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Memories of a 7-year-old getting to see Empire Strikes Back

The cinematic experience that lives with me to this day

By D-DonohoePublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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Ok no, I'm not in this photo.

I work with a lot of people that are significantly younger than I am. Many of them the aged between their early 20s to mid-30s. They are living in times when it’s fashionable to be nerdy and to have nerdy interests (ok maybe not fashionable but you certainly aren’t forced to hide away if you want to play Dungeons & Dragons for fear of getting beaten up).

We can’t really talk about music or cars, but we can discuss the MCU, DCU, or Star Wars. When I say “Of course. I’ve watched all the Clone Wars seasons” they seem surprised. Apparently, they wouldn’t expect someone in their late 40s to have watched the animated series which helps establish a lot of the current live-action series, and the Bad Batch of course.

I then share with them a story from a long time ago, in a place far, far away.

I was seven years old; it was the August school holidays and I had woken up extra early, which was not common behavior for me on school holidays. I scoffed down breakfast and made sure I had a little extra to make sure my tummy was full. We were headed to the movies that day. Normally a trip to the movies would result in me asking for ice cream or some other candy bar treats, and then being rebuked by my mom for asking to buy such over-priced food. Today I was happy to skip that argument, hence the extra food in my tummy.

I was prepared to forego every argument and nagging from my mother because the day had come. I had waited years for this, it was the premiere of the Empire Strikes Back and I was going to go see it at the movies. I was too young with the original Star Wars movie came out (we didn’t call it A New Hope back then), so this would be my first chance to see the sequel and see a Star Wars movie on the big screen instead of on a tiny television.

I was dressed and ready to go. My sister, who was two years older than me, was also dressed and ready to go. I didn’t know what awaited me today, but I knew it would be amazing. I just had to get through a half-hour drive into town, then about another 20-minute walk from the parking lot (because Mom didn’t like parking too close in case someone scratched the car door), and then we got to the cinema.

Mom walked to the ticket window to buy the three tickets. This was the only way you could buy tickets back then, there was none of this buying online malarky. I heard Mom talk to the cashier, and the sadness flowed over me. The session was sold out. I was overcome by emotion, and I cried. I couldn’t believe that we had come in to see the movie only to find out that it was sold out.

When I finally settled down, Mom told me that we could get tickets for the next session, but we’d have to hang around in town for a few hours. It is only now as I write this that I realize how out of character that was for Mom. She hated going into town and now here she was happy to stay so that we could watch a “silly space movie”. We walked around the shops, Mom had a cappuccino, and we had some raisin toast, then we went back.

We sat through the movie, or should I say we experienced the movie. This was a turning point in my cinematic viewing life.

Now think to yourself, at some point in time, you did not know that Darth Vader was Luke’s father. That revelation rocked you to the core, or at least it did me.

At some point, all you knew was that Han had been frozen and didn’t know if he would live. You saw him flying away with Boba Fett and wondered if that was the end of him.

I could have watched Empire a few more times that day, but by then Mom had enough and we went home. I rang my friends that had also seen it and we talked about those revelations. All we knew was that we had to wait to watch Revenge of the Jedi (that was how it was billed before the title was changed to Return of the Jedi) to see how this was going to play out.

So yes, I like Star Wars. In fact, I was there on opening day for Empire Strikes Back.

pop culture
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About the Creator

D-Donohoe

Amateur storyteller, LEGO fanatic, leader, ex-Detective and human. All sorts of stories: some funny, some sad, some a little risqué all of them told from the heart.

Thank you all for your support.

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Comments (4)

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  • Harvey Elwood2 years ago

    This was an awesome little memory excursion! I loved the set-up and all the little details you included. While I am not particularly into Star Wars, I am also a nerd who grew up in a time when it was not considered cool and am always in awe of the kids I see now that are able to fully embrace their fandoms without fear of being bullied.

  • Jonathan Townend2 years ago

    Wow! What an absolute 'blast from the past' this was😊! This reminds me of when my older brother picked me up from primary school on the Christmas holiday break to go and watch Star Wars episode 4 at the cinema too! I'm 52 now and still watch it on DVD at home now! When it first came out, me and my brother saw it at the same cinema seven times in the course of three weeks!! We are still science fiction addicts now🤣. Brilliant article - thank you for the great memories here...

  • Heather Hubler2 years ago

    Loved this!! I was 6 when it came out but never got to see any of the original three in the theaters. Well written :) Thank you for sharing!

  • Cathy holmes2 years ago

    Good memories. Well done.

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