Me and Obi Wan Down by the Death Star
This morning, I boarded a flight to Seattle. I’ll arrive around 4:30 PM. Over the next two days, I’ll see The Force Awakens twice (with another batch of tickets to see it on Christmas with my family).
It’s a long way to go to watch a movie. Here’s the story of why.
This is me. It’s my 5th birthday. 1984. About 6 months before I’d see Return of the Jedi, the only original trilogy release I saw in the theater.
I don’t remember that cake clearly except from the pictures, but you can see how happy I am. I’ve got my Star Wars jams, and my Chewbacca bandolier figurine carrier. My bed has Star Wars sheets. I spend most of my time playing with action figures.
This is me today, December 17, 2015. Well, not me, but my travel gear anyway.
The R2 suitcase was my wife’s gift to me last Christmas. The hat was this year’s winning Christmas gift, knitted by my friend Jessica. I bought the boxers on a whim when I went to check out Force Friday sales. The Millennium Falcon tee is from a vendor at Pike Place Market, purchased last summer. The shoes, another gift from my wife. And the Darth Vader shirt…well, therein lies this story...
I remember the speeder bike chase from Jedi like it was yesterday, flying through the trees on the forest moon, sitting next to my dad, the armrest of the theater seats at my shoulder height.
When they re-released Star Wars in ‘97, I organized a group to skip school and attend the matinee (there was no midnight show near me). I was in Amherst visiting friends when Empire came out. We dropped acid in line before the show. The Star Destroyer in the opening sequence felt like it was in the room with us. Ironically, Jedi is the one I don’t remember clearly from that run.
In April, 1999, we waited in line for two and a half days outside Cinerama to get our tickets. We had an inflatable Darth Maul armchair and an inflatable sofa. We brought a small TV and a little generator so we could watch the trilogy while we waited. We had light saber duels with our neighbors. We took bathroom breaks at the bar around the corner.
Even so, we were a few people too far back to get the midnight show. We landed tickets for 3am.
It was before digital photography became ubiquitous, before phones were cameras. I don’t have any pictures. I wish I did.
A month later, we waited 36 hours in line for our seats. My best friend (who was also part of our Empire re-release adventure) and I rewrote “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” to “Me and Obi Wan Down by the Death Star.”
As we waited, a guy came buy with a box of stuff from his mom’s attic.
He had something I’d never seen before. A book of iron-on prints from 1977, unused and perfect.
I asked how much he wanted for it. He looked me up and down and said “$25.”
When he realized I would have paid $100 or more, his face kinda tanked. But it was too late. The cash was in his hand and the book in mine.
The prints aren’t decals, they’re ink. And they’ll only adhere to materials that are at least 65% synthetic. I learned this after making the first one on a cotton shirt, and pulling a white shirt out of the wash later.
I set out to find polyester shirts. I combed the thrift stores, where my choices were rejects from the ‘70s and bowling shirts. Perfect.
The lavender shirt was on a rack in Buffalo Exchange on The Ave. I didn’t own anything purple at the time, or pink. I was still a bit wrapped up in ridiculous gender constructs around colors. But I looked at the shirt, and I knew immediately the print I would put on it.
Over the next several years, I created a collection. I wore them when I went to work behind the bar (at bars without uniforms, anyway). I wore them to our bowling league games and practices. I wore them to parties and events and just around.
I probably seemed a bit…mismatched. I wore cowboy boots every day, rode a big, mean looking motorcycle, wore an armored leather biker jacket, and almost always rocked a retro Star Wars shirt underneath. Darth Vader on the lavender shirt was like me — a mix that didn’t quite seem to make sense.
Everyone knows what happened in 1999. Once the initial thrill of a NEW STAR WARS MOVIE wore off…well…
When George Lucas said there would be no more movies, it might have been a relief.
But then something happened. When Disney bought the franchise, we started over. With each new revelation about the new film, a little hope came back. By the time Han’s voice rippled from the screen, it really felt like we were coming home.
At this point, I’m as giddy as I was in 1999. Maybe more so. It certainly doesn’t hurt that I had a particularly thrilling leadup, including a Skype conversation with Han Solo.
For two years, I’ve been planning a return to Seattle. I’ve been watching the original trilogy (despecialized and in perfect original shape) with the kids, and I’m rewatching Empire and Jedi on my flight.
Thanks to modern conveniences like reserved-seating theaters, we don’t have to wait in line for good seats. We didn’t have to spend days waiting for tickets. In a way, I’m sad. But I also know that we couldn’t have done that now. I’m not there. My friends have 9–5 jobs now, not service jobs where you can sell a shift, or take turns waiting while others go in to work.
We’ll miss the camaraderie. We’ll miss the silly songs, the games, the lightsaber duels.
But when we walk into that same theater, the magic will all be there for us.
From here out, there will be a new Star Wars movie every year for…ever? This will be the last time we’ll wait 16 years between movies. The last time the excitement and anticipation will burn quite this hot. As one critic said Monday, “Today, This Day, is the Best Day to be a Star Wars Fan.”
I want to live this day with the guys I was with last time. I just hope this will be what we deserved last time.
(And special thanks to my wife, who not only allows me to buy Millennium Falcon drones and sits with me as I watch the trailer for the 32nd straight time, but who encouraged me to follow through on this trip and drove me to the metro this morning.)
Me and Obi Wan Down by the Death Star
-Evan Sutton and Alex Malloy
The Grand Moff Tarkin rolled out of bed and ran to the Death Star station
When Vader found out he began to shout, and started the investigation.
It was in the Force
Yeah it was in the Force
What Lord Vader Saw
It disturbed the Force
Vader fell down and died on the ground and could not collect his pension
The Emperor burned but I never turned* and I got Leia’s attention
Well I’m on my way
To Mos Eisley I’m goin’
I’m on my way
To find a spaceship captain there
And goodbye farming
The way that I grew up
Now it’s me and Obi Wan down by the Death Star
Woah, when Obi Wan said hey, I’m gonna vanish away, and I cried till I had bad red-eye
And Vader’s my dad, but he’s not all bad and now his ghost hangs with the Jedi
Well I’m on my way
To Dagobah I’m goin’
I’m on my way
There’s a guy named Yoda there
A Jedi Master, and he’s gonna train me
Singin’ me and Obi Wan down by the Death Star
*(this line may need revision depending on the big reveal of Luke’s fate in The Force Awakens)
