Ramblings and Mutterings

By ValleyAllBlack

October Origins - Am I a Jedi?

Long, long ago in a Galaxy far, far away, well not quite it was 1977 and it was the Planet Earth, came a movie which left a lasting impression on me. Star Wars, as it was then not Episode VI A New Hope as it is now, was that film! That first shot of the Rebel Cruiser being chased by an Imperial Star Destroyer was a "whoa" moment that I will never forget, there had never been anything like it and in my opinion nothing to better it since.

For the next goodness knows how many years anything Star Wars related had to be purchased, it was of course at this time that film merchandising went to a whole new level, Star Wars really did set the template for film merchandising from there on in. For my mum and dad and grandparents, I supposed it made Christmas so much easier because I would inevitably want something from Star Wars. I can't quite recall my feelings when I opened my present on Christmas morning and saw the Millennium Falcon there, but I bet I was happy as Larry.

The 80s then saw two more Star Wars movies, the Empire Strikes Back and the Return of the Jedi, so life was good as we followed the adventures of Han, Leia, Luke, Chewbacca, Lando, Wedge, and the two droids C3P0 and R2D2. By this time the mythology behind Star Wars had come more to light and we wanted to know more. Who was Anakin Skywalker? Why did he turn to the Dark Side? Why were Obi Wan and Yoda hiding away? If Luke and Leia were brother and sister why were they apart for so long? What did a proper Jedi warrior look like?

Imagine the hysteria then when creator, George Lucas announced that the prequels to Star Wars were in production and a new trilogy would be released. To wet our appetites he released the original trilogy as Special Editions, with new special effects and Jabba was now seen in the first movie instead of at the end, although it was a bit silly I thought. For a lot of fans this was also the time when George started, and continues to, tinkering with the films to such a level that some people disagreed with what he was doing. Often the most controversial piece of editing was when Greedo apparently fires first when meeting Han Solo on Tatooine, when in the original film it was Han who killed Greedo in cold blood.

And so to the Prequels and at last our chance to see real Jedi and how Anakin fell to the dark side. Being a huge fan I made sure I was one of the first to see The Phantom Menace, it was alright but it didn't really capture the imagination and also created one of the most hated good guys in history in Jar Jar Binks. We'd forgive George though, we knew he had to set the scene and it might be initially boring, so on to the Attack of the Clones. More action, more Jedi, the Clone Wars, Boba Fett, yes this was better, this was Star Wars, apart from the dodgy love story between Anakin and Padme.

And so to the final film Revenge of the Sith, a great action sequence to start with, Yoda fighting like a whirling dervish, some political intrigue, the death of the Jedi movement, Anakin's downfall, but something wasn't quite right. You see by this time Anakin Skywalker, the supposed main character of all 6 films and the one we were all supposed to love and have sympathy for, was a whiny, spoilt brat of a teenager who by the time Obi Wan cut his legs and arms off you were cheering that he'd had his comeuppance at last.

Has it spoilt my enjoyment of Star Wars? No far from it I still love it, yes even the prequels, and it was and still is a big part of my life, but more of that on a future blip. When I'm feeling low I sometimes put the DVDs on and escape back to my childhood, which I did today after the pain of yesterday.

I tried my best to recreate one of the posters from the film for the blip, but it's not quite as I wanted it as sadly I lost my real lightsaber many years ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

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