Liz I agree with you. Star Wars is a true cultural reference. Just a few weeks ago, Family Guy did an hour long re-creation of the first movie. But the truth is that the original movies are 30 years old. Today's teens and 20-somethings think bands from the 1990s like Nirvana are classic rock!

If the average person does not see the movie -- because as so many pointed out there are A LOT of movies out there -- that is fine. However, if someone is a pop culture reporter, they should have some knowledge about what they are writing. Therefore, it is less excusable for such a writer to have never seen the movie.

Furthermore, how do you even understand the parodies if you have never seen the movie on which the parodies are based?

If true, the little sniffy reporter needs to get over her pseudo-intellectualism and actually learn something.

It was a real article in the AV CLub section of the paper. It was a part of their "The Hater" feature. Snark is generally a part of what the feature does. That being said, the sanctimonious tone was the biggest problem. She didn't say it directly, but she might as well have been saying that "I'm better than you becasue I haven't seen Star Wars."

It is very much deserving of its status as a classic, and it is stil lextremely popular with "kids" today. The three prequel films didn't make almost a billion each worldwide from a bunch of 30 somethings alone.

I think that the original Star Wars trilogy is a watershed event for those of 'my generation' (who were 10 or so or younger when the original movie came out) and shaped our view of the world outside our homes, much like the Beatles did for those who grew up in the 60s, MTV did for those who grew up in the 80s, the Internet and cell phones did for those who grew up in the 90s. I am an unabashed Star Wars geek; even so, I don't view them as the greatest works of fiction ever filmed (heck, Lucas recycled many tried and true themes and storylines in the movies). I'm conviced, however, that they left a lasting impression on movie-making, marketing, and our culture that can still be seen today (for example, the references to our current VP as Darth Vader).

Like many epic events, to really appreciate the original Star Wars you had to have been there. I was 15 when the original movie came out, and the opening scene literally made me gasp. We had never seen anything like it.

And beyond just the cutting edge special effects, the whole tone of the movie seemed new and exciting. A large part of this was a sense of optimism.

At that time most of the scifi flicks were terribly dark dystopian apocalyptic cynical mega-downers. Star Wars made us feel a bit better about the future. This optimism set the tone for the entire decade to come.

So yeah, it's a classic. (So much so that I am one of those geeks who feel that Lucas's efforts to "update it" is a travesty.)

Anyone who doesn't recognize the importance of Star Wars to culture, "pop" and otherwise, should also be willing to characterize Citizen Kane as just a boring old film about some newspaper guy.

This makes me laugh. Many of the very same people who are criticizing the writer probably relied on Cliff's Notes back in high school to get through American and English Lit. Beowolf? Now we can see the movie!

I never saw any of the trilogy, yet, I can give you an outline of each of the plotlines, tell you the Ewoks are cute, but annoying (Star Trek did it first and better with Tribbles), know the difference between R2D2 and C3PO and was not the least bit surprised to learn who Luke's real father was. The truth is, the film series is so culturally pervasive that you don't have to see it to know most of the details.

I chuckled when the Secret Service nicknamed Pope John Paul II, J2P2, during his 1979 visit to the US. I laugh whenever I see parodies of the Star Wars' opening text sequence.

And here's my ultimate proof: my 7 year old has never seen the movie and knows that Darth Vader is the bad guy and Luke Skywalker is the good guy. I haven't told him who Luke's dad is yet.

Oh, I feel the exact same way about Harry Potter. Never read the books, but know enough about the plots that I would appreciate a good parody.

Well, of course Star Wars is an "OLD" movie. So? So are Birth of A Nation, Citizen Kane, High Noon, and Desires Within Young Girls. That doesn't make them any less important as defining cultural moments (then) or artifacts (now).

Someday, Mr. or Ms. Poster's favourite movies will be OLD too, and her kids will be dissing High School Musical 2 as just another relic.

Shane! Come back, Shane!

