Mrs. Chewbacca, Mrs. Darth Vader, Mrs. Yoda and the Evolution of the Star Wars Crowd - By N.L Belardes
Were you at the Episode III premiere last night? I was at Edwards Cinemas. I want to know your experience... or a Star Wars experience. In the meantime, here's mine:
By about Jenna Montez’ 25th light saber duel I finally lost interest. That was after she whooped the director of The War Days in a finger-crushing duel, and long after she challenged Justin: the biggest bad-ass Jedi I have ever seen. Cloaked in Jedi garb from head to toe, he wielded his light saber like I one day wish to wield my pen: oh to swing it mightier than your average laser sword!
Justin was amazed at Jenna’s deftness with her teacher’s plastic blue light saber. She put up a feisty parry-thrust-slash, and I’m not even sure who won as a crowd had gathered like this Jedi match was a major schoolyard bruhaha.
Jenna had been in line with a group of friends: Echo, Nadine, Sara, her brother who digs the Beat Generation, and a few others. Like typical fans, they played games, they laughed and they dueled. Her battles were just some of the ‘fan duels for the ages’ I was to witness last night and clearly showed me that Star Wars crowds had come of age just like the movies… No more standing in line like you’re bored and waiting for the Haunted Mansion’s ghosts to scare you. It’s time for you to be a part of the show.
Also in line was Michelle, sort of your hip Irish version of a princess Leia. She passed out free Gatorade and talked a mile a minute about Star Wars like it was this past Easter’s Golden Egg. After the move she had a smile on her face like she could finally sleep at night. It was all over. Or is it? Anyway, just up the line Adam had a chessboard resting on a skateboard where he used old-fashioned Jedi mind tricks to sweep three games in a row… He told me he barely won. But I don’t know about that.
I pulled out some pastels and quickly got into the spirit with funky sidewalk art as I scratched out several character parodies: Mrs. Chewbacca, Mrs. Yoda (she looked a little too much like Mrs. Shrek), and my favorite, a pink-helmeted version of Darth Vader with bright blue eye coverings and a pair of fancy Death Star earrings. Her helmet simply glimmered. We even added an ‘unfinished Death Star’ until the spirit-breaking ‘security on bikes’ smashed our pop culture Star Wars expressionistic experience by telling us we were defacing cement. Did he think chalk doesn’t wash off sidewalks? One cup of water whooshes such cultural moments into memory. Just ask the kid who spilled a soda on Mrs. Chewbacca’s big red lips… oo la la!
Now just how did this Star Wars crowd really come of age? Years ago when I stood in line for Empire’s first showing, there were no Jedis, stormtroopers, or Darth Vaders dressed to the hilt. This first showing there were serious collectors showing off memorabilia, fancy LED sabers, Jedis everywhere, princess Leias (including one young blondie about 5 years old who has my vote for the cutest kid-Leia ever) Hollywood-folk showed up to promote the film as extravagant Imperial guards, storm troopers, biker scouts, an ominous and very tall Darth Vader, and an emperor. There were duels everywhere, music blasting, video games blaring, trivia, and a whole lot of proud personalities showing off their own particular spirit of the Star Wars couture.
I met other folk in the crowd. I had a quick conversation with Brian who was convinced (and so am I) that Lucas and Spielberg are going to team up for an extravagant episode seven. All the band members from the very cool band Lost Ocean hung out in the shade. I had my most interesting conversation of the day with keyboardist extraordinaire, Skyler regarding the philosophy of creativity in performance. It was a surreal conversation near the popcorn machines after the lines went inside; it was of a depth of understanding that to write, to perform, to create necessarily needs the psychological removal of self-imposed mental obstacles. We discussed how creativity can fall into haphazard digressions when faced with the self-realization of pondering self-critical thoughts while creating/performing. But that’s another discussion altogether. These guys gave me their cd Douse the Choir, which I am going to spin and give you all my two cents worth very soon… we talked about me going on KRAB radio on the 29th. Maybe I could spin one of their tracks? You can buy their cd at World Records.
I even bumped into Danny Spanks of KRAB after the show. He smoked a cigarette and looked glum as he wandered through the parking lot. He shook his head in major disappointment. I could empathize. I wanted to see the Rebellion, not just the seeds of it. I wanted the acting to be better. I wanted Amidala’s death scene to be more tragic… Here’s what I wrote as a comment on The Reel’s Star Wars blog as my quick and dirty two cents:
The beginning of the movie was the most epic and awesome sci-fi cinematics ever! The rest was total Star Wars: great light saber duels, bad acting, intriguing plot, tragedy, and a creepy Emperor that will for sure give little kiddies nightmares...
You can watch a video and read about some of the folks in line at Edwards on The Reel. There's a mini movie link that provides a great interview. It shows an awesome duel and several cool fans, but doesn’t give you the feel of how the spirit of Star Wars infected the crowd that night: it became a festive occasion in a symphony of swinging Star Wars light sabers, mixed with the cheer and chatter of excited fans, Hollywood-style characters, sparkling lights and happy children and adults.
