I have introduced Star Wars to my Best friend, who has never watched it and knows nothing about it.
I decided to show her the Prequel Trilogy first......
My brothers and I all grew up wanting to be Jedi's, (Well, I wanted to be Amidala.) Yep, we were fans of the prequel trilogy... I know all Star Wars fans are now looking down on me in disgust, but thats the way it is folks. I was 10, and my younger brothers were 6 and 4 when The Phantom Menace came out, and we LOVED it. It was exciting, colorful, beautiful. My brothers had there hair cut like Padawans, with long braids my mum made out of plaited tights. They lived in handmade Jedi Robes. We had every type of Light Saber, The cheap ones from toy shops, and expensive ones too.
And, of course, we had the figures. pretty much every one. All the really old original ones that belonged to our older brother, ripped out of their boxes, loved and played with till they fell apart. We had a massive Millenium Falcon, X-wing fighters. Yes, we had them all. Of course, we loved the originals too, but Phantom Menace held us in rapture. The other two are terrible really, I mean, they serve their purpose, and I do enjoy them, but they aren't beautiful like the others, they're not as.. I can't think of the words.
I couldn't imagine NOT loving StarWars, and it blows my mind when I come across some one who doesn't like it.
My best friend had NEVER watched Star Wars. She knew nothing about it, had no idea of the story line, characters, except for perhaps a few names.
This weekend I finally persuaded her to watch it, and as she had no idea about StarWars, and all the fan hate/prejudice concerning the prequel trilogy and the way Star Wars *should* be watched, I thought it would be fun to see how Star Wars plays out if you watch it chronologically.
It was SO interesting to see the Story Line as if it were for the first time. I forget how much you know about it all as a fan, all the info that is in the other films, or isn't apparent until you have watched it multiple times.
Of course, the prequel trilogy follows Anakins journey to the Dark Side (Which I do agree is a weird/weak pull). Did the story loose anything, not knowing that Anakin is Darth Vader? Or that you don't even know who Darth Vader is?
My friend kept trying to put the pieces together, asking if Anakin is related to Luke, to which I reply yes. She is quiet for a while, and then, decides that Darth Vader must be Anakins dad, repeating the very famous, 'Luke, I am your Father' but misplacing Luke with Anakin. He couldn't be his uncle or anything, could he?
As Revenge Of The Sith ended, she saw that Anakin IS Darth Vader, which blew her mind. It was really exciting to watch her see Anakin become the Sith Lord, that cute little boy, the angtsy teen, then a full blown nut case, basically.
But, have I ruined the whole point of Star Wars? That pivotal, 'I AM your Father'...? The shock? Or does it not matter? Does it add to the Original Trilogy, knowing about Vaders history?
I am pretty sure my friend is one of the only people on the planet who doesn't know the Anakin/Vader/Luke Twist, and I suddenly felt very guilty I stole away that shock at finding out...!!
We are going to watch the last three Monday, and I can't wait to see what she makes of it.
What do you think? Does it matter what order you watch Star Wars in? Do you remember the First time you watched Star Wars?
Being an old guy, I remember beFORE Star Wars came out that the movies were feeling pretty dull. As far as Sci-Fi, only 2001 stood out, and that was pretty slow-paced. As a young man, the summer before the very first Star Wars premiered, I saw an ad somewhere that pre advertised it. I think the title was slightly different, and the image was of the back of a space helmet, in a fighter ship of some sort. My astronomy friends and I were excited just from that ad.
ReplyDeleteWhen I finally saw the film, I was so wired when I came out of the theater. As I drove away in my powerful Camaro, it felt like I was flying down the channel of the death star, using the force. It took all my effort to keep from dropping a bomb down a vent shaft.
All the other episodes pale by comparison for me, though I've enjoyed them all, except for Jar Jar and Anakin as a spoiled brat teenager, ick.
I do a good imitation of James Earl Jones, "Luke, wheeze wheeze, I AM your fahthu." Seeing the films in the order that they came out was part of the zeitgeist. I can't easily imagine the experience of your friend. Perhaps she was robbed of the moment, but perhaps she is the only person that truly saw the saga through the mind's eye of George Lucas.