So.. the premier of Star Wars: The Force Awakens took place Monday night in Hollywood, California. For me that was certainly in a galaxy much too far away. Since it happened and I wasn’t able to attend, it was much much too long ago as well.
But my virtual friends.. people that I’ve never met.. from groups like Collider Jedi Council.. they went and were primed to cover everything from the limo ride to the red carpet to meeting the famous celebrities, all of that.
I decided to sleep through it. In my mind I wanted to disconnect from all of it.
I told myself that I would do this to avoid spoilers. Yet that’s not entirely accurate. This was different from your run of the mill movie premier. Disney still has a tight grip on the film and is clenching as hard as it can in the last days before the official release to prevent spoilers (yes, something big – something special – will happen in this film) from getting out. It is unusual that the pres screenings are happening a day after the premier, and the people attending the premier are honoring the review embargo that has been placed on the press. I’m not sure if that was a requirement for the guests invited to the premier, or just the honor system, but it may be unprecedented. I could be wrong, but once a movie has premiered.. it’s officially “open,” and it’s out there for the public. whatever the reason, the people who attended the premier have (at least so far) kept their “reviews” to emoji reactions and their reviews to under 140 characters, including those friends at Collider Jedi Council. So I wasn’t really afraid of spoilers. I was more trepidatious about having any opinions give me preconceived notions about I should think of the film and that my expectations would be… (ramble)
Oh, screw that! I was afraid that the reactions would be bad. That they’d say it sucks.. of that (maybe even worse) that the reactions would be lukewarm. For Star Wars, lukewarm reactions generally turn to bad years down the line.
Having slept through all the hubbub and waking up at 3AM, I decided screw it. I’m gonna have a look. Apparently, Star Wars is back, maybe for the first time since 1983. The most spoiler-y thing I heard was that it had the best final shot of any Star Wars film. Better than A New Hope? Really?
Oh the excitement is a palpable.
The responses were not lukewarm.
And anyone that’s a Star Wars fan that’s reading this can see me itching to make Star Wars name puns out of the previous two lines. Not gonna happen.
Signing off.. Thursday can’t get here soon enough.
