The Po Show

For the Very First Time

Matthew watched Star Wars for the very first time. We started watching it on Tuesday, and he got a little overwrought, so we stopped, and finished it tonight.

He loved it, as I knew he would. I've tried to get him to watch it with me on a couple of occasions over the years, but he never wanted to. Now he's psyched about the movie, and I've got The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi on the Tivo, so I'm psyched to take him through the initial trilogy. I've also got Episode I on the Tivo, and I'll look for II and III. (It's strange how I think of the initial trilogy by their original titles, but think of the later "prequels" by their numerical designations. All part of how they were originally presented, I think.)

This is really big for me, for some reason. I loved Star Wars; it was a magical experience for me to see it for the first time. I ended up seeing it 13 times in the theater, which was sort of an accomplishment for an 11 year old, dependent on transportation and on finding friends with money to go to the movies. It changed how I looked at movies, at what I believed they could do. So even though it's laughable now to see the special effects and the '70s haircuts and the Boogie Nights porn mustaches on a lot of the Rebel fighters, I still get such a thrill seeing the original.

I wish Matthew could have seen for the first time on a big screen, the way I did, instead of our stupid 27 inch TV. But I think he'll still remember it, that it was amazing and magical to see it for the first time. And I hope it'll be important for him to remember that when he saw it, it was with his very enthusiastic mom.