The poll lacks a, for me, more correct answer. The films and the hype around them were definitely major pop culture events. I don't remember people waiting in long lines for movies like that before star wars. That said, the movies were crap. They were supposed to be homages to the serials and westerns of the 30s and 40s and they did a good job of that. That being said, they were crap, hokey, predictable, silly, pretty poorly acted and most definitely NOT science fiction in any describable way. The Special Effects were groundbreaking and that was the largest effect, I believe, of the movie. But it was certainly a MAJOR pop culture event, with the Albums and Christmas specials and Dolls, uh, Action Figures. Definitely a must see for a student of Pop Culture, much like the B movies of the fifties like the Blob, Them, or Earth vs the Flying Saucers.

"(...I am one of those geeks who feel that Lucas's efforts to "update it" is a travesty.)"

Word, RD, word.

I've never seen Star Wars! Suck it, America!

"It's people like you what cause unrest."

I had never seen the Star Wars movies (too long and sad a story to explain why) and made a point last year of watching them -- starting with the prequels so I could watch the story unfold instead of backing through it.

Sure the technology wasn't as great in the early ones, but it really didn't diminish the experience seeing it that way. Made more sense to me since they were all available at once.

It was awesome. Filled in a major gap in my pop culture education.

Dissenter has it nailed. Double thumbs-up for his/her review.

While you might know the plot and recognize names and faces, you won't get the full effect of the parodies without seeing the original. The Robot Chicken skit of "Let's make Vader think he can choke us" is more funny when you can recall the actual scene.

You don't even need to watch all six movies, just the original, the "I am your father" bit and the scenes with the Emperor in "RotJ". No need to watch the prequels.

dissenter was right, though. The acting *was* pretty bad, and the plot unoriginal. Even Lucas himself told everyone who'd listen he that he basically took the cowboy serials and made 'em into a space opera.

An interjection into this cerebral conversation:

Why the heck did we think Mark Hamill was hunky back in the day?

No no no... the only "Star Wars" debate out there worthy of anyone's time is whether or not Solo or Greedo shot first in the Mos Eisley canteena.

It was, and forever will be, Solo who shot first. RD, I'm with you and Byoolin on the updates.

show me another film people saw 40 times in the theatre... not some people... a LOT of people... this one defined 'summer blockbuster' - and though there was tremendous hype around FotR people didnt see it 40 times (ok, twice... maybe 3 times...)

wont happen today - american culture is to fractured - nothing like that again...

To say, '"[Star Wars] is an OLD movie. It's nostalgic from your childhood, but NOT representative of our current culture at all.' is ridiculous. "The Wizard of Oz' is an OLD movie but no self-respecting critci of pop culture could proudly say they'd never seen it!

My kids, 16 and 21, LOVE all six of the movies and know even more trivia about them than I do, an unabashed star wars geek. So, not all young people think the movies are old and out of date. And as for whether people pay enough respect to the movies, ah, who cares? Who needs a bunch of wannabes talking about our movies?

Star Wars you like? Care not, I do - Yoda

My son and I saw an exhibit a couple of years ago which included models, drawings, costumes (Chewbacca!) and props from the films. It was fantastic.
I guess if you are a real movie snob, you might think Star Wars is stupid, but movies are enternainment, after all.
I could still do without some of the dialog and Jar Jar Binks, but every movie has its weaknesses.

"But I was hoping to go into Tashi Station to pick up some power converters!"

Seriously lame acting? No doubt. But that's not the point. As a born and bred Washingtonian who saw Star Wars for the first time and the re-release in the same theater (the Uptown), Star Wars is huge in our childhoods, and a huge part of how we learned to look at movies.

Whoever wondered above how you can understand the parodies without knowing where they come from.

Also, let's look at what the movie spawned. It defined the idea of a summer blockbuster. It established how you market a movie and it related products (OK, maybe not a plus, but I know I have my action figures in a box in the basement somewhere). And finally, if you look at how the movie came together, the financing etc., it really defined what an independent movie was before we'd even heard the term.

As much as I am a fan of the Onion, I do think this is a horrid example of holier-than-thou syndrome.

I meant to say that whoever wondered how you can appreciate the parodies without knowing where they came from was exactly right.

