WONDER IS WHERE YOU FIND IT

A cold Wednesday morning. I am sitting in my den, listening to the soundtrack to a movie that was once called Star Wars but is now called Episode Four: A New Hope.  I love it. I first saw Star Wars as an 11 year old boy, and it was love at first sight. Actually, I fell in love with it the first time I saw the trailer. We all did. I remember it so clearly. It was at the old Century 22 theatre in San Jose, one of those movie dome type structures so popular in the 1970s. Back then, there were a lot of movies that were sort of depressing. It seemed like whatever the film, by the end of it, the main character would either die or sell out or learn something sad and depressing. Not that they were bad movies. A lot of them were amazing, and hold up well. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Bonnie and Clyde. Who Slew Auntie Roo? 

Still, there was this sense of dread. Or corruption. And no wonder. America at that point in time was dealing with itself. We had just had the Viet Nam War, the whole 1960s, with it's cultural upheavals and generation gaps. Watergate came along, and everyone was either angry or high or drunk or otherwise lost. 

As for me, my family was a few years into a very dysfunctional time of alcoholism and denial. 

Things were bleak.

And then along comes this film, full of heroes and wonder and space magic. 

And the Force. 

Now that was something appealing. A sort of marital art that anyone can tap into, a power that connects all the universe, every rock and being and speck of dust. 

I saw that movie 21 times in the theatre. 

Where has that sense of wonder gone? I don't think I've ever lost it. I am a sucker for a good story, a rousing heroes journey, and all things fantastic. Hence my love of the Lord of the Rings movies, the Harry Potter series, and so on.

As for the Star Wars franchise, it has become... well, not the same. It's a whole universe. Some of it is still spot on and brilliant. Some not so much. After watching and loving the first two seasons of The Mandalorian, I was very excited for The Book of Boba Fett. 

It sucks. 

A lot.

But then I started watching The Bad Batch, an animated series following a group of clones in the Star Wars universe.

I fucking love it. 

A lot.

Wonder is where you find it. And usually not where you expect. It's in that movie you stumble across that already started but grabs your attention. It's in a conversation with a barista while you wait for your coffee. It's in the act of writing a blog. 

So off to today. I also think you should all watch Dopesick on Hulu. It's a bit depressing, so watch that, and then cleanse the palate with The Bad Batch.

And May the Force Be with You. Always.

Here's Luke watching the double sunset, a moment that spoke to the world of yearning.