Star Wars. Yep, I said it. Star Wars.
It was 1977 and there was a kid in my school who was just crazy about anything and everything Star Wars. He had t-shirts and notebooks and trading cards, the whole nine yards. He was a walking advertisement for George Lucas and his multi-million dollar baby.
I was 8. My first thought was, What the heck is a Star Wars? Is that like GI Joe or something? Or possibly G-Force on Saturday morning cartoons?
I must admit, I thought the kid actually had a screw loose talking and playing Star Wars at recess all the time. I mean, running around with sticks pretending it was a, what do you call it? A "light saber"? Ok, kid, have your fun. People are going to tease you until you are 40- which was darn near grave time in my young mind.
Imagine my surprise in June of 1977 when this "Star Wars" movie came to our little town. I really hadn't seen that many commercials about it due to the fact that I was 8, it was summer and I had more important things to do outside like taunt death by riding my big wheel down the hill above the driveway. So, I really didn't know what to expect when my dad said "Hey! Let's go see that new movie everyone is talking about!" (or something less Hugh Beaumont as Ward Cleaver would say).
So, my older sister and I went with Dad to see this phenomenon known as Star Wars. I mean, seriously, it's gonna score me some popcorn and candy so heck yeah I'm going!
Settling in our seats with said junk food haul in our laps the curtains opened (back when movie theaters had curtains that actually opened and shut and weren't just for decoration) the movie started up. First, we had to sit thru a couple of previews. And I mean a couple. Not 15 like you do now. And a quick episode of Snack Canyon (I'd like a Tab! Sprite please!) and then the feature presentation.
Wow. The long version of the music for 20th Century Fox blared out of the Dolby surround sound (pretty high tech for a movie theater in a 5400 person town). From the get go, I was riveted. The special effects were amazing! Laser blasters, light sabers, droids, stormtroopers, Luke Skywalker (our fearless hero), Princess Leia (the brave and somewhat snotty princess), Han Solo (grrrOW-l-l-l!), a walking carpet (giggle snort) known as Chewbacca and (canned breathing) Darth Vader the Lord of the Sith.
All too quickly, the movie ended. People actually stood up and clapped as the curtains closed and the house lights came up. I was stunned. People were hooting and hollering at the screen and exchanging excited "that was amazing!" and "can you believe that?" as we were walking out of the movie theater.
Dad was grinning "So, what did you girls think?"
The floodgates opened up and we talked over each other excitedly all the way back to the car and quoted lines all the way home. "Did you see when Han Solo ran after the stormtroopers and they all ran away from him?" "How about the vacuum that sucked up R2-D2?" "What about those laser guns?" "That light saber was really cool!" " I can't believe how mean Darth Vader is." "Wasn't Han Solo cute?" (This came from my older sister who was a little boy crazy and obviously more worldly than I.)
From then on, I was hooked. I soon joined in for the Rebel Alliance and was defeating the Empire at recess. I had a trusty blaster at my side (a corncob from the neighboring field) and a light saber (a pine branch from the trees in the school yard) that were always left in the same spot after recess. My sister was always Princess Leia and I vacillated between Luke and Han, depending on who I felt like being that particular day. If anyone ever touched my weapons, there was hell to pay. It was agreed on the playground that no one would touch the other weapons without all playing together. Ok. Fair enough.
It was a very Star Wars Christmas in 1977. Action figures, t-shirts, notebooks, watches, a tie fighter (mine) and an x-wing fighter (sister's). It was by far the most galactic Christmas ever.
So, that is where it all started. My foray into Geekdom. I might add, that my Geekocity did start to expand into other realms as well. From Star Wars it morphed into Indiana Jones, Wonder Woman, Star Trek, Superman (with the BEST Superman ever, Christopher Reeve),then on to Marvel comics (and the mighty Mego toys- anyone remember those?!), a brief stint into the world of Dungeons and Dragons (brought on by the cartoon on Saturday morning) and then moved on into The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and so on and so on and so on.
I will admit it. I am a Geek. I enjoy science fiction movies, Marvel comics, Wonder Woman and The Big Bang Theory (by far one of the most brilliantly written sitcoms ever).
I am Geek, hear me roar. U-tay-nee!!
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