I've just anxiously checked to make sure I still have my ticket for the tenth time - it's simply impossible to believe that in less than four hours I'll be watching Star Wars on the big screen. I look up and see Jove, captain of ST-321, coming down the hall at me with a big smile on his face, and I leap up to attack him with all my excitement. Diana, however, beats me to it. We add Amanda to the ecstatic bunch and after a bit of puttering and a final ticket check, we all pile into the green car and head off.
7:15pm
7:50pm
9:20pm
9:30pm
9:50pm
10:10pm - SHOWTIME
10:13pm -
10:15pm -
10:20pm - and then it begins...
Sometime later...
We arrive at the theater to scope out
the scene - only an incredibly
long line of excited patrons for the 7:45 showing, so we head over to the mall to grab a bite
to eat at the ever-so-posh Chick Fil-A. While eating Diana mentions that we might want to
figure out where we'd like to sit, leading to the formulation of The Plan,
which is to become
of pivotal importance in the hours to come. Some discussion of the movie
occurs, but mostly
just excited smiles and outbursts of "ooo-teenie" and "E-chawama."
Back at the theater, we decide that we'd rather just
sit down than
wander the mall waiting for a line to form, so the theater workers rope us off with those
beautiful burgandy lines and we become The Line. We
are at the front of The Line. Ten minutes later they shift us across the theater to
wait in another little pen. Half an hour after that they shift us back where we started. We
don't really care - we're too happy and hyper to care.
A lot of discussion, laughter and hugs have flowed under the bridge
since we arrived. The Line has now become so long that it's out the door and we've been asked
to stand up and move forward to make it more compact. I think to myself "when did
that happen?" and lean around in an attempt to see it. There is no way I am
moving. The theater workers are keeping us informed of the various people behind us in line
who are in costume, however, so we aren't missing it - but who cares? We're
first!
The group reviews The Plan: I enter the theater first and head for
a row in the middlish, on the aisle, followed by Jove, then Diana, then
Amanda. We sit down
and don't move no matter what. Jove is mumbling about the Force being with you when
you are calm, at peace... in an attempt to get us (or himself) to settle down. Suddenly he
breaks out with a thought. "What if we enter and we're equidistant from each aisle, which one
do we take?" Frenzied discussion followed by a decision on the left aisle. We get our
picture taken (at the
front of The Line).
We overhear someone saying there are two theaters playing the showing.
Panic - we have not Planned for this! With only a few (o.k., twenty) minutes to go, we
quickly decide on the larger one. The Plan is now complete. We have three objectives:
Jove reiterates his comments about being calm and
at peace.The last showing is finally beginning to file out of the
theater. We can hear the end credits rolling. Jove is not succeeding in
being calm or at
peace. He worries that he'll explode before we actually enter the theater and then he won't
see it at all. A woman approaches us. "Are you guys ready to go in yet?" - we assure her
that we'll be good if she'll just take our tickets and let us in. She removes the rope, rips
my ticket and I hurry as fast as I can without running into the theater. Jove is momentarily
caught by his coat, causing a bit of confusion, but other than that The Plan is executed
smoothly. We are in the theater. The only thing that can go wrong now is if
Peter Mayhew sits in front of us.
Two women and a 6'7'' man walk down the aisle.
An
unspoken look passes between me and Jove. "How about this row" says one of the women. Diana
wimpers.
He
sinks down
into the seat ... and continues to sink until his head is on the back
of the chair. Diana lets out an audible sigh of relief. Jove leans over to thank him. All
is ready. The lights dim and a cheer emanates from the crowd.
The previews roll. The expected science fiction trailers flash on
the screen. Occasionally there is outright laughter at the
thought that publicists expect us to want to see these things. An out of place Disney preview
passes by with little comment. I'm not really paying attention to the previews anyway - I
didn't come for previews. Then
they hit us with the real ones. Empire and Jedi. Cheering alternates with hushed awe
as ships fly across the screen, Luke fights Vader, and Ewoks attack stormtroopers. We are
ready. The twentieth century fox symbol finally
appears. The music plays. This is what we want.
The audience absorbs the radiance of Star Wars
on the big screen. Several times I hear Jove echo my thoughts with a hushed "Wow" or soft
laugh. There are some moments when the laughter ripples through the whole theater as
stormtroopers make yet another folly and the heros bluff their way through the Death Star.
There are moments when the awe is tangible as ships fly through the battles at new angles to
sound that crosses the screen with them. There is the "ooo-teenis" and "stay on target" that
produces laughter only from us. I have the strange sensation that it's all passing
by much more quickly than usual. I try to gather it all at once. I've waited
twenty years.
We sit in the theater as the credits roll, smiling at each
other. The joking "so, did you like it?" is passed around. As if there were a need to
ask.
Last modified: 2/21/97
Susan Hunt
