It's hard to tell you anything new about this one!! Star Wars has been, and will be, a phenomenon that's gets talked about
a lot! Why am I crazy about Star Wars? Gee, how to begin? I grew up knowing Star Wars as long as I can remember! I can't even imagine watching A New Hope and not knowing who Luke's father is or that he and Leia are brother and sister. It has always been a part of my life. When I was younger, Star Wars did the same thing for me that my books did - took me to a place where my life didn't exist but light-sabers and Wookies did. I loved being able to escape there, especially with awesome friends like Luke, Han, and Leia! Like many a little girl, I wanted to be Leia, and I was for many imaginative games!!

Star Wars also rocks because it is one of those universal movies that everyone knows! How many movies can you quote from and have your quote be instantly recognized by anyone? (besides Monty Python, of course) and how many movies actually lead you into long, in-depth discussion in Physics class (how appropriate) about X-wings and light-sabers, or could lead to an essay on why you should join the Dark Side (written by a friend of mine for a persuasive essay assignment in English). Part of the reason Star Wars is so amazing is because of the endless hours of discussion you can get from it, beyond the movies themselves!

It was, in part, because of my childhood fascination and those endless talks about the original three, as well as some encouragement from friends who are also fanatics, that when the FIRST episode came around, I promised myself two things - that I would see The Phantom Menace on opening day, and that I would not know /anything/ about it when I saw it. I wanted to be able to see a Star Wars without knowing the ending. So, despite living in a household with a brother who was spoiler-mad and a society that hounded me with more and more images as May 19th grew closer, I managed to walk in with only a slight glimpse of Jar Jar, Queen Amidala, and Darth Maul, and only a vague knowledge of who the faces were. I knew no plot, few names, and fewer faces. Was the wait worth having
to cover my eyes every time we walked through a mall or drove by a Taco Bell? You bet! I had a great time seeing
Episode I unspoiled!

As for seeing The Phantom Menace on the first day - I did that too, though not until 4:00 in the afternoon (after all, I had Calculus last period, and I'd already skipped once to buy tickets!). My fellow fanatics snuck to the midnight showing, but forgot to invite someone (wonder who that could have been?). Getting the tickets was almost as much fun as seeing the movie! My best friend headed out at 8:30 in the morning, and I joined her at 11:00 to wait at the FRONT of the line. That's right, we were the first in our town to line up. During those few hours, we got to know
the people behind us rather well. There was bald guy, the guy with the baby, the girl with the bat, the guy with the
headphones, and the guy-who-was-reading-that-evil-book-they- released-too-soon (yep, Episode I, the book, right behind me in line only a week before! The temptations were getting worse!).This is how we came to know the people we stood in line with. What a blast that was! I only hope that the friends we bought tickets for were grateful! (hint, hint!). Turns out that the wait was unnecessary - they had tickets left for every showing at 5:00, with no line, and probably later, though I don't know for sure. But I wouldn't have missed the fun for anything. And hey, we got on local TV for being the first in line and the first to get those precious tickets.(which we guarded with our lives afterward!)