Old Friends
2nd of a 30 part series. Click here for part 1.
For my second showing of Star Wars the Force Awakens, I’m accompanied by a couple of friends from my days at Reed College.
Dramatis Personae:
Crockett Marr: A Reed admission counselor and as close to an Obi-Wan figure as I ever had while working in Reed’s admission office. I was pleased as punch to see he’d jumped on the calendar I’d developed to track all of my different viewings.
Mattias Lehman: An old friend and ally from Tír na nÓg: the Sci-Fi fantasy dorm at Reed. We both shared the honor of being some of the few black folk to attend the institute. More recently we’ve been in cahoots on various writing projects. He helped me piece a number of my thoughts together for my article “Whose Fantasy, Who’s Fantasy”. He also penned a similar article, “The Force Awakens in All of Us.”
My dear friend Jacob Canter rounds out the crew. Since I’ve known him our relationship has been based on a foundation of a shared love for Star Wars. I remember his freshman year, when I was a sophomore and the housing advisor for his girlfriend at the time, I introduced him to the magic of the expanded universe by way of Timothy Zhan’s Thrawn Trilogy. Over the course of our friendship, we’d the movies together, and discus the finer points of Star Wars fandom including optimal viewing order of the movies (we’re both but fans of the machete order.) Jacob had moved to Berkeley to start law school this summer and I was bummed that I wasn’t going to be able to watch The Force Awakens with him. Surprise, surprise he ended up making a last minute trip to Portland and I snatched him up to be part of the crew.
The Low-down
Going into this viewing, I felt decidedly less anxious. Having already seen it and deemed it worthy, there was a lot less on the line. Crockett made it known that he’d seen the original movies in theatre as a kid cementing himself as a part of the old school generation, but also as an Elder of Star Wars lore. Us youths still can barely comprehend the enormity of the impact that Star Wars has had on our society. When we got into the game Star Wars was already fully formed as a cultural phenomenon. Crockett, just barely, can still recall a world before Star Wars thoroughly and utterly, conquered the universe. It warmed to the cockles of my hear to see him as jazzed as we were to see it, though he assures us that the hype for Empire Strikes Back in 1980 was bigger than the current hype for The Force Awakens..
This go round I was acutely aware of an unanticipated benefit from this project. Specifically, I am now uniquely situated to watching people experience this movie for the first time. I can chronicle, second hand of course, the joy and wonder that folk feel as they experience the Force Awakens. Through them I am able to relish every moment of recognition laugh, sighs of relief and astonishment.
***For the first time I’ll be delving if only slightly into my opinions of the movie. Mild spoilers below***
As I waited to watch the film again, flashes of images from last night crept into my minds eye. Highlights include The masterful CGI/Motion capture work that transformed Lupita Nyongo in to Maz Kanata. I remembered fondly all the moments that Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron stole the show with charisma aplenty. The first shot of the Millenium Falcon gave me chills just thinking about it.
The funny thing about watching the movie again is that this time felt like the first time, just without all the world-shattering implications. This time I felt as though I could actually enjoy the movie, appreciate the amazing shots that J.J. Abrams has crafted. Simply put, regardless of the implications for the rest of the saga, the movie is a pure delight to watch. Abrams handles this monumental task with bravado and confidence that I couldn’t believe even though it was staring me right in the face.
What i found striking about how this movie is how it artfully raises more questions than is resolves, all while subtly and with great reverence closing the loop on the original trilogy. By the end of this movie we get a clear picture of the trajectory of the new characters and have satisfying closure with a majority of the original cast.
Mattias, in our post movie discussion, brought up that this if this film were a joke, it’s one we all know the punchline to. J.J is able to create his own unique universe while also winking and nodding to whats come before him. Sometimes artfully and with grace and others with all the subtlety of a kick in the throat.
I don’t recommend watching this movie in 3D. In some parts it can create some really great effects, specifically the snow on Starkiller Base, but its not worth the headache you may give yourself. Typically I’m a 3D apologist but having now seen it in 3d twice (and by the time I finish this write-up seen it in 2D as well), I can def say that it’s worth saving your money to see this film on a laser projected digital screen if you can.
