Hi John, your essay deeply resonates. When Star Wars premiered in 1977, I was 9, almost 10. My grandpa took me to see this movie everyone was talking about. Even then, I intrinsically understood there was a different sort of buzz surrounding this film. It was quite exciting and I was especially anticipatory. There were long lines of expectant movie-goers snaking around the movie theatre auditoriums... At the time, it was a stand-alone building with two screens. This was before the multiplexes. The lines and concession crowds got me really hyped up. I mean, this was the first event film - the first tentpole film - in history! (I don't count Close Encounters, and Jaws scared the shit out of me so badly that I still can't swim in the deep end of the pool.) As I watched Star Wars in all its glory, with all the sights and sounds I had never seen nor heard before, I became transfixed. A love for all things movies and acting and writing and producing and directing and filmmaking washed over me instantly. I was hooked. The feeling was like nothing I had ever felt before (nor have I felt since). When I started acting in theatre a couple years later, I felt a similar rush while performing under the multi-colored spotlights. Sitting next to my Grandpa and sipping my Pepsi, I decided I would play Princess Leia's little sister in the sequel (before a sequel was announced) and I would also write the screenplay; George Lucas had approved it. I told all my middle school peers I would star in the sequel and nobody believed me. So I made my mom write a letter proving I was writing and starring in the sequel and George was producing it. I never lived that down. I wanted to be a movie star so badly that I became a talent agency CEO for 22 years. I have five degrees in film, TV, and media; I'm currently working on my third master's. Next is my PhD in film studies. I am a filmmaker without a film and the two things I want to do before I die is to earn my doctoral degree so I can be Doc Martin, and also act and write and produce and direct and film a brilliant movie that captures the Zeitgeist and makes audiences feel what I felt when I watched Star Wars on 35 mm for the first time at the General Cinema at Wonderland Mall in San Antonio with my beloved Grandpa. I want movie-goers to be awestruck when they watch my film. I want them to feel every emotion under the sun. I want my movie to resonate and grip and move movie lovers for hours and days and weeks as they reflect on and debate its meaning. I want them to learn the soundtrack by heart (heavy on 80's throwbacks). And damn the critics, unless they shower rave reviews upon my masterpiece. I believe every story must have a moral to that story. The only reason I haven't finished my screenplay yet is because I am still waiting on my moral to the story. Reading artistic works such as your Star Wars recollections brings my own recollections into focus in a miraculous and marvelous manner that artists like you and I attribute to divine and creative inspiration (and fucking talent, too). Love ya, man. Keep authoring! See you at the Oscars.
Thanks for this, John. I too am a Star Wars lover from childhood and I too loved The Last Jedi. I was lucky to find two great friends in grad school who loved SW as much as I did, and we saw the first two sequels together all three of us. Alas, by the time of the The Rise of Skywalker, it was just James and me--Benny and his wife had moved to Boston and had a kid. It wasn't quite the same without the whole nerd team assembled.
I love this piece. Not just for the casual commentary on the films themselves but because of the reminiscing of their impact of the culture at the time and the shared experiences of many going to the films.
As streaming becomes more popular and theatres dminish, that shared experience is increasingly being lost. Thank you for bringing it up in such a relatable way.
Hi John, your essay deeply resonates. When Star Wars premiered in 1977, I was 9, almost 10. My grandpa took me to see this movie everyone was talking about. Even then, I intrinsically understood there was a different sort of buzz surrounding this film. It was quite exciting and I was especially anticipatory. There were long lines of expectant movie-goers snaking around the movie theatre auditoriums... At the time, it was a stand-alone building with two screens. This was before the multiplexes. The lines and concession crowds got me really hyped up. I mean, this was the first event film - the first tentpole film - in history! (I don't count Close Encounters, and Jaws scared the shit out of me so badly that I still can't swim in the deep end of the pool.) As I watched Star Wars in all its glory, with all the sights and sounds I had never seen nor heard before, I became transfixed. A love for all things movies and acting and writing and producing and directing and filmmaking washed over me instantly. I was hooked. The feeling was like nothing I had ever felt before (nor have I felt since). When I started acting in theatre a couple years later, I felt a similar rush while performing under the multi-colored spotlights. Sitting next to my Grandpa and sipping my Pepsi, I decided I would play Princess Leia's little sister in the sequel (before a sequel was announced) and I would also write the screenplay; George Lucas had approved it. I told all my middle school peers I would star in the sequel and nobody believed me. So I made my mom write a letter proving I was writing and starring in the sequel and George was producing it. I never lived that down. I wanted to be a movie star so badly that I became a talent agency CEO for 22 years. I have five degrees in film, TV, and media; I'm currently working on my third master's. Next is my PhD in film studies. I am a filmmaker without a film and the two things I want to do before I die is to earn my doctoral degree so I can be Doc Martin, and also act and write and produce and direct and film a brilliant movie that captures the Zeitgeist and makes audiences feel what I felt when I watched Star Wars on 35 mm for the first time at the General Cinema at Wonderland Mall in San Antonio with my beloved Grandpa. I want movie-goers to be awestruck when they watch my film. I want them to feel every emotion under the sun. I want my movie to resonate and grip and move movie lovers for hours and days and weeks as they reflect on and debate its meaning. I want them to learn the soundtrack by heart (heavy on 80's throwbacks). And damn the critics, unless they shower rave reviews upon my masterpiece. I believe every story must have a moral to that story. The only reason I haven't finished my screenplay yet is because I am still waiting on my moral to the story. Reading artistic works such as your Star Wars recollections brings my own recollections into focus in a miraculous and marvelous manner that artists like you and I attribute to divine and creative inspiration (and fucking talent, too). Love ya, man. Keep authoring! See you at the Oscars.
💝 Kristy Martin, MS, MA
(future Doc Martin)
thanks doc
Delightful
Thanks for this, John. I too am a Star Wars lover from childhood and I too loved The Last Jedi. I was lucky to find two great friends in grad school who loved SW as much as I did, and we saw the first two sequels together all three of us. Alas, by the time of the The Rise of Skywalker, it was just James and me--Benny and his wife had moved to Boston and had a kid. It wasn't quite the same without the whole nerd team assembled.
I love this piece. Not just for the casual commentary on the films themselves but because of the reminiscing of their impact of the culture at the time and the shared experiences of many going to the films.
As streaming becomes more popular and theatres dminish, that shared experience is increasingly being lost. Thank you for bringing it up in such a relatable way.
I enjoyed this. I think everyone of a certain age has very specific memories of these movies - all of them - when they first saw them.