Three Decades Of Family Dysfunction

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars.

While guru George Lucas proved his counting skills are a little off, he did give us a hell of a trilogy, and three other full length special effects demos. As a child of the Star Wars era, I'm happy to have grown up during the renaissance of science fiction films. Mainly attributed to the 40's / 50's serials and the occasional art film (2001 and the original Solaris), science fiction became a marketable, viable genre as a result of the vision of George Lucas. One of the other major impacts was the flood of licensing and product tie-ins, which were hugely profitable and set a standard that still applies today.

I could tell you about how Adam Schindler stole my R2-D2 action figure in preschool, or that my sister and I dressed up as C3-PO and Princess Leia for Halloween. There are stories of seeing The Empire Strikes Back in Westwood and going to Burger King afterwards to get a Lando Calrissian glass, and sitting in the front left row to see the opening night Return Of The Jedi at the UA Warner Center 6. There was the time a dozen of us, including Famous Mom, all played hooky and saw the first morning showing of The Phantom Menace. And most recently my molestation of the dark side being Darth Vegas last Halloween. There are many stories to tell, and lots of others with similar experiences.

While some of the movies were amazing and others were almost unwatchable, there is still something special about the Star Wars universe, and after 30 years that's worth noting.