So,

This was to be Bea's Star Warsapallooza weekend... and it was. It was fab.

I was trying to explain to someone why I cared so much about seeing this movie... because it IS just a movie(s) after all. And I guess it comes down to family. That sounds weird, but it's true.

I should take a step back and tell you all a little bit about my Dad. His name is Roger. He's a great Dad, and a great person... but he's slightly eccentric... and by slightly eccentric, I mean totally crazy. He definitely walks to the beat of his own drummer but I consider myself very lucky to have such a good father/daughter relationship with him... as well as a great friendship. I am, perhaps, my Dad's best friend; the person he can relate to the most and tell all his crazy stories to. As frustrated as I get sometimes because I have heard the same stories many, many, many, many, many times over, I love that my Dad wants to include me in his life.

Anyway... back to Star Wars.

My Dad LOVES Star Wars. Given the chance, he will reminisce at length about going to see it in the theatres when it first came out. And when I say at length, I mean it. My Dad has a great knack for being completely oblivious to the fact the his listener is no longer listening. I, on the other hand, have the wonderful talent of pretending to listen when I am not, in fact, listening at all. Bad daughter? Perhaps, but I challenge you to sit in the same room as my Dad for 10 minutes and NOT tune out. Call it what you will-- I call it multi-tasking.

Another thing about my Dad: he does not spend money on anything frivolous. Oh sure, he'll drop 50 grand on a sailboat, but to spend 10$ on going to see a movie... well, that would be a waste of money (remind me to tell you the story of when I took him to see Pirates of the Caribbean. The first movie he had been to since Jedi. "Did our tickets just cost 11 $ each?"). But Star Wars... now that is money well spent, according to my Dad. So, even when my parents were struggling as a young couple with a little baby (me), I have distinct memories of going to the drive-in to see Empire Strikes Back. I remember watching on TV how they made all the puppets, and the Ewok costumes just before ROTJ came out, and then going to see it. And then the videos were released... which he bought (please see above re: not spending $ on anything)... and then the re-release of the videos (again, bought)... new movies, which he actually took the ferry across to the big city to see.

In short (sorry, not short), my Dad's passion for Star Wars was passed down to my brother and I, in a big way. Star Wars was sort of this thing that existed to bring my brother and I and my Dad together for brief periods of time. My Mom, bless her, just didn't get Star Wars at all... but we still loved her. For whatever reason, the universality of these movies brought 3 very different people together. We could talk for hours about Hoth and Endor... or how disgusting it was when Han cut open that Ton-Ton... and when my Bro and I got older, we could discuss at length just how bad the dialogue was or how terrible and whiney Mark Hamil was... it was cool.

And so, yes, I was very excited to see this movie. I really liked it. It was dark. The dialogue was bad (but seriously, when has SW EVER been about good dialogue? Punch it Chewie? Yikes). The special effects good. Everything was tied together nicely. My only regret is that there will be no more Star Wars for my Dad (or me) to get excited about. I guess that's not entirely true. Only a matter of time before the 500$ mega-box set comes out; a purchase I am sure my Dad will happily make.

Bea