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Tales from a Star Wars Dad

PeepsMcJuggs

By PeepsMcJuggs
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PeepsMcJuggs

PeepsMcJuggs

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I was going to throw this in another thread, but it was getting long enough that I thought it deserved its own thread. It also gives others the opportunity to share their own stories. I've told this tale in various forms a few times on these boards, so I'm sure there's a couple of people that are already sick of hearing it, but screw them! They should spend less time on these boards anyway! :D

 

In a small way, this is also my giant middle finger shining in the night to those that claim I'm not a true Star Wars fan because I abhor the prequels and Special Editions:

 

My wife absolutely hates all forms of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, and it's all her dad's fault. He was a huge Trekkie and tried to indoctrinate her into a love of sci-fi, and it backfired. So I decided to take a different approach with my kids. I figured if they wanted to get interested in it, I'd let them. If not, that was their call.

 

(That's not to say I didn't drop some none-too-subtle hints: dressing them up as Yoda when they were too young to care, buying kid-sized luxeon lightsabers, etc.)

 

I wasn't planning on showing either of my kids the Star Wars movies until they were at least 7, because let's be honest: they're pretty damn violent at times. I wasn't even sure they knew there were any Star Wars movies, because I never talked about them. Then two summers ago, my 4-year-old daughter went to McDonald's and saw a Yoda toy that talked funny. So she came home and asked if she could watch the Star Wars movies.

 

Not one to squander such an opportunity, I sat her down and popped in Episode IV (the unedited, un-Special bonus DVD). I read her the opening crawl in the most melodramatic voice I could muster, and excitedly explained to her who the characters were (she was extremely interested in the fact there was a princess) and answered any questions she had along the way. By the time Luke and Han got their awards (and I pointed out that Chewie should've gotten one too), she was absolutely hooked. She asked if she could watch more, so the next day we ran through Empire, and the day after that was Jedi.

 

The next day was the first moment I felt true pride in my daughter's budding fandom. It was prequel time. Now, as a lot you know, I abhor the prequels. II and III were okay in my book, but not enough that I ever bother rewatching them. But, knowing that Episode I was very much intended for a child audience, I poured just as much excitement into watching that film as I did the others (hell, I tolerate stuff she watches that's a lot more annoying than the prequels).

 

I read her the opening crawl in the most melodramatic voice I could muster, and I saw her eyes glaze over as I started talking about politics, trade federations and blockades. I tried to excitedly describe what was happening, but she was decidedly uninterested. She sat there quietly for several minutes watching the movie. Right around the time they escaped Naboo and were thanking R2-D2 for fixing the ship, she turned to me and said "Dad, is it okay if we turned this off?"

 

I couldn't help but beam with pride. Grinning like an idiot, I said "Yes, honey, yes it is." I was on Cloud 9. Not only was I raising a fangirl, I was raising a fangirl with taste.

 

We moved on to Episodes II and III over the next couple of days, both of which she enjoyed. By the end of the week, she was a saber-packing, Force-wielding member of the Star Wars fanbase (No really! She wields the Force)!

 

Since then, she's watched The Clone Wars movie, as well as the first season of the cartoon (I've heard it gets pretty dark after that, so I'm holding off on the following seasons), and asks to watch Star Wars movies far more than she does princess movies. She rarely requests Eps II or III, as she prefers "the ones with Princess Leia," and the only time she asked to watch Episode I again was after reading one of her Learn 2 Read Star Wars books, and wanted to know what podracing was.

