{"id":1202,"date":"2015-12-14T14:59:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T14:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html"},"modified":"2015-12-14T14:59:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T14:59:00","slug":"star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html","title":{"rendered":"Star Wars is being released this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a><\/div>\n

In case you missed the hype for the last year or so. \u00a0Now that the House of Mouse has the rights, expect marketing that will make the post-Star Wars merchandising of the first post-Star Wars era look tame by comparison.<\/p>\n

Still, I\u2019m optimistic. \u00a0Not that it will match the first. \u00a0You can\u2019t. \u00a0As I\u2019ve said before, you can\u2019t match that any more than you can match the Beatles playing on Ed Sullivan the first time. \u00a0It\u2019s one of those cultural \u2018lightning in a bottle\u2019 moments. \u00a0For some reason, the moment in time is set to make that particular incident far bigger and more influential than it ever should have been.<\/p>\n

In some ways, Star Wars <\/i>was to film what The Beatles were to popular music. \u00a0And in both cases, that is for good and\/or for ill. \u00a0Sure, there were other major movies and films, Citizen Kane <\/i>and Gone With the Wind<\/i> (still the box office champ) leap to mind. \u00a0Sure there were other major pop artists of immense success and influence: Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Michael Jackson. \u00a0But the Beatles, and Star Wars, stand out. \u00a0Something about both capture more than just the art they were part of, and went on to impact society at large.<\/p>\n

The historical influence nod probably goes to The Beatles over Star Wars<\/i>, since their influence would seep into the very cracks and crevices of Western Culture and help change the course of Western civilization. \u00a0Star Wars<\/i> didn\u2019t quite pull that one off. \u00a0But for a few years at the end of the dreary 1970s, Star Wars<\/i> was everywhere. \u00a0If you didn\u2019t know there was such a thing as movies, you knew who Darth Vader was. \u00a0You knew the theme song. \u00a0You knew the name. And it was a breath of fresh air, just like Rocky <\/i>before it, for a generation in the doldrums of \u2018America\u2019s best is behind it.\u2019 <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

I first heard about Star Wars <\/i>because my best friend had a godfather who worked in Los Angeles. \u00a0He even had a poster, showing scenes from the interior Millennium Falcon and the Death Star. \u00a0It looked so foreign to me. \u00a0I had never seen anything like it. \u00a0Then, in the summer of 77, an individual my parents knew by way of the CB radio craze told them to take me to see it. \u00a0My sister had just gotten married, and I was adjusting to being the only kid at home. \u00a0To take my mind off it, he said if I liked space movies and things like Star Trek<\/i>, I might like this new space movie coming out called Star Wars<\/i>.<\/p>\n

So my Mom took me one afternoon to the movies that were located next to the Richland Mall in Ontario, Ohio. \u00a0Like Spielberg is reputed to have said, when the first 30 seconds past the opening scroll was finished, I knew something had just happened that would make movies look different from then on. \u00a0Even though I was only just out of 4th Grade, I knew it was different.<\/p>\n

Like most kids that age, it captured my imagination. \u00a0My parents took me to see it a couple more times over the next year. \u00a0Once at a Drive In theater with my best friend Kelly. \u00a0It didn\u2019t make it to our town\u2019s little movie house until the following summer. \u00a0Demand was so great that it took that long. With a year notice, I worked my tail off to save enough money to see it every day it was there. \u00a0Back then, our town movie theater usually only played movies one week at a time. \u00a0It only had one screen. \u00a0But for Star Wars<\/i>, it made an exception. \u00a0It played it for two weeks. \u00a0And I had enough money saved and earned to see it ten of those days.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Despite it being a year later, lines still formed. On one day, I had to wait the length of the movie standing outside to see it again. \u00a0The movie house began having back to back showings because of the demand. Even then, I remember people sitting in the aisles and standing along the back in an effort to accommodate the crowds. \u00a0And we weren\u2019t alone. \u00a0I remember a movie theater in Cincinnati being in the news with a giant \u201cHappy Birthday Star Wars: 1 Year Old!\u201d on its marquee. \u00a0It had held it for the entire year. <\/p>\n

