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 I think the Rebel Alliance would have given up if they saw the Death Star-sized promotional juggernaut plowing across the Universe. Our culture is in the middle of a Phantom Menace hype explosion unlike anything I've ever experienced. Most movies pay to have their ads aired on TV. George Lucas *allows* the trailer to be shown. And people go CRAZY for it.
 I talked to people who went to go see "Meet Joe Black" a couple months ago just so they could see the first Star Wars trailer before anyone else. Then they left the theatre before Brad Pit could dim their space lust. These people *paid* to see an advertisement for a product they'll again have to pay to see. They'll probably pay to see the complete film dozens of times. That's a powerful promotional force. The same force that Yoda teaches in the swamps of the Degobah System? Perhaps. And MTV has the Phantom Menace theme song playing in their rotation. In case you don't know the theme music, it is a booming orchestral piece. It is NOT a Green Day cover or Puffy re-mix. (Speaking of Star Wars re-mixes...anyone remember the disco Star-Wars song on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack? But I digress...) Anything that can steer young people towards classical music is a force to be reckoned with. The same force that steers Luke toward the core of the Death Star? Perhaps. Star Wars played a HUGE part in my life during my grass-stained Toughskin years. I saw it in the theatre six times. I had tons of Action Figures. The elbow-less figurines defined my childhood from the age of 7 to 10. And as much as I wanted to like the Han Solo and Luke figures, I liked the Storm Troopers better. I preferred the masked Troopers to the good guys because, at that size, the plastic molded faces made Han and Luke look retarded. The facial details weren't quite right. (It's the same reason I liked the Snake-Eyes GI Joe over Sargent Slaughter.) Even so, it's an amazing force that can grab hold of a child's imagination and transform pieces of plastic into denizens of another world. The same force that made Obi Wan feel a disruption in the force when Alderaan exploded? Perhaps.
I'm now a young adult. I still have all my action figures. They lie broken and mud-encrusted in a plastic tub nestled between my Atari and a stack of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. They're too played with and too infused with meaning (read: trashed) to have any financial value. But they are priceless...like a baby's first shoes or blanket. Those toys were my mind's teething ring. My imagination blossomed with Darth Vader in one hand and Boba Fett in the other. Long before modems were downloading Phantom Menace Trailers, Star Wars was a part of my life. So no matter what cultural phenomenon I am witnessing (or being assaulted by) now, I doubt it will impact me with the force that the original film did. The same force that taught Luke and a million kids like me about the power of good in the universe? Yes, the very same force.
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Happy Birthday, Derek!!!
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