The Force Was Always With Us
Back in 1999, when I was an enviable twenty years old, the first new Star Wars movie in sixteen years arrived in theaters, called “The Phantom Menace.” In those days, movie tickets weren’t sold in advance, so my mom dropped me and my then-girlfriend off at the Indian Lake Cinema just before noon, to wait over TWELVE HOURS (ugh) in the hopes of nabbing tickets to the midnight premier.
Mind you, this was twelve straight hours of sitting on a concrete sidewalk. We didn’t have the foresight to bring any board games, books, or literally anything to occupy us during that miserable wait. (We were still several years away from the dawn of the smartphone era and ubiquitous WiFi.) We were literally on our own with nothing but our imaginations, and our excitement over what was to come.
(Side note: Later that evening, I do recall that my dad and sister joined us in line, which by then was wrapped all the way around the cinema.)
The time finally arrived for our long-awaited anticipation to be sated. We got our tickets! We had our seats! WE MADE IT, YOU GUYS; WE’RE HERE! Look, those dorks are swinging their lightsabers around at the front of the movie theater, tee hee! (*This was a few years before I would own my own lightsaber, thus joining the ranks of those noble dorks.)
The lights went down. Unwanted previews played, to quite a few “boos.” At long last, the familiar 20th Century Fox fanfare began to blast out of those Dolby surround speakers.
And that crowd...went...insane. Lucasfilm logo? You’d think your team just won the championship. “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” fades in, and a few dudes in the front row spontaneously creamed in their pants, then fainted from too much stimulation.
The Star Wars theme blasted our eardrums, and the famous logo careened off into uncharted space, presumably to rendezvous with other famous film logos. People shot to their feet, hootin’ and hollerin’ like Oprah just showed up to give everyone free mansions for life.
The turmoil finally settled down a bit as the crawl began rolling. The roar faded to a few scattered claps, then one last dude shouted a half hearted “woo,” then silence finally descended over the theater.
The remaining run time of the film was spent in similar silence. Even at the closing credits, a somber crowd ambled out of the theater, blinking their bleary eyes in the bright, neon lights of the lobby.
Maybe it was waiting so many hours on the cold, hard cement. Maybe it was due to having to go to work in a few hours. Or, maybe, it was because the film didn’t quite live up to our expectations at the time. (But hey, intergalactic politics, amiright? We all had fun...while learning!)
I’ve never done anything quite so extreme since. Even with the final "Skywalker Saga" movie arriving in cinemas later this week, I won’t be waiting in line for hours. I already have two tickets (for me and my now-girlfriend) for a 2:30 am showing at the local IMAX. I even have my seats already assigned. I’m in the fourth row from the back, in case you’re curious.
I’m excited to see the movie. I’m excited to not have to wait outside on the sidewalk for several hours. I’m excited to have a smartphone now for the few minutes I do have to wait, because I’m older now, and these cat videos on YouTube won’t watch themselves.
The Force is definitely with us...this time.
Mind you, this was twelve straight hours of sitting on a concrete sidewalk. We didn’t have the foresight to bring any board games, books, or literally anything to occupy us during that miserable wait. (We were still several years away from the dawn of the smartphone era and ubiquitous WiFi.) We were literally on our own with nothing but our imaginations, and our excitement over what was to come.
(Side note: Later that evening, I do recall that my dad and sister joined us in line, which by then was wrapped all the way around the cinema.)
The time finally arrived for our long-awaited anticipation to be sated. We got our tickets! We had our seats! WE MADE IT, YOU GUYS; WE’RE HERE! Look, those dorks are swinging their lightsabers around at the front of the movie theater, tee hee! (*This was a few years before I would own my own lightsaber, thus joining the ranks of those noble dorks.)
The lights went down. Unwanted previews played, to quite a few “boos.” At long last, the familiar 20th Century Fox fanfare began to blast out of those Dolby surround speakers.
And that crowd...went...insane. Lucasfilm logo? You’d think your team just won the championship. “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” fades in, and a few dudes in the front row spontaneously creamed in their pants, then fainted from too much stimulation.
The Star Wars theme blasted our eardrums, and the famous logo careened off into uncharted space, presumably to rendezvous with other famous film logos. People shot to their feet, hootin’ and hollerin’ like Oprah just showed up to give everyone free mansions for life.
The turmoil finally settled down a bit as the crawl began rolling. The roar faded to a few scattered claps, then one last dude shouted a half hearted “woo,” then silence finally descended over the theater.
The remaining run time of the film was spent in similar silence. Even at the closing credits, a somber crowd ambled out of the theater, blinking their bleary eyes in the bright, neon lights of the lobby.
Maybe it was waiting so many hours on the cold, hard cement. Maybe it was due to having to go to work in a few hours. Or, maybe, it was because the film didn’t quite live up to our expectations at the time. (But hey, intergalactic politics, amiright? We all had fun...while learning!)
I’ve never done anything quite so extreme since. Even with the final "Skywalker Saga" movie arriving in cinemas later this week, I won’t be waiting in line for hours. I already have two tickets (for me and my now-girlfriend) for a 2:30 am showing at the local IMAX. I even have my seats already assigned. I’m in the fourth row from the back, in case you’re curious.
I’m excited to see the movie. I’m excited to not have to wait outside on the sidewalk for several hours. I’m excited to have a smartphone now for the few minutes I do have to wait, because I’m older now, and these cat videos on YouTube won’t watch themselves.
The Force is definitely with us...this time.
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