Monday, May 23, 2005
They don’t make geeks or movies like they used to
The day before the biggest night in pop culture history, my friend Matt offers me a ticket to see Star Wars at the 12:01 show. I think it’s worthy of note, that technically they could have showed the movie at 12:00, but I guess some sadist wanted to make the geeks swear for an extra minute.
I guess the joke was on the good folks at Kerasotes. The geek turnout did not impress. Oh, don’t get me wrong, all 8 showing of the flick were sold out…but there were not that many geeks.
When Matt offered me the ticket, our of reflex, I almost said, “Fuck No!” I don’t want to see any movie on opening night. Much less Star Wars. The crowds! The stench of BO and parents’ basement! The fact that on a quiet day, you could hear the sound of the last two movies sucking ass 1 time zone away!
But, it had been a while since Matt and I hung, and this was the LAST time I’d get a chance to see a Star Wars flick on opening night. Nostalgia bubbled up over the dread, and drowned it. Remember when: I had all the action figures! I was Darth Vader for Kindergarten! The movies were still good!
So I accepted Matt’s offer. Off we go. But when? One thing I was not gonna do was camp out days in advance to see this turkey. So, we got there, about an hour before. I figured we’d get the seats in the far corner front or something. But we got pretty good seats. They were off to the side, but they worked.
So time to settle in for some quality people watching. Except there were about two costumes—that’s it. One Storm Trooper, and one Darth Maul (Which I don’t get. Talk about hype. The guy was on screen for about two actual minutes, and they made a cottage industry out of him.)
Now I consider myself a geek. I dig technical stuff, I like Buffy, and well, I was at the 12:01 of the show. But I’m not overly socially awkward. I’m not mercilessly picked on by bullies, and I have more of a sense of style than that queen, Mr. Blackwell. (Crazy backwards pants, notwithstanding.)
I figured I’d see some hardcore geeky action. And I’d be laughing with them, not at them. I’m not a total jerk. But there were almost no hard-core geekly looking dudes. I saw a couple Star Wars Shirts—that were tasteful! Most everyone was dressed pretty casual and had basic social graces. In fact there were a lot of hotties at the show. Two of the women who posed for me for the Rockford: Small City series were there.
This was not reminiscent of the Triumph the Insult Comic dog skit.
And here’s the other topper: the movie wasn’t bad. The dialogue was so wooden in places, and canned in others. But it was there, some of that original New Hope spark. I stayed awake until it was over at 2:30 in the morning, and that’s saying something.
I guess the joke was on the good folks at Kerasotes. The geek turnout did not impress. Oh, don’t get me wrong, all 8 showing of the flick were sold out…but there were not that many geeks.
When Matt offered me the ticket, our of reflex, I almost said, “Fuck No!” I don’t want to see any movie on opening night. Much less Star Wars. The crowds! The stench of BO and parents’ basement! The fact that on a quiet day, you could hear the sound of the last two movies sucking ass 1 time zone away!
But, it had been a while since Matt and I hung, and this was the LAST time I’d get a chance to see a Star Wars flick on opening night. Nostalgia bubbled up over the dread, and drowned it. Remember when: I had all the action figures! I was Darth Vader for Kindergarten! The movies were still good!
So I accepted Matt’s offer. Off we go. But when? One thing I was not gonna do was camp out days in advance to see this turkey. So, we got there, about an hour before. I figured we’d get the seats in the far corner front or something. But we got pretty good seats. They were off to the side, but they worked.
So time to settle in for some quality people watching. Except there were about two costumes—that’s it. One Storm Trooper, and one Darth Maul (Which I don’t get. Talk about hype. The guy was on screen for about two actual minutes, and they made a cottage industry out of him.)
Now I consider myself a geek. I dig technical stuff, I like Buffy, and well, I was at the 12:01 of the show. But I’m not overly socially awkward. I’m not mercilessly picked on by bullies, and I have more of a sense of style than that queen, Mr. Blackwell. (Crazy backwards pants, notwithstanding.)
I figured I’d see some hardcore geeky action. And I’d be laughing with them, not at them. I’m not a total jerk. But there were almost no hard-core geekly looking dudes. I saw a couple Star Wars Shirts—that were tasteful! Most everyone was dressed pretty casual and had basic social graces. In fact there were a lot of hotties at the show. Two of the women who posed for me for the Rockford: Small City series were there.
This was not reminiscent of the Triumph the Insult Comic dog skit.
And here’s the other topper: the movie wasn’t bad. The dialogue was so wooden in places, and canned in others. But it was there, some of that original New Hope spark. I stayed awake until it was over at 2:30 in the morning, and that’s saying something.
// posted by Tim @ 12:50 PM 