 

My proudest moments as a Star Wars Dad (in reference to her fandom, numbskulls; of course she does plenty of other things that make me proud!):

  • Humming the Star Wars theme when she's playing
  • Insisting the Star Wars theme be the first song on her birthday mix we gave to her friends as a party favor
  • Using The Force to open doors (thank you, handicap button!)
  • When asked who her favorite princess was, responded "Princess Leia!"
  • While at Disneyland, asked "Where's Princess Leia?"
  • After spending a week getting the full Disney experience, was far more excited getting her picture taken with the girl dressed as Princess Leia during a free concert in her school gym
  • Made the connection on her own that "The bad guys have red lightsabers, the good guys have blue and green lightsabers...except for that bald guy! He has a purple lightsaber!"
  • Refers to Episode IV as "The first movie" of her own volition
  • While wearing her vintage Empire Strikes Back poster t-shirt to school (a family heirloom from her cousins), she was told by some classmates that "Star Wars is for BOYS!" She responded "No! Star Wars is for EVERYONE!"
  • At Star Wars in Concert, was too nervous to approach Vader, but got up the nerve to pose with a Stormtrooper for my sake
  • Decided to be Princess Leia for Halloween, insisted she bring her blaster because "Leia doesn't use a lightsaber!"
  • When given the option of buying any one toy at the store as a major reward, bought a Han Solo action figure so her Princess Leia action figure had someone to play with.

 

The Force is strong with this one!

Edited by PeepsMcJuggs
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strikeviperMKII

strikeviperMKII

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Nice.

 

I'm a loner in my family, no one else likes Star Wars as much as I do...or Sci-fi/fantasy for that matter. The most my dad ever watched was Baylon Five, which was a great series IMO. A fan of Stargate myself, I still remember watching the first three movies with my toy starfighters, reenacting Yavin, Endor, Hoth as I watched the films. I watched them so many times, that I could mute the TV, leave the room for any length of time, come back and still know nearly exactly what line was next.

 

My only complaint about this thread: y u no like prequels? :(

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PeepsMcJuggs

PeepsMcJuggs

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My only complaint about this thread: y u no like prequels? :(

 

The shortest explanation is I can't stand CGI spectacles without substance. Any of them. Seeing Avatar in 3D was the one exception, and that's because I classify that as an amusement park ride, not a movie.

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Ellenor

Ellenor

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My two sons are huge Star Wars fans and I'm buying my 15 year old daughter SW:TOR for her birthday as she already has characters on my account, (she hasn't played Sims 3 since I bought it.)

Ironically it was Lego that got both my boys into Star Wars rather than the films and naturally if they need a hand building anything I'm always happy to help :)

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Mabeobja

Mabeobja

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This is epically cute. Thanks for posting, that totally made my day.

And I don't see any problem with you not liking the prequels, sir. Fans should keep their brain functional and up for constructive criticism anyway, you really don't need to prove anything.

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Tegamal

Tegamal

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That is too awesome!

 

My kids pretty much wore out my OT DVDs, while my prequels sit on the shelf collecting dust.

 

I joked that I had the "Star Wars Prequel Curse", because my oldest son was born in '99, same year as Episode I. My 2nd son (whom I named Hayden, not so much because Hayden C is an amazing actor, but because my wife & I liked the name), was born in '02, same year Episode II was released. My daughter was born in '05, same as Episode III. Wasn't planned & I actually didn't even realize it until about a year after my daughter was born :D.

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PeepsMcJuggs

PeepsMcJuggs

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My two sons are huge Star Wars fans and I'm buying my 15 year old daughter SW:TOR for her birthday as she already has characters on my account, (she hasn't played Sims 3 since I bought it.)

Ironically it was Lego that got both my boys into Star Wars rather than the films and naturally if they need a hand building anything I'm always happy to help :)

 

That's pretty awesome! I'm not sure (but I hope) if STWOR will still be around by the time she's old enough to play it, but I do hope to play Star Wars games like this with her some day (assuming she doesn't grow out of her fandom by then ;) )

 

Right now we stick to Lego Star Wars. She hates Story Mode because she always wants to play a girl. :D

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Tarfang

Tarfang

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Your story made me smile. One thing I will say is maybe you'd have been better off not saying anything about Episode I. I didn't take in a lot of the political stuff when I first watched it and I enjoyed it. If someone had told me beforehand all the stuff I had to keep in mind while watching it, about the trade dispute, corporate greed, corruption in the senate etc... I'd have been overwhelmed, and I was twelve.

 

A kid can enjoy TPM without grasping any of that stuff. I'm not saying that's a positive statement about the movie, but it's true.

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