I scored Star Wars tickets. It wasn’t the same thrill I got when they were hard to get many years ago, but then opening night was Friday, not Thursday. Now everybody goes to new movies on Thursday night, crowding the auditoriums and causing emotional uproars, sharing the cheers and tears. I easily obtained two good tier reserved seats for the official opening evening on December 20th. Now that millions will see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on December 19th, the Friday night crowd is an afterthought.
And there will be no afterglow for this one.
Too many movie franchises have seen their last installment, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s climactic Avengers: Endgame and the Twilight saga, not to mention series such as Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which were kept true to their book inspirations movie-wise and were satisfying by themselves.
We have had an adventure spanning nine movies, several spin-offs, immeasurable fan feedback, product tie-ins and all that goes with such a huge endeavor, and now it comes to an end, for good or bad (or good side and dark side), and I don’t know how to feel about that.
Why put myself through such a downer? I would be missing something by not doing it.
No matter how we welcome or say goodbye to something we cherish, no matter how big or trivial it is, it’s part of the adventure of life. Seeing anything through to its conclusion draws a well rounded circle defining your humanity, letting your tenacity shine and your commitment emanate like the Force.
Whichever night a fan will attend, it’s an early holiday present. I plan to take along lots of tissues, and I’ll have a friend along for emotional support. Since I never go looking for spoilers or advance knowledge, I expect to be thoroughly entertained. There will probably be laughter and tears and feelings that something happening onscreen is unfair or improper, but it is, after all, somebody’s idea of how a scenario might play out. It’s not real, nor should it be mistaken for anything other than what it is: entertainment designed to stroke your emotions and dazzle your senses.
Everything after Star Wars seems short of the benchmark, even if deserving of praise. There will never be anything like what started back in 1977 when George Lucas decided to film a “space opera.”
Prepare the curtain: it’s the last aria.
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