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From Luke to Anakin: Growing Up on 'Star Wars'
BOX OFFICE MOJO ^ | May 18, 2005 | Scott Holleran

Posted on 05/19/2005 5:56:43 AM PDT by js1138

snip...

That raises the cultural context, which was the war in Vietnam, initiated by communists and bungled by politicians, and the Watergate scandal, which magnified the minutiae just when America needed to get serious about its philosophy.

But America was in the grip of the hippies, who held American values in contempt, and they were having an impact in Hollywood. Fiery Katharine Hepburn and sunny Doris Day had all but departed from pictures, versatile Sidney Poitier had been vilified in his prime for being an Uncle Tom, and classy Cary Grant and upright Gary Cooper had given way to sniveling, squinting anti-heroes. The hum of a light saber firing up was a pleasant change from the sound of shrill hippies and their cinematic counterparts screaming in our faces.

Star Wars delivered a tonic for the time: sweeping music, opening scroll and a heap of hokey dialog set to purposeful action with enough optimism to cleanse the stink of Woodstock for a long time.

snip...

(Excerpt) Read more at boxofficemojo.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News
KEYWORDS: genx; moviereview; starwars
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To: Tax-chick
I was only 2 when it came out, and when it was re-released it was a huge event for me. What's very cool now is my daughter is the same age I was when I first saw it and she likes to watch them.

I'm still unsure whether or not she should see ep III. It's pretty rough for younger kids. I'll need to see it a couple more times before making a decision.
41 posted on 05/19/2005 12:26:44 PM PDT by KoRn (~Halliburton Told Me......)
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To: KoRn

My 3-year-old son likes Star Wars, too. He walks around with a paint stirrer, claiming it's his "red light saber" (Darth Patrick!), and has to sleep with his brothers' action figures.

I wouldn't take a young child to see Episode 3, or any of them, in a theater, but when they come out on DVD it might be okay. It's mostly just flashing lights to them. Young children really aren't paying much attention, and they don't understand the plot, or even much of the dialogue. At home, if there's a visual they might find disturbing, they can leave the room.

I think of Star Wars-type movie violence as being sort of like nature documentaries, to a child ... I remember when my oldest daughter (now 14) was about 2, she was watching a nature show where cheetahs were disembowelling an antelope - loud chomping, guts all over the landscape - and she said, "Oh, look, the kitties are eating their dinner! Nice kitties!"


42 posted on 05/19/2005 12:34:14 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I'm a shallow, demagoguic sectarian because it's easier than working for a living.)
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To: Tax-chick
I just saw the movie and would say that it is definately NOT for little kids. There is a part in there where the graphic violence (Spoiler free here PM if you want specifics), will be too much for a little one. That having been said, it is a good movie, albeit one without the luster of the originals. I'd say its #4 in my book behind the original trilogy. The best of the new trilogy for sure.

Cheers,
CSG

43 posted on 05/19/2005 1:31:13 PM PDT by CompSciGuy ("A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Winston Churchill)
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To: CompSciGuy

Thanks for the information. Can you FReepmail details on what you think is really bad? I was figuring on taking my three oldest kids: 8, 11, and 14.


44 posted on 05/19/2005 1:36:19 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I'm a shallow, demagoguic sectarian because it's easier than working for a living.)
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To: Brett66

Amen Brother! You and me both!

I love Reagan to this day. Star Wars has lost it's shine.


45 posted on 05/19/2005 1:36:52 PM PDT by hnorris (Deserve Victory)
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To: veronica
Anyone who stands in line to see any Star War movie is a retard.

Bite me.

Standing in line for a Star Wars movie, or Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or any other type of movie like that, is like going to the bookstore at midnight the night a Harry Potter novel is released. It's a social event sans stigma.

46 posted on 05/19/2005 4:20:39 PM PDT by Junior (“Even if you are one-in-a-million, there are still 6,000 others just like you.”)
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To: KoRn
good ZOT! :D
47 posted on 05/19/2005 6:03:39 PM PDT by skinkinthegrass (Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :^)
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To: skinkinthegrass
"good ZOT! :D"

Called anyone who waits in line for a Star Wars movie idiots.....they had it coming!

48 posted on 05/19/2005 6:21:37 PM PDT by KoRn (~Halliburton Told Me......)
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To: KoRn
I was only 2 when it came out, and when it was re-released it was a huge event for me.

My son was two when the first one came out. We thought maybe he could sleep through it. He did -- with me holding him in the lobby. It was weeks before I got another chance to see it.

49 posted on 05/19/2005 6:25:37 PM PDT by js1138 (e unum pluribus)
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To: AppyPappy

"Face it, the best part of Star Wars was the opening music. The movie was good but the John Williams intro was perfect."


"Perfect" is the PERFECT word for it. The opening score is possibly my favorite movie music EVER.

Regards,


50 posted on 05/19/2005 6:29:53 PM PDT by VermiciousKnid
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To: tnlibertarian
Color me ignornant. AA industry?

If you were colored anything but white, you'd be OK with the AA industry (although if conservative, the AA industry would not be OK with you.)

51 posted on 05/19/2005 6:37:28 PM PDT by Tribune7
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To: KoRn
Imperial ZOT!!!

LOL. Thanks for making my point. :)

52 posted on 05/20/2005 5:27:35 AM PDT by veronica (CP = Jeffords Republicrats...)
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To: Brett66

I was 12. That transition period from Carter to Reagan was a great time to be alive, to feel the fresh air being blown in and the hippie stink being blown out. I remember in 1980 of making fun of people who still wore the big bell bottoms and had the long, straight, stringy, greasy hair look.


53 posted on 05/20/2005 12:06:35 PM PDT by Free Vulcan
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To: veronica
"LOL. Thanks for making my point."

After "proving your point" :)

I feel obligated to show you another thread full of "idiots" who would stand in line for a Star Wars movie.

A Few of FR's Finest...Every Day....05-19-05...Star Wars

Enjoy!

54 posted on 05/20/2005 1:36:34 PM PDT by KoRn (~Halliburton Told Me......)
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