The movie was so great because it fed the scifi geeks AND had great characterization (little thanks to Lucas there - look at the later films where he took total creative control). This is still a great movie because it had wonderfully humanized robots and creatures and had great sexual chemistry and banter. The scifi was great, but it was one of many universes around at that time. If you want to know its true staying power, compare it to Jaws - another huge movie, but one almost no one would be interested in watching today. Star Wars will at least maintain as high a profile as something like the Wizard of Oz. What more do you need? Why let haters dominate the conversation? Sadly, Lucas's ambitious overall story arc, recreating a version of the cascade of the Roman republic into tyranny in the prequel trilogy, never shone through. Hitting that part out of the park would have given this series amazing resonance.

I think that most people are missing the boat on why Star Wars was, and remains, a pop culture touchstone (as clearly shown by the fact that people spent billions on the medicore "pre-quels"). Lucas didn't tell a simple sci-fi story with robots, spaceships, and annoying little carebears. He used the medium to tell a mythic (literally) story of conflict, hope, fathers and sons, and good and evil. He pulled together varying threads from the origin stories of the world's cultures and religions to tell a story that appeals to people because it tells us something about who we are, and who we would like to become. You can't appreciate that by simply knowing that yoda talked funny, that Darth was Luke's father, and that Carrie Fisher was scantily clad. If you know those things you may know ABOUT the movie, but you don't know the movie. And for an alleged pop culture expert to be ignorant of one of the pop culture touchstones of the past three decades certainly raises the question of what value such an expert can bring to the table.

I was born right when Return of the Jedi was released and all of the nurses at the hospital called me a little Yoda. I grew up watching the Star Wars movies on HBO and video and loved every minute of it. Most of my friends love the movie as well.

I will say this, I think the special effects in the second trilogy pales in comparison to the effects of the first movie. All of the computerized characters looked cartoony and unreal. And all of the new additions to the original trilogy I find take away from the movie experience.

I have two boys - ages 7 and 6 - and we are deep into a Star Wars phase in our house. They have now seen all 6 movies, and could care less that movies 4, 5 and 6 are 30 years old. These movies are just as relevant to kids today as they were 30 years ago. The stories are simple yet timeless - the ultimate struggle of good against evil set in a time and place to capture your imaginiation. Other than Harry Potter, there has not been a saga that has so enthralled a young, creative mind, and the Star Wars saga will continue to do so for many years.

Having said that, I can look on the movies with a cynical adult eye and pick them apart, but all I need to do is watch how enraptured my boys are with the movies and the story, and I know this movie will always be a part of our culture.

Let me add (I voted for Good Stuff) that I would have voted for "Best ever filmed" if you had added "at that time" or "from an original story" to the poll.

Certainly the Lord of the Rings trilogy ranks up there, as do Godfather I and II (III, eh, not so much). However, both of them were taken from books.

I love the way Lucas took the cowboy serial of the '50s and brought it to the present day (well, the present when he filmed it). Add in the Cold War overtones with the Empire and you can see how it could spark such an interest.

Yes, the special effects are cheesy, but back then, they were state of the art. I'd love for him to redo the three, but I don't think they could compare to the original.

I would just like to point out that only Star Wars is just 30 this year. Empire is 27 and Return of the Jedi only 24. Go ask a 24 year old if they are old - I dare you.

But age of movies has nothing to do with pop culture. Of the Top 50 movie quotes of all time (AFI) only 10 movies are post 1980, and 6 of the top 10 pre-date 1955.

Yes, it's old. Yes, the special effects are dated. Yes, Lucas won't stop messing with it when he should just leave well enough alone. Yes, it has mediocre acting and some bad lines (Tashi station, anyone?). But it is also a big part of our culture and has spawned so many other movies that aren't even direct parodies.

Like many, I saw Star Wars first a child and have a certain nostalgia towards it. I know it certainly doesn't help that I am a sci-fi nut. Even putting that aside, Star Wars is a must-see for anyone who is a fan of movies or pop culture.

The big question is which Star Wars movie is best. My favorite is Return of the Jedi, even considering Ewoks and the Yub Yub song. I know that is a minority opinion, but I'm sticking to it. Darth Vader is hands down my favorite Star Wars character and that is his movie. The redemption scene is truely beautiful.

