The Cardinal Times
Star WarsThe ExperinceThursday, June 09, 2005 By Simon Yugler
The first thing I thought to myself as I walked up to the Broadway Metroplex theatre was “the end of an era.” As I walked up to the box office to claim my prized ticket (which was bought days in advance) to “The Revenge of the Sith,” I took a moment to look around, and take in the scene that was around me. People of all ages, kids, teenagers, middle aged people, and even seniors were lining up in the middle of downtown just to see a movie. The fact that most people were sitting on cold downtown sidewalks, camped out for hours, dressed up in all manner of alien garb, made me realize that this was something special. This kind of thing would never come again, not with this kind of intensity, and not with this kind of dedication or passion. “I’ve been into Star Wars since as long as i can remember, i couldent imagen my life without it. Im sure most of the people here, well me for sure, have been looking forward to this for a long, long time.” Says Evan Higgins, an original “Star Wars” fan. While looking over the tops of heads of a sea of fans, I spotted three familiar faces and immidietly saw a chance not to be weirded out for a few minutes. Lincoln students Austin Jackson, Hart Stevens and Mason Weiderhorn sat camped out with their lightsabers at their sides, waiting until 12:01 A.M. to see the last movie in the “Star Wars” saga. Coffee was passed around the line from some kind person who took the liberty of journeying to a nearby Starbucks in risk of losing his spot. As time went by, the idea of waiting in line for seven hours on the concrete sidewalk of a downtown street was beginning to lose all of its appeal. Considering that I myself have never waited in line for 7 hours for a movie, or seen a premiere, this experience was initially a special one, but the fact that it was “Star Wars” made it all the more fun. Throughout my time waiting outside, the sight of 35-year-old men dressed in a 13 year old boy’s costume of Darth Vader began to not seem as frightening to me and the overall feeling of being extremely weirded out was slowly fading. The time to venture into the theater was coming rapidly closer, and the overall vibe of the place was getting noticeably tenser. As time to enter the theater was minutes away, the scattered groups all down the block quickly moved into a solid mass of fans. “This was it,” i thought to myself, “the calm before the storm.” One fan at the front began the long expected chant that I knew was inevitably coming. “Star-Wars, Star-Wars.” Surprisingly, this chant lasted much longer than was expected, and was carried into the theater as the manager opened the doors. The people scrambling to grab seats acted like it was an olympic race, but without the calm composure of a track star. Some might have called it a brawl at its highest moments, but most people found their seats without any serious injury. As the lights dimmed, instead of the crowd going quiet like usual in a movie theater, everyone screamed. The previews ran as usual, but without anyone in the crowd paying any attention. As the last preview came to a close, a single fan stood up in the front of the theater and light a bright red glass lightsaber. Everyone in the theater cheered, as the logos for 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm came to the screen. The theater was icy quiet, and the classic phrase in blue text came up on the screen: “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...” |