My son Mason, who is five, just watched STAR WARS for the very first time. And, say what you will, the movie still rocks my world, too.
For me, seeing the movie in the theatres when I was (*cough, cough*) nine, was one of the thing that really started me down the road I'm on -- science fiction fan and writer. I didn't have the advantages that Kelly (and now my son Mason) had in being born into a family of SF fans. These odd and unusually strong pleasures I found in space, with blasters and light sabers, with aliens... they were all very foreign to my family. My parents were, at least, readers. There were always books around the house. But, because my father is a college professor, there were many, many more books on, say, Freud than Luke Skywalker. Though they never said so, I always got the impression my folks wished that instead of dilly-dallying around with science fiction, I'd do something serious with my life. (It should be said that I very likely imagined most of this. After I got published, my folks became my strongest supporters. I joke that my dad has my books spring loaded under his sleeves ready to spring them on unsuspecting strangers. We call him my "stage mom.")
Anyway, watching STAR WARS with Mason who was so excited at some points that he was literally jumping around the room, brought a lot of that first blush back to my own heart. I think this may be why I get so wound up about the movies that came after, which I felt were a huge disappointment. HE (Mr. Lucas) says he wrote them with kids in mind, but... he, IMHO, forgot how well he resonated with the kid in all of us in his first effort, just by being true to the _story_ and the _characters_. The special effects are NOT what Mason loves about these films, it's the people. He wants to be Luke. He wants to fly the Millennium Falcon like Han. He wants to meet the Princess.
Anyway, was there a movie or TV show or book that flipped your fan light ON? Do you remember that moment?
4 comments:
I was 8 when Star Wars came out. Saw it at the local drive-in with a dateless aunt. :) I enjoyed it so much more than she did.
I came late to my geekdom (didn't see SW until I was a teen), but Caitlin is OBSESSED with it right now. We're still undoing my "mundane" upbringing...
Wow, Lynne. Your child and mine seem to go through similar phases. Funky, dat.
Star Wars! But I was four, rather than eight.
We saw WALL-E on Sunday and there was a preview for that animated Star Wars thing that's recently out. Kiera was intrigued. Molly didn't think she'd want to see it. SIGH. I am so showing them Star Wars, probably soon, although the risk is that they might find out about the prequel trilogy and want to see those, too.
Post a Comment