DC Cubefarm - return is my favorite too! Nothing beats the end, with the music and the whole galaxy celebrating, still brings tears to my eyes...

I'm an "Empire Strikes Back" girl, myself. I love the darkness and the conflicts that emerge in that episode.

People who think Star Wars has no relevance to today's world are soooo wrong....It showcases the epic battle of good vs. evil and freedom vs. oppression. These are timeless themes that are echoed throughout history. Has anyone heard about the comparisons between the Bush administration and the Evil Empire? "Either your with us or against us" (George Bush). "Either you're with me, or you are my enemy"(Darth Vader) How about the comparisons of George Bush to a Sith? "Only the Sith deal in absolutes". Star Wars should be required viewing.

Finalist for most hokey movie dialog line ever uttered:

"Traveling through hyperspace isn't like dusting crops, boy!"
---Han Solo

With Star Wars, Lucas warned us about Imperialism. We missed the point.

http://scorpionbowl.blogspot.com/2007/05/george-lucas-american-orwell.html

Star Wars remains one of the most prolific movies of all time. Really, it endures because of its basic tenets- that good will triumph over evil, that regular people can find extraordinary talent within themselves if they trust other people, and that faith in yourself and your abilities can destroy any "dark side" impediment to your life, including an armored space station the size of a planet.

I'm 28 and I don't think I've seen the movies all the way through. I know I've seen bits and peices of them but never the whole way through. I take that back, I think I saw the one with Chewbacca all the way through.

I still get the yoda jokes and the cultrual refrences that are made.

I think most people would agree with those who say a pop culture writer/expert should watch Star Wars. At least the original 3. If you don't want to watch it, fine, but don't go around saying you're a pop culture expert!

For the record, I love love love the first 3 movies. The 2nd 3, not so much. And I don't really care who does and doesn't like it. The salient point is that you should be more than just _aware_ of major pop culture events if you're going to write about it on a weekly basis!

How can anyone say that the Star Wars series is a pop culture touchstone when Princess Leia never got a pony?

I believe the summer blockbuster concept started with "Jaws". I remember standing in line for an hour to get my ticket. That was the summer of 1975. It was nuts. I had never stood in a line for a movie ticket before. Talk about people going back over and over again to see a movie.

As for 'Star Wars', I was living in Germany when it came out and the only inkling I had of the hype around it was that Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewy were on the cover of Rolling Stone one week (I was a subscriber.) I thought, "WTF is this?" and completely ignored it. When I finally saw the movie a year later, back in the States, I fell asleep in the theater.
That said, I own all the Star Wars movies and believe they are a cultural touchstone. If the writer was serious in what she said, or worse yet condescending for not having seen the movies, she's got a big void in her pop culture credibility.
My favorite of the original three (the less said about the prequels, the better) is "The Empire Strikes Back." We've seen them so much that our family watches the movies a la Mystery Science Theater now.

There is so much more to the Star Wars effect than just the movie itself. When it came out, I lived in a small town and it played at the single-theater movie house for nearly three months straight. The very first memory I have of it is that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up (and still do) when the music and opening text came up onto the screen. The stellar score certainly helped contriubte to the whole effect (John Williams is a genius). The fact that it was one of the first movies I could watch over and over again on a new-fangled VHS machine at my best friend Kathy's house (yes, we both thought Luke was hot, especially during the two sun sunset after his uncle told him he had to stay on another season) made me love the movie even more. The movie was (and is) indeed hopeful, among many other things, which is another reason why it remains popular today. Millions and millions of enduring fans can't be wrong!

Leia: "I love you."

Han: "I know."

Comparing Ewoks and Tribbles? Yes, I can tell you never saw Star Wars.

Look, if the Onion writer - or anyone else - doesn't want to see the movie, that's fine. Your loss. But to say you can speak with authority on pop-culture because you've seen parodies is like a preacher saying that he doesn't need to actually read the Bible because he's heard other people preach about it.

The original Star Wars movie blew me away as a 13-year-old, and I saw it at least a dozen times. I can't think of any other movie since then that has had that same kind of repeat viewing by theater-goers. I think the original three movies truly were extraordinary in terms of the anticipation and excitement they generated on release. They told a great, satisfying story.

