with, but it's going to be a blast getting there."


    Oh yes, I agree. :D
     
  10. Eon-Wan-Mome_NT

    Eon-Wan-Mome_NT Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 1, 2003
    It was 1977.

    My mom thought it would be so cute if she and
    her friend Clair get me with Clair's daughter
    on "a little kid date"

    I was 6 years old and i think Lori, Clair's daughter was 6 as well.

    They said we would go see Star Wars. Oh they teased and bugged me, saying "Are you looking forward to your date, Hee Hee?"

    Ugh I hated this. Mom and Clair sat in the row behind us as Me, Lori and David(Lori brother) sat together.

    In regards to my impression of the movie, I was young and could not grasp the whole thing.

    I remember liking the Cantina and I felt so bad when Obi Wan "disappered". Don't even remember the whole blow up the Death Star scene the first time.

    But I do remember a scene that I guess never existed: Luke and Han Wrestling. Odd. I guess I saw another movie around the same time that had some wrestling scene in it and I mistook it for STar Wars.
     
  11. JamMastahD

    JamMastahD Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jun 11, 2003
    I read the book years before I saw the movie, but the book was enough to get me, at the tender age of eleven or twelve, writing fan fiction, a fact which I had mercilessly forgotten until I was reminded by the girl I used to write them with.

    Apparently I used to rant about how I *understood* Han Solo... my first original character was a baby sister for the galaxy's greatest pilot, (her name was Helen) and the Millenium part of Millenium Falcon denoted that it was part of their family's own ship design label... what an imagination!

    I didn't see the films until I was in my twenties, and by then well spoiled by the much later standards of effects that SW was so groundbreaking in. Even so, when I finally saw it in the theatre, just last year, I was speechless, and kept telling my friends to hush so I could concentrate on the movie, even though I owned the complete annotated scripts... :)

    Ain't fandom a funny thing! :)

    -D

    (PS: Hi Eon! ;) )
     
  12. Eon-Wan-Mome_NT

    Eon-Wan-Mome_NT Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 1, 2003
    Interesting idea JamMastahD :)

    Solo with a babysitter. She could remind him
    to
    -look both ways before crossing an astroid field
    -Dress warm when playing inside Carbon Freezing Chambers
    -pay his debts as soon as possible to avoid future complication
    - that it is considered rude to draw your blaster at a fancy dinner party
    -when finding a girlfriend, you can never go wrong with choosing a girl where the only competition for her comes from her brother. He will realize how discusting his urges are and then devote himself to a priestly life
    while Han can then have her all to himself.

    -always feed your Wookiees before taking them out for a walk in the forests of Endor.


    And most importantly, she can remind him no and then to put on a new pair of socks! ;)
     
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