1977. I was five. One movie. Changed my life forever. Star Wars.
I still remember the first time I saw Star Wars. Well, I saw the first 30 minutes.
My mother and her boyfriend took me to see it at the Drive In somewhere in Roswell. I remember my mother telling me to get my PJs on and grab my pillow. Although the memory has some blurry spots, I think he (mother's boyfriend) drove a station wagon. I don't recall us owning a station wagon. Now that I think about it, I think my mother was driving an 1971 VW beetle at the time. The following year she would buy a 1978 AMC Pacer. It had door handles that looked like luggage latches. (straying...)
I knew very little about the film going into it. But I had seen some of the TV commercials. By the time Star Wars got to Roswell it was late 1977. I want to say it was September or October when we went. As the PJs were the nice fuzzy kind with feet. I had my pillow and my blanket. We parked and had our snacks. We had brought Jiffy Pop Popcorn that my mother had cooked before we left. I remember her letting me break the foil and being the first to scoop some out. Then, the movie started. The theme squawked over the tiny speaker box. The humongous star destroyer. Chomping jiffy pop. Stormtroopers burst onto the rebel ship. Frighted by the Dark Lord of the Sith. The droids escape. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I couldn't look away.
Once the action slowed down and the movie transitioned to Luke's home and his adventure in the cantina, I felt my eyes getting heavy. I don't remember when I faded out but I don't think I got past Han and Millennium Falcon escaping Mos Eisely. I remember Walrus Man loosing his arm so I know saw that part. I sorta regret falling asleep but it was past 10 o'clock at night and I was only five.
I don't remember the next day clearly, but I know I pestered my mother to know how the movie ended. And she probably told me. Within the next few months, I had the picture story book and all of the action figures. I've told the story before, but my great uncle Wade bought all 12 figures early 1978. Even had the vinyl cape Jawa. (he was lost a few weeks later, sad to say.) I played Star Wars on the playground of Valley View. I never wanted to be a Stormtrooper (not until I grew up), instead, I wanted to be the rebel guys at the beginning of the movie that had to defend the princess's ship. I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from a Star Wars lunch box - the metal one, with the star field and X-wing on the drop down door. (I have a mini replica sitting on the self near my computer as I write this.).
I don't think I saw the movie in its entirety until late 1978 or early 1979 when the movie was on its third or fourth re-release and it was playing down at the Cinema I & II. And of course every time CBS would broadcast it - not until the mid-80s I think. But Star Wars shaped my life and I'm glad it did...
Denver Comic Con