To me, though, the prequels managed to take some of the magic away from the original three movies. They just aren't in the same league as the original three. Jar Jar Binks (deservedly) earned the vitriol of even the most die-hard fans, and Ewen McGregor was the only actor who ever managed to put any kind of spark of life into his character as the young Obi-Wan.

And Lucas recently announced he is working on developing a TV show based in the Star Wars universe with all new characters.

Lucas really needs to let it go. He had three great movies, followed by three mediocre ones that managed to make a pile of money based on fans' enduring love for the first three. He should stop drawing from the same well.

The more he tinkers with Star Wars (I hated the reworked originals) the more I think about how he was responsible for the "Howard the Duck" movie. One of the stinkiest movies of all time.

If he really wants to prove that he still has decent Director chops he needs to take on an all new project. Otherwise, he should just stay home at the Skywalker ranch and quietly retire.

Slightly off topic, I have a relative (I refuse to name even the relationship) who is oddly proud of the fact he's never seen a single Seinfeld or Friends episode. He says this very smugly w/a superior than thou attitude I just cannot understand. Meanwhile in my head I smugly make fun of him in a superior than thou way.

This is why our parents never got us a pony!

Star Wars would have been much better had there been a pony

I have never seen any realty show, except for the very first Real World and I too have a smug, holier than thou attitude. I saw the original SW trilogy when they came out, never felt the need to see them again, although I agree they are part of our pop culture.

Star Wars, Liz? Yaaaaaaaaaaaawn...

other movies that would have been better with ponies...blade runner, citizen kane, and manos:the hands of fate.

methinks,
ponies would've just made Manos: Hands of Fate confusing and unrealistic.

To Anonymous at 1:20, I don't think yoiu can compare any realty show w/Seinfeld or Friends for pop culture significance.

Ponies are confusing and unrealistic but we love them anyway.

I'd rather watch Japanese porn.

Would that also be better with ponies? I imagine it's already confusing and unrealistic

So the topic made me smile--

Still completely relevant. As someone who got hooked during the release in the 90s (I was in middle school) its historical and mythological references are what make it so great. As many have said already the technology of the orig. trilogy changed the face of special effects, the charachters and one-liners are reiterated everywhere. It also changed the face of merchandizing and the creation of a popular brand. Its very much a part of American culture in ways even non-watchers (as exhibited by comments above) recognize.

As for its continuing popularity--and I may be giving myself away as how big of a fan I am--the video games, action figures, toys and dvd's fly off the shelf. And the books--dealing with what is known as the Expanded Universe are continuously on bestseller lists. (Remember when Chewbacca died, how many newspaper articles were written?)

All that being said. I don't think its necessarily imperative for everyone to have watched them. Even I can look at the films critically and wince (esp parts of the new ones)..but if I were an Onion Writer I would think it was something that would allow me to be more snarky with some legitamacy as opposed to mocking them and lacking the proper frame of reference.

FYI: Rating them? Empire hands down...Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, Return of the Jedi, with Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace tied for last.

What I find amusing is that the percentage of people who feel compelled to sniff at Star Wars in the comments section is much higher than the people who actually hadn't seen it or didn't care for it in the polls.

What does that tell you? Defensive much? Superior attitude often?

Star Wars is a touchstone of our culture now. Maybe you can get the gist of it without having seen the films - they are culturally ubiquitous - but isn't that why a serious pop culture observer should actually, well, see 'em?

I tend to agree with RD Padouk when he says you really had to be there to get it. It was an exciting film for us young folks and it was indeed uplifting. It fired imaginations around the world and is still going strong.

My other car is a YT-1300.

Maybe if Anakin had had a pony when he was a boy, perhaps he would not have turned to the dark side?

Why did we think Mark Hamill was hot? I remember thinking that, I just have no clue as to why.

I can't believe no one has jumped on listing other "mis-classic-fied" movies! OK, I'll start - I thought Gone with the Wind was waaay too long albeit mildly entertaining. Citizen Kane? YAWN.

My kids are convinced that the galaxy far, far away actually exists, and that George Lucas came from there to tell us their story. They also think that if they could just meet him, he'd teach them how to use the force.

