My other car is a Death Star
Ok, it's happening, the world is ramping up for the next (and final) installment to the Star Wars series. The hype machine has been ramping up for some time now, but now it's kicking into high-gear with commercials, toys, video games etc... It's impossible to go to a store anywhere now without being bombarded with Episode III goodies. I wonder if McDonalds has a SW themed happy meal or a special "Lava" milkshake. I can get every standard good in a Star Wars flavor practically. Star Wars Toothbrushes, Pez dispensers, sheet sets, blankets, M&Ms, Laxatives, Umbrellas and Cereal (ok, maybe not the laxatives...).
You know what? I LOVE IT!
I'm a geek, I admit it and enjoy the identity to its fullest. As a side bit, I'm also a Star Wars fan, there's just something about the movies and setting that I just can't get enough of. The toys, the lego sets, the action figures, the spin-off cartoons, the books, the video games, the DVDs, the spin-off merchendise... I love it all!
I have owned every sing Star Wars game ever released for the PC, and at least played a majority of the ones release for consoles.
I just renewed my subscription to Star Wars Galaxies and bought both the expansion packs in preparation for the movie release.
But, I do not necessarily love the latest entries in the foundational sci-fi movie series. I hated Episode I, it sucked, it was just bad as it took all that was good and holy about the original trilogy and turned it into a little kid trap. Jake Lloyd and JarJar should have been tossed to an angry Rancor in the first 5min of the movie. Episode II was an improvement. I loved the battle scenes, especially the tons of Jedi running around, but felt like carving my eyes out with a rusty spoon when the romance plot came in, or whenever Anakin tried to speak. Count Duku was a sort of disappointment as a bad guy too, especially after Darth Maul (who was the shining star of the first movie).
In fact, I don't try and convince anyone that the original trilogy was some masterwork of acting writing and directing, it wasn't. What it was though was FUN. It was a thrill ride that just hasn't been topped yet. It was new, it was something we really hadn't seen before, and it was extremely epic. The original movies had a sense of purpose, a sense of drive and a goal; To overthrow The Empire. You had your young hero, your grumpy anti-hero, the love interest, the comic relief, the ominous villian and a wonderful purpose to fight for.
We lost that with the new movies. These are forced to develop the back-story, to show why The Republic fell and The Empire rose to power. How Anakin became Vader, where Luke and Leia came from, as well as explain why every single storm trooper can't hit the broad side of a barn (deterioration of genetic material used in cloning is my guess). They have their cool moments (Darth Maul duel in Ep I), their cheesy moments (Super-bouncy-ball Yoda in Ep 2) and their "Oh my god I'm going to kill someone" moments (Jar Jar), but on the whole they lack the power that made the originals so good.
So why do I still watch them? Why do I still buy the toys, the videos, the Star Wars monogramed toilet paper? Because I'm a geek. If you're not a geek or a nerd, this is hard to understand, but there is some odd sense of honor-bound duty that compells us to see these movies, even if we have no reason to believe they'll be good. If something has the Star Wars title slapped onto it, we need to own it. It's almost like there's some secret points system where whoever gets the most Star Wars stuff, wins.
And then there's the sense of hope... hope that this movie couldn't possibly be any worse than the previous two, hope that maybe Lucas can redeem the series in this final attempt, hope that our last memories of seeing Star Wars on the big screen will be pleasant, that the opening text crawl will send that wonderful shiver down our spine as the epic fanfare blasts over the theater speakers. Star Wars is as central to geekdom as computers are. Even if you aren't the biggest fan, or even if you like Star Trek better (though we don't like to talk to THOSE people), you probably still feel compelled to see the movie. Not at least seeing it just doesn't seem like an option to the true geeks among us.
Episode III holds that last bit of hope, and from the previews and what we know of the story, it just might deliver. Anakin has to turn to the Dark Side and become Vader. The Jedi have to be killed off in droves. Palpatine has to take his spot as Emperor. And most importantly, the Good Guys have to lose... and in a spectacular fashion. No more pandering to children with Jar Jar, no more long drawn out sappy romance scenes. Now, we have one movie to tie it all up and transition to the original movies. It's going to be fast, furious, full of space battles and dueling jedi... and one hell of a cool looking bad guy.
This is what Star Wars is all about.