The Star Wars<\/i> mania continued until past the release of The Empire Strikes Back<\/i>. \u00a0By then, movies had changed. \u00a0Star Wars<\/i> was no longer unique. \u00a0Though arguably the best of the series in terms of quality, Empire failed to pass the receipts of the original. \u00a0And likely few movies could. \u00a0But it was what I have come to call the Great Fantasy Renaissance. \u00a0Sci-Fi was everywhere by then. \u00a0Star Wars<\/i> was now just part of many. \u00a0And while still a strong fanbase, and still popular, it simply could not sustain the magic and the frenzy of that first year back in 77. \u00a0But then, neither did the Beatles.<\/p>\n

So this time around? \u00a0I\u2019m cautiously optimistic. \u00a0With Lucas out of the picture, it might make a fair enough showing. \u00a0Look at Jurassic World<\/i> after all. \u00a0Many scoffed when it was first announced, but by many accounts, it was the best of the franchise since the first. \u00a0Force Awakens will not be the original. \u00a0It likely won\u2019t match the quality of The Empire Strikes Back<\/i>. \u00a0But with any luck, it might just be the best since Return of the Jedi<\/i>. \u00a0If so, it will make the wait worth it, and possibly redeem the ill will and bad memories brought about by the threefold cinematic train wrecks that were the prequels. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In case you missed the hype for the last year or so. \u00a0Now that the House of Mouse has the rights, expect marketing that will make the post-Star Wars merchandising of the first post-Star Wars era look tame by comparison. Still, I\u2019m optimistic. \u00a0Not that it will match the first. \u00a0You can\u2019t. \u00a0As I\u2019ve said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nStar Wars is being released this weekend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In case you missed the hype for the last year or so.  Now that the House of Mouse has the rights, expect marketing that will make the post-Star Wars\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Star Wars is being released this weekend\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In case you missed the hype for the last year or so.  Now that the House of Mouse has the rights, expect marketing that will make the post-Star Wars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daffey Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-14T14:59:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/files\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-6r2sWbsCafs\/Vm8dNwQVCtI\/AAAAAAAAGhs\/aZ10z4dvDos\/s400\/Star%20Wars.bmp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html\",\"name\":\"Star Wars is being released this weekend\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-14T14:59:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-14T14:59:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\"},\"description\":\"In case you missed the hype for the last year or so.  Now that the House of Mouse has the rights, expect marketing that will make the post-Star Wars\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Star Wars is being released this weekend\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/\",\"name\":\"Daffey Thoughts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\",\"name\":\"Dave Griffey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Griffey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Star Wars is being released this weekend","description":"In case you missed the hype for the last year or so.  Now that the House of Mouse has the rights, expect marketing that will make the post-Star Wars","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Star Wars is being released this weekend","og_description":"In case you missed the hype for the last year or so.  Now that the House of Mouse has the rights, expect marketing that will make the post-Star Wars","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html","og_site_name":"Daffey Thoughts","article_published_time":"2015-12-14T14:59:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/files\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-6r2sWbsCafs\/Vm8dNwQVCtI\/AAAAAAAAGhs\/aZ10z4dvDos\/s400\/Star%20Wars.bmp"}],"author":"Dave Griffey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Griffey","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html","name":"Star Wars is being released this weekend","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-12-14T14:59:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-14T14:59:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7"},"description":"In case you missed the hype for the last year or so.  Now that the House of Mouse has the rights, expect marketing that will make the post-Star Wars","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/12\/star-wars-is-being-released-this-weekend.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Star Wars is being released this weekend"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/","name":"Daffey Thoughts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7","name":"Dave Griffey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Dave Griffey"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2805"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}