I tell them that if George Lucas taught anyone how to use it, he'd teach me just so I can force push them whenever they got out of line...

"Citizen Kane? YAWN>"?!?!?!?!

That's it. No pony for you.

I took my son to see Revenge when it came out, after watching all other five. I was surprised how mad I was at the ending, even though I KNEW it was going to end that way. It HAD to end that way and it still ticked me off. My son cried (he was 13 at the time).

reality bites would have been better with ponies. although i don't know how they would have gotten them up onto the billboard.

pulp fiction with ponies -- the adrenaline spike delivered by a hoof!

So I can't find the link since the onion is barred by my security policy but apparently the article is in last week's onion magazine and is called "Star What"

I've seen the Star Wars movies and enjoyed them, but I wouldn't say my life or knowledge of pop culture is vastly improved by my viewing of them. Furthermore, how much longer are people planning on referencing Star Wars? How many more times will I get to hear someone mouth breath while wearing an ominous mask in the name of humor? Parodying Star Wars is so easy, you can hardly respect it.

dissenter-torgo looked as if he'd spent a lot of time on a pony.

kim-citizen kane..."YAWN"???? you made my heart hurt. byoolin was well w/in his rights to revoke pony privileges.

Love, love, love, Star Wars as a child and I still do. Except for the Ewokes I've always wanted to drop kick them and recently JaJa Binks.

Mis-classic-fied movies

Sixteen Candles, which needed a pony by the way

Also, Pretty in Pink, I've seen the movies and I have to say I don't get it.

Petal -- did you go to a cliquey (sp?) high school with rich kids and not so rich kids? I love Pretty in Pink...Oh well. And there was a horse stable, so maybe there were ponies...

Back on topic, I think I saw only the first Stars Wars movie on video, it def. wasn't in the theater since I was a youngster in the 70's. I'm not much of a movie person, so I won't comment.

And when people say the three originals are OLD, I think they really mean to say dated. Does that make everyone feel better?

Sixteen Candles was brilliant, I tell you, brilliant! The best of the Hughes movies. So good he basically remade it seven times or so. It had the most epic party scene ever filmed. And who can forget when Molly Ringwald drops the F-bomb? We're talkin' Oscar worthy.

And, of course there was the ending with the Thompson Twins music and the candlelight. It was so good that I am convinced it inspired the final scene in the latest movie version of "Pride and Prejudice."

Plus, Ringwald is a redhead.

But, of course, it *would* have been better with a pony.

jes, while I agree that no one specific reality show has any pop culture reference, except maybe AI, the genre itself does, that doesn't make it a good thing.

Is Star Wars the one with Captain Kirk?

Speaking of ubiquitous cultural references to Star Wars:
http://wpcomics.washingtonpost.com/client/wpc/cand/

My parents went to see Return of the Jedi while my mom was pregnant with me. She said I went crazy kicking and such throughout the whole movie, and stopped as soon as it was over. I have been a fan for my whole life and I have to say that my entire childhood, if somebody asked me if I wanted to watch star wars, it was always a def. yes. All of my friends it was the same way.
It is really hard to discount Star Wars or any other movie held up as an important part of popular culture. Whether they were good or not they were the movies that revolutionized movies and our culture in general. The group that thinks they can get by without watching these movies are probably the same kids who can not believe that people older than them did not grow up with the internet, Playstations or Wikipedia (Ha, I am complaining about kids these days and I am only 24. That is scary.) There is a disconnect in to many people's mind between what they take for granted to day and what it actually took for those things to be invented. Without Star Wars, the movie industry would not be what it is today.

Yeah RD, but that's because you have a thing for red hair.

Star Wars, whatever else it might be, is a pop culture phenomnon. Why?

Well, how many comments here? That's why.

Our household wore out 2 sets of the VHS tapes, and I have to fight to maintain my right to the dvds. They aren't the only movies that are stolen by my sons from my collection, but they are the movies most often stolen.

Kevin Smith settled the debate when he said that Empire Strikes Back is best. And if your count taun-tauns, it already has ponies.

Most hokey Star Wars dialog ever:

"Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo."

