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That was all the set-up needed for both of them to dive back into the world, and one of the things that really does make “Star Wars” such a potent fantasy world for young viewers is the density of detail. “Okay, Allen, that’s 3CPO and R2D2 and they work for Luke Skywalker and that place is the house of Jabba The Hutt, and he’s that ugly worm guy who gave Boba Fett the money to get Han Solo frozen and steal him, and so he did in ‘Empire Strikes Back,’ you remember? And he was in that thing and he was all frozen? So the robots are gonna get Han Solo somehow.” Allen needed to be reminded of who everyone was and what happened last, and Toshi not only read him the opening crawl, he took it upon himself to explain it all. When we actually started the film, there was a period of settling in and asking questions, but what amazed me is that I wasn’t the one answering the questions: Toshi was. “Daddy, Yoda is the best, best, best, best, best fighter, and he’s gonna kill Darth Sidious with his lightsaber, right?” I would just smile and tell him he’d have to wait and see, already cringing inwardly at the thought that his expectations were going to be crushed in several ways. For Allen, there was only one thing he wanted to see from “Jedi,” and he told me about it repeatedly in the days leading up to the screening. For Allen and Toshi, this was a return to the world of Luke, Leia and Han after a loooooong digression in which they got all the back-story they needed to fully understand the stakes of this final film, and I think they walked into it far more pumped up and invested than I was at 13.Įxpectation can be a funny thing, though. It’s not a terrible movie, but it frustrated me enormously as a follow-up to “The Empire Strikes Back,” and while I understand choices that Lucas made on a thematic level, they drove me crazy as dramatic choices. “Return Of The Jedi” has been a film I’ve had a rough relationship with ever since it was released in 1983. I am happy to report, then, that I can’t imagine the films playing any better than they did to the boys.
After all, they’re only going to see these for the first time once, and if I screwed it up, then it would change the way they think about the movies. Up until now, it’s been a hypothetical idea on my part, but this was my opportunity to put it to the test, and it wasn’t until we were really neck-deep in it that I started to fret about whether or not I was doing it right.
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A still picture doesn’t really do justice to the idea of how ridiculously adorable it is to have a three year old walking around telling strangers at every door, “Do or do not… there is no try.” The two of them were determined to wear their costumes for a few days before Halloween, and Allen still hasn’t gone a full day without wearing his.Įven this far into this series, I’m still getting people asking me about the order in which I decided to show the kids the movies. Have you ever seen Anakin Skywalker locked in mortal combat with Jedi Master Yoda? This year, Halloween was all about “Star Wars” for them. Now, on the far side of the full series, it’s obvious that they’ve been deeply marked by the movies and by the experience itself. I make things available on an age-appropriate basis, and then they tell me what interests them. Part of me thought I was doing it too soon, but I couldn’t deny the interest was there, and that’s been the big guiding light so far with this series. Toshi started asking me about seeing the “Star Wars” films about a year ago, and when the Blu-ray box set showed up, I finally decided to give it a try. There are certain little things around the house that have been there as long as they’ve been alive.
I’ve been very careful about the way the iconography of “Star Wars” was introduced into their lives, never placing it on a pedestal above everything else. One of the things I’ve tried to do as I’ve been sharing movies with my boys is be careful not to try to force them into liking the things I like. I had no idea what sort of impact the films would have on them, even though I knew what kind of impact the films had on me. When we started this, I admit that I wasn’t really thinking about it as a pivotal moment in their filmgoing lives. There was no event that took place during my vacation that equaled the impact of the screening I held for my sons Toshi and Allen of the final film in the “Star Wars” series, “Return of the Jedi.”