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Re: Star Wars... (NOtRC)





The following is kind of a rant against the Star Wars hype, so if you
aren't interested, just delete this post now.


>I _was_ one of the freaks standing out in line from the morning on.  A lot
>of DJs and news commentators shook their heads about the whole thing here
>in Minneapolis, particularly because it was raining.  However, I loved it.
>I absolutely loved it.  Got to meet other freaks from the area and we had a
>great time, talking and complaining and telling stories of our experiences
>with sf geekdom.

I fail to see the fascination with the film, it just seems that the majority of
the folks
have been sucked into the hype machine.  I saw and enjoyed the first three, and
other than the R2D2, C3PO and Yoda action figures, my fascination was left in
the theatre.  I'm sure I'll see Phantom Menace, but I have no desire to rush out
and wait in line.  Gimme a few weeks when the lines have disappeared and I'm
not jammed into a sold-out cinema full of rabid teen-geeks and adults vainly
trying to retain a fragment of their lost youth and I'll see it.  Until then,
I'll pass my
time reading my Ellison, Brin, Robinson, Le Guin, Clarke and Lethem books.

I heard a news report a few days ago in which a father, aged about 40, said he'd
drug his son out to wait in line because he wanted to relive one of the
"greatest
moments in his life" and he wanted his son to share it with him.  His son
thought
he was crazy, but he was there anyway.  I thought it was sad that a movie
release
was considered one of his 'greatest moments', and equally sad that he felt he
had to subject his son to it.

A few year back at one of the SF conventions I regulary attend (yep, I can geek
out
with the best of'em!), I witnessed a mom buying a Star Wars character still
sealed
in it's bubble-pak for her child.  She paid for the toy and handed it to the
young boy
and he promtly set into opening the package so he could play with the toy.
Before
he could, his Mom snatched it back out of his hands and proceeded to scold the
child since, according to her, it wasn't really a toy and it was 'only for
looking at'.
I really felt sorry for the kid since at age 5 or 6, he's got no concept for the
elleged
'collectability' of the toy in its original packaging, he just wanted to play

with it.  I
get this picture of a kid and his friends pushing unopened boxes of toys and
such
around since mommy said not to open them, they'll be worth more later.

Sorry if my unsolicited rant wrinkles anyone's feathers out there, its not just
Star Wars,
but the same general idea can be applied to many more things.  And no, I'm not
above anyone here, I've been guilty of the same thing in the past.  None of this
was
meant to be mean-spirited, but if you took it that way and feel like replying,
please
do so privately.

later,
AaronB


Star Wars in a nutshell:  Good guys win, bad guys lose, ending leaves room
     for a sequel, enjoy your popcorn and have a nice day.      8-)