I can't watch the second trilogy movies with the center channel on.

I think you're all missing the point. You don't have to see Star Wars or read Harry Potter or watch "Friends" or "Seinfeld" to understand parodies or basic plots/characters because they're all SO CULTURALLY PERVASIVE.

It's not a slam on the movie/book/TV show in any way, nor should it be.

We're not all haters. Perhaps I'd enjoy the trilogy. I just never got around to seeing it from start to finish. I've seen enough clips and heard enough people recite the dialogue verbatim to get the gist.

OK, so maybe somebody HERE can answer my question: Was Yoda really Swedish? I mean, he had to be, what with putting his predicates always before his nouns and all. C'mon, I'm serious here.

Yoda is the half-brother of the Swedish Chef.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Chef

When I saw Star Wars for the first time, on the night it opened to regular theatres, the entire audience stood up and cheered at the end. I've never had that happen at another film.

Wasn't Chewbacka a pony?

hey y'all, "a Los Angeles court ordered on Friday that Britney Spears is prohibited from driving with her children in the car"!

Hey, we're talking about Star Wars here. Go talk about Britney on, eh, "Right Matters," or something.

is Britney allowed to drive with a pony in her car? Or Chewbacka?

Eleven years ago, my epic poetry class at Mary Washington College (go Eagles!) wrote our final papers on Star Wars and the monomyth (see Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces"). A member of the class noted that the myth of the hero not only is echoed in works of literature over the ages, but also in Star Wars -- in Luke's orphanhood, his leaving home, training with Yoda, etc. So our professor OK'ed the paper theme.

That's why I think the Star Wars trilogy is such a cultural touchstone -- it taps into the eternal story of the hero. I'm not interested in seeing movies purely because everyone else is (I got dragged to Forrest Gump and hated it), but with its mythological backstory, I think Star Wars is a must-see if you want to be taken seriously as a cultural critic.

I totally got in some chick's pants in college because she admitted she had never seen Star Wars, so I invited her back to my place.

But the true measure of how good the movie is? Even in that situation, I waited until after Luke blew up the Death Star to make my move!

"Shane! Come back, Shane!

Posted by: byoolin | November 16, 2007 11:05 AM "

My favorite parody:
From the original Batman seris
"Same! Come back Shame!"

Okay, a little late to the debate, and I may be repeating, in a roundabout way, what others have said, but I think the real crime of this so-called pop culture writer/expert was in dismissing the need to watch the movie in order to criticize it. As I understand it, the point of the "Haters" section in the Onion AV/Club is to question cultural touchstones that you don't like or don't get. By having NOT SEEN THE DAMN MOVIE, how can any reaonable commentor present an argument as to why he or she dislikes/hates/doesn't get that movie. Instead, in this instance, the author attempted to dismiss the work of art (yeah, I know, maybe a bit of a heavy-handed description, but still....) based on the parodies, critiques and/or interpretations of others.

It's like a music critic saying he/she doesn't need to listen to the Beatles because he/she's heard Oasis and seen "Across the Universe" and the Bee Gee/Frampton version of "Sgt. Pepper", and had heard enough to know he/she wouldn't like the original. That's not really snobbish or snarky, it's just stupid and uninformed.

I believe that there is never anything gained from not watching an important cultural film, tv show or listening to important music. I cannot stand Bob Marley's tired drivel, particularly as co-opted by legions of college freshman grasping for something "real," but if I was to say that I was superior for not knowing about it that would be really ignorant.

I don't remember people waiting in long lines for movies like that before star wars.
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I remember Jaws

Lucas didn't tell a simple sci-fi story with robots, spaceships, and annoying little carebears. He used the medium to tell a mythic (literally) story of conflict, hope, fathers and sons, and good and evil.
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That's kind of controversial. I saw the films and afficianados e do talk a lot about things that just aren't in the original text while leaving out the obvious pieces that exist in the original text that question the value of the series (Ewoks, Jar Jar, anything about the galactic senate, the denigration of the force to the bacteria in their blood).

show me another film people saw 40 times in the theatre... not some people... a LOT of people...
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by that logic the pigeon must be the best bird ever because it's around so many places.