The video does capture the build-up to a crescendo for Star Wars fans, all realizing that when darkness fell, the partying would truly begin. You can even see a glimpse of Mrs. Chewbacca before she faded away into oblivion…
By about Jenna Montez’ 25th light saber duel I finally lost interest. That was after she whooped the director of The War Days in a finger-crushing duel, and long after she challenged Justin: the biggest bad-ass Jedi I have ever seen. Cloaked in Jedi garb from head to toe, he wielded his light saber like I one day wish to wield my pen: oh to swing it mightier than your average laser sword!
Justin was amazed at Jenna’s deftness with her teacher’s plastic blue light saber. She put up a feisty parry-thrust-slash, and I’m not even sure who won as a crowd had gathered like this Jedi match was a major schoolyard bruhaha.
Jenna had been in line with a group of friends: Echo, Nadine, Sara, her brother who digs the Beat Generation, and a few others. Like typical fans, they played games, they laughed and they dueled. Her battles were just some of the ‘fan duels for the ages’ I was to witness last night and clearly showed me that Star Wars crowds had come of age just like the movies… No more standing in line like you’re bored and waiting for the Haunted Mansion’s ghosts to scare you. It’s time for you to be a part of the show.
Also in line was Michelle, sort of your hip Irish version of a princess Leia. She passed out free Gatorade and talked a mile a minute about Star Wars like it was this past Easter’s Golden Egg. After the move she had a smile on her face like she could finally sleep at night. It was all over. Or is it? Anyway, just up the line Adam had a chessboard resting on a skateboard where he used old-fashioned Jedi mind tricks to sweep three games in a row… He told me he barely won. But I don’t know about that.
I pulled out some pastels and quickly got into the spirit with funky sidewalk art as I scratched out several character parodies: Mrs. Chewbacca, Mrs. Yoda (she looked a little too much like Mrs. Shrek), and my favorite, a pink-helmeted version of Darth Vader with bright blue eye coverings and a pair of fancy Death Star earrings. Her helmet simply glimmered. We even added an ‘unfinished Death Star’ until the spirit-breaking ‘security on bikes’ smashed our pop culture Star Wars expressionistic experience by telling us we were defacing cement. Did he think chalk doesn’t wash off sidewalks? One cup of water whooshes such cultural moments into memory. Just ask the kid who spilled a soda on Mrs. Chewbacca’s big red lips… oo la la!
Now just how did this Star Wars crowd really come of age? Years ago when I stood in line for Empire’s first showing, there were no Jedis, stormtroopers, or Darth Vaders dressed to the hilt. This first showing there were serious collectors showing off memorabilia, fancy LED sabers, Jedis everywhere, princess Leias (including one young blondie about 5 years old who has my vote for the cutest kid-Leia ever) Hollywood-folk showed up to promote the film as extravagant Imperial guards, storm troopers, biker scouts, an ominous and very tall Darth Vader, and an emperor. There were duels everywhere, music blasting, video games blaring, trivia, and a whole lot of proud personalities showing off their own particular spirit of the Star Wars couture.
I met other folk in the crowd. I had a quick conversation with Brian who was convinced (and so am I) that Lucas and Spielberg are going to team up for an extravagant episode seven. All the band members from the very cool band Lost Ocean hung out in the shade. I had my most interesting conversation of the day with keyboardist extraordinaire, Skyler regarding the philosophy of creativity in performance. It was a surreal conversation near the popcorn machines after the lines went inside; it was of a depth of understanding that to write, to perform, to create necessarily needs the psychological removal of self-imposed mental obstacles. We discussed how creativity can fall into haphazard digressions when faced with the self-realization of pondering self-critical thoughts while creating/performing. But that’s another discussion altogether. These guys gave me their cd Douse the Choir, which I am going to spin and give you all my two cents worth very soon… we talked about me going on KRAB radio on the 29th. Maybe I could spin one of their tracks? You can buy their cd at World Records.
I even bumped into Danny Spanks of KRAB after the show. He smoked a cigarette and looked glum as he wandered through the parking lot. He shook his head in major disappointment. I could empathize. I wanted to see the Rebellion, not just the seeds of it. I wanted the acting to be better. I wanted Amidala’s death scene to be more tragic… Here’s what I wrote as a comment on The Reel’s Star Wars blog as my quick and dirty two cents:
The beginning of the movie was the most epic and awesome sci-fi cinematics ever! The rest was total Star Wars: great light saber duels, bad acting, intriguing plot, tragedy, and a creepy Emperor that will for sure give little kiddies nightmares...
You can watch a video and read about some of the folks in line at Edwards on The Reel. There's a mini movie link that provides a great interview. It shows an awesome duel and several cool fans, but doesn’t give you the feel of how the spirit of Star Wars infected the crowd that night: it became a festive occasion in a symphony of swinging Star Wars light sabers, mixed with the cheer and chatter of excited fans, Hollywood-style characters, sparkling lights and happy children and adults.
The video does capture the build-up to a crescendo for Star Wars fans, all realizing that when darkness fell, the partying would truly begin. You can even see a glimpse of Mrs. Chewbacca before she faded away into oblivion…
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Thursday, May 19, 2005.
You can leave your response.
Word....Palabra.
YEAH THIS YEAR THE LINE WAS GREAT BEST LINE CROWD EVER, STILL SOMETHING STILL MISSING IN THE MOVIE SAW IT 3 TIMES WITHIN 24HRS
Dude that night was awesome.
Star Wars Geeks everywhere
i read that Episode III has the biggest midnight showing ever in box office history, as well as opening day
leave a response