Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Part One--Memories of Star Wars Episode IV

Hey, guys, tomorrow is the day!! On May 25, 1977 the first Star Wars movie opened, so, in honor of that momentous event, the Iron Guy is devoting a few days to posting memories from different guys about the first time they saw Star Wars Episode IV.
The original Star Wars poster
Today we have a treat. Not just one but two great guys will tell us about seeing the movie the first time. Our first memory is from Mr. Lee Keesler, the CEO of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and a truly cool guy.

Mr. Keesler
In 1977 I was one year removed from college and headed to MBA school.  I remember vividly seeing the first Star Wars movie in the theatre.  I developed a short-lived mini-crush on Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) which was later extinguished when she tried to take out Jake and Elwood Blues with a bazooka strike under the EL tracks in Chicago (Blues Brothers).

I was impressed with the creativity of R2D@ and C3PO, and the dark genius of James Earl Jones’ voice of Darth Vader.

Finally, I was taken with the role of O-bi-Won-Konobi and have used him as a metaphor many time in professional settings.

While not its biggest fan, Stars Wars served to bring me back to the movies in my 20s.  The fact that it lives and thrives today is evidence of its cinematic excellence.   

Oh, yes, nobody sounds as menacing as James Earl Jones! O-bi-Wan really is a good role model but I prefer Yoda because he is not only wise and handy with a light saber but he can also  lift an X-wing star ship out of a swamp and talk in backwards sentences.

Mr. Singleton
The next memory is from Mr. David Singleton, another very cool guy and the Director of Libraries for our system.

I saw the first Star Wars movie in 1978, as a freshman in college at UNC-Chapel Hill.   There were still long lines at the theater on Franklin Street more than a year after the first release.   From the first few frames, I was hooked on the characters and the story, and the special effects were truly awe-inspiring for the time.   I saw the film two more times in less than a week!    May the Force be with you! 

The Force is always with the Iron Guy! Wow, seeing three times in a week. Pretty impressive!. (the Iron Guy has a similar memory that he'll talk about tomorrow) Thank you both for sharing your stories. 

 How about YOU out there? Do you have any memorable memories of seeing this movie? Leave it in the Comments section below and I'll post them. 

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