Day #203: Countdown to Star Wars: Episode Seven

It's hard for me to explain how much I love Star Wars. I'll try. First let me say, that I may not be the number one fan in comparison to people who stand in line for months or dress up in an authentically designed Stormtrooper uniform. At the same time, I feel like a huge fan because the movies bring me so much joy. When I was a little kid they made me feel like a Jedi Knight, and now that I'm an adult the movies make me feel even better than a Jedi Knight, they make me feel like a kid again.


I even liked the prequels. Actually, although they aren't nearly as awesome as the original trilogy, I loved the prequels. I think the reason there were so many haters is that many of those so called fanboys became cynical and overly-critical as they got older... And whatever child-like wonder they had for the original wasn't dwelling within them by the time The Phantom Menace came out.

Hopefully the new movies will be at least as good as the prequels. Part of me is worried that the movies will be slick, polished, nicely paced -- like an Avengers movie -- but will ultimately be empty and soulless, lacking the weighty mythical qualities of the first six movies. That's only a bit of the worry -- I fear that the movie will lack the things I admire, but that all of the FANBOYS will LOVE the J.J. Abrams version. (I'm not too pleased with what Abrams did to Star Trek... Those movies are fun to watch and then after they are done, there's nothing to think about. It's like McDonald's French Fries, they taste good if you consume them while their fresh and you don't think about what they're made of.)

Despite these fears (which are just part of the fun and anticipation), I am counting the days until Episode 7. I am so happy to have been born in the early 1970s, so that I have experienced the original as a child, the prequels as a young adult, and the upcoming sequels as a father.