Star Wars

A long time ago...

Actually, more like a couple weeks ago... I went to Star Wars Celebration IV, a huge convention/fanfest at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

I had the Star Wars bedsheets, action figures and Halloween costumes (thanks Mom and Dad!) growing up, so it was a no-brainer for me to go to this in my back yard.

The first thing that struck me was the sheer number of people who came out in costumes. These stormtroopers are not actors or official members of the convention. They're fans who dress up in full armor and appear at charity events and public functions. They're called the 501st Legion. You may have seen them march in this year's Rose Parade.

They held several workshops on how to properly dress as Star Wars characters. I sat in on the "Sith Lord" workshop, where fans talked about dressing like Darth Maul and Darth Vader. The Darth Maul makeup takes anywhere from 30 minutes (airbrushing) to four hours (!).

Here are two of the guys who gave presentations...

But why settle for imitators? We also sat in on a talk with Ray Park, who played Darth Maul in Episode I and also appeared in X-Men and Sleepy Hollow. He's very athletic and showed off some impressive kicks, leaps and lightsaber twirling (courtesy of a fan who ran up to the stage with his double-bladed lightsaber for Park to demonstrate with).

Here he is up close (he's very friendly and a lot less intimidating without the horns and makeup).

Fans came up with some clever costumes. This stormtrooper was on the right was apparently bitten by a radioactive spider...

And here is a bunch of fans dressed as various characters...















And hey, how did this Trekkie get into the Star Wars convention?
Here's Esther spending quality time with an Artoo unit. Pay no attention to the man leaning against the pole!

Going to the Celebration reinforced something I've learned over the years, whether it's by talking with co-workers near my age or to people waiting in line to see the new trilogy. Star Wars is truly a shared experience. While waiting in line, I talked to a guy from North Carolina who came all the way to L.A. for the show. We had no outwardly noticable ties - we were different ages, from opposite ends of the country and from different ethnic backgrounds. But we were able to strike up a conversation simply because we both loved Star Wars. So I had a blast spending time with others who share my love of that world.

Even though, in my opinion, the new trilogy was spotty at best and unwatchable at worst (especially the scenes between Anakin and Padme), I still have a true appreciation for them, simply because they let me re-enter a world I thought I left behind with my childhood. To see new lightsaber duels, R2-D2 and C-3PO and Yoda was heaven. It reminded me how much fun I had watching these movies as a child. And it also reminded me how much I wanted to be part of that world.

I guess I still do.