Thursday, May 19, 2005
My good friend and co-worker Bob Fuller is a highly talented writer. To wit, here's his account of lines and lines of Star Wars fans waiting for last night's midnight showing of Revenge of the Sith. He didn't intend to see them; he just happened to be having dinner near a 24-screen movie theater.
We went to see the menagerie of Star Wars fans waiting patiently outside the theaters hours before the movie was supposed to start at midnight. We expected to make fun of the people, calling them "Trekkies" and so on, but it was actually a lot of fun and they all seemed very friendly and happy.
The atmosphere was like a party with some people dressed in the costumes of their favorite Jedis. There were no Darth Vaders, however. No ewoks. No wookies. I suppose those were waiting in Hollywood at [Mann's] Chinese Theatre. There was one very-round fat guy in a red Return of the Jedi t-shirt (probably an original from the 80's) and with long, black, dirty hair pulled back under a black baseball cap and with enormous sideburns like Elvis had when he was fat. I said, "Oh, look. That guy's dressed like the Death Star." Other people in the line laughed and told us that earlier that very guy was giving out candy. I don't think I would accept candy from a Death Star Elvis, but I guess the gesture was friendly, so maybe I would have. And I like candy.
Other people played cards on makeshift picnic blankets and there were some kids with light sabers who pretended to fight on the steps leading up to the theater. One of the many theater personnel who worked overtime that night stopped them before they tumbled down those stairs. The theater set up a table to sell hotdogs and sodas for $1 each outside the theater. That's $2.50 less than they sold the same things inside the theater. The girl working that table had her hair like Princess Leia from the first Star Wars, but the rest of her was dressed strictly AMC polyester.
Target sent a bunch of people with free Target Star Wars bags of snack food for the people to eat while waiting in line. I saw a bottle of water and some pre-packaged cereal in one. Business at Starbucks was brisk -- I laughed when I saw the t-shirt on one customer there. It read, 'Sith Happens.'
Oh, and for the record, I've not seen the movie, I'm not going to see the movie, and I've no interest whatsoever in anything Star Wars-related. I'm not trying to sound churlish - it's just not me. [This weekend the bf and I are planning to see Crash, and next weekend, he'll see Sith while I take in the remake of The Longest Yard.]
We went to see the menagerie of Star Wars fans waiting patiently outside the theaters hours before the movie was supposed to start at midnight. We expected to make fun of the people, calling them "Trekkies" and so on, but it was actually a lot of fun and they all seemed very friendly and happy.
The atmosphere was like a party with some people dressed in the costumes of their favorite Jedis. There were no Darth Vaders, however. No ewoks. No wookies. I suppose those were waiting in Hollywood at [Mann's] Chinese Theatre. There was one very-round fat guy in a red Return of the Jedi t-shirt (probably an original from the 80's) and with long, black, dirty hair pulled back under a black baseball cap and with enormous sideburns like Elvis had when he was fat. I said, "Oh, look. That guy's dressed like the Death Star." Other people in the line laughed and told us that earlier that very guy was giving out candy. I don't think I would accept candy from a Death Star Elvis, but I guess the gesture was friendly, so maybe I would have. And I like candy.
Other people played cards on makeshift picnic blankets and there were some kids with light sabers who pretended to fight on the steps leading up to the theater. One of the many theater personnel who worked overtime that night stopped them before they tumbled down those stairs. The theater set up a table to sell hotdogs and sodas for $1 each outside the theater. That's $2.50 less than they sold the same things inside the theater. The girl working that table had her hair like Princess Leia from the first Star Wars, but the rest of her was dressed strictly AMC polyester.
Target sent a bunch of people with free Target Star Wars bags of snack food for the people to eat while waiting in line. I saw a bottle of water and some pre-packaged cereal in one. Business at Starbucks was brisk -- I laughed when I saw the t-shirt on one customer there. It read, 'Sith Happens.'
Oh, and for the record, I've not seen the movie, I'm not going to see the movie, and I've no interest whatsoever in anything Star Wars-related. I'm not trying to sound churlish - it's just not me. [This weekend the bf and I are planning to see Crash, and next weekend, he'll see Sith while I take in the remake of The Longest Yard.]
# posted by Thomas : 9:10 PM
