When parodies attack!

So the Attack of the Clones is here finally and, like everyone else it seems, I'm waxing nostalgic for the Star Wars that was so impressive at first but has become a hackneyed part of the pop culture fabric of life. My older sister dragged me to the movie back in 1977 when she ran out of boyfriends to take her yet didn't want to go alone. We wound up seeing it 8 or 9 times and we eagerly awaited the next movie. Part of the charm of the movies was their almost B-movie quality dialogue and plot combined with the romance of space and special effects. Success changes everything and kills that which made it so attractive in the beginning, the edge dulls.

Last year Jarkko and I visited a touring exhibit titled The Art of Star Wars. [ Incidently it has finally arrived in the US "Star Wars: The Magic of Myth" at the Brooklyn Museum of Art until 7 July. ] The most interesting thing about the exhibit was the contrast between the style of the first 3 movies and the Phantom Menace. Immediately you realise just how much more money has been spent and how garish it seems compared to the austere simplicity of the first 3 movies. I also learned that the necklace Leia wears in the awards ceremony at the end of the first film was designed by a Finn.

Rather than fighting the crowds to see a movie that will ultimately disappoint and irritate me even more than PM did I decided to watch a few parodies instead; You'll laugh, you'll cry! You'll kiss $12.99 good-bye! Hardware Wars and Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle. I also need to get a copy of George Lucas in Love. Even political satirists are hopping the pop culture wave with May the Farce Be with You.

I'm not sure which aggravates me more; knowing that I'll go see the movie even though I'm reasonably sure it will suck or Darth Jesus and the Jar Jar Binks show. The Death Star has a tractor beam on my wallet.

Mesa gotsa bad feeling about this. :)