Star Wars: A New Hope was released in May of 1977. I wasn't able to see the film in theaters. I wish I could have. I was born in JUly of 1977. Even if I could have seen it I would have been too young to remember it. As a matter of fact I would never have known about it if my mother wouldn't have introduced me to it. If it weren't for my sister recording the movie I never would have seen it as much as I did.
My sister recorded all three movies off the Disney channel. We must have bored my mother out of them because she doesn't watch them as much anymore, not that she did to begin with, but she at least saw them more often than not. I mean now she'll sit and watch them every once in a while, basically when there's nothing on and we're watching them, but not like us. We wore out our video and if you've ever recorded movies on bought VHS then you know what I'm talking about. The video bacame dirty and the sound quality was bad. I mean you had to turn up the television to the max just to hear it.
When the first re-release came out in the early '90's I was elated. I mean I could really enjoy the movies on good VHS now. Of course things always come around during the worst of times. When they were released I was still a kid and my family wasn't rich. We couldn't afford, what at the time was, an expensive video. One video cost $20.00 a pop. The trilogy cost $40.00 a pop. If the movies would have been released now I wouldn't have that much of a problem. My fiancee just bought me The Phantom Menace DVD for a mere $20.00. Can you believe that. Not only that but I purchased The Phantom Menace collectors edition VHS for $40.00 alone. It's not like I'm rich now but I'm better off than I was then.
That wasn't all either. It's not like I became a hardcore fan right away. It's not like I saw the movie and bang, I went out and bought the figures, clothes, and stuff. At first, Lucas forgive me, I just thought of Star Wars as entertainment for the masses, me included. I still had to endure the recorded videos until the second re-release in '97. Now this one I got to see in theaters. It gave me a chance to experience what I couldn't in 1977. Since I couldn't afford the first re-release I though, "If I can't have the movies then I'll get everything else." Not that I could really afford it but that really got me into the collector aspect of it. I can thank my mother and sister for buying the special edition trilogy. My cousin is trying to find a trilogy of her own. Her kids are just starting to get into Star Wars, which is good. The Phantom Menace has sparked renewed interest in the film and new followers are appearing everywhere. I went ahead and started them off with a couple of comic books from my collection. Anything for a fellow Star Warrian.
Really becoming a fan took some time. I gradually fell into it. As a kid I would have mock battles in my father's bedroom. I have always been fascinated by the lightsaber. When I was about 14 I cut one end of a broom and kept the stick part as my weapon of choice. I, as a fan, have contributed to Darth Maul's dual lighsaber. As a kid I was into martial arts. Grant you I didn't learn from a real master. I am a student of what I have come to call TV Kungfu. I learned from masters like Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, and Jean Claude Van-Damme, in their prime of course. Yes, I don't have the physical or mental discipline that they do but I can defend myself better than most.
Now, on to why I brought it up. As a kid I would take that broomstick and twirl it around like a martial artist but at the same time pretend it was a lightsaber. Grant you, I didn't give Lucas the idea myself but someone had to. Someone who did what I did. Just as I pretended that day I kept on going. More and more I got into it.
Now I collect everything Star Wars. I have from Pez dispensers to the CCG (collectible card game). Action figures, comic books, restaraunt promotions, and board games all make up my collection. My favorite being the Star Wars CCG and the Star Wars Trivial Pursuit.
As a family me and my father argue a lot but we can always agree on sports. We can always come together and talk about the Texas Rangers or the Dallas Cowboys. I can say that the same goes for me and my sister. We argue a lot too. We've been through some bad ones, but we could always sit down and watch Star Wars together.
-ANDY
© 2001 Andres Fuentes Jr.