Originally I had typed out a long long adventure about how I saw this trailer. How the Goddess known as Lauren drove me to the theater at the Universal CityWalk, how I plotted to get her to take me, how I figured out how to use a credit card and a ticket buying service... you know... typical Harry stuff.

But I decided to let it go. Why? Well... because it doesn’t matter how I found myself at a screen this past Tuesday. That screen could have been here in Austin or in L.A. or anywhere else and the reaction from me would be the same.

I love Star Wars.

It’s not even, for me, what is up on screen or the sound or the story... It’s the sense of brotherhood I share with those that share the same... affinity for Star Wars.

Lauren, who I saw it with, had never seen Star Wars or any of the other films. She knew Princess Leia had buns on the side of her head and that Darth Vader was that big black guy. But beyond that... well... it just wasn’t something she saw. She didn’t understand the experience. Why were people dropping $3.50-$5.00-$9.00 to see a 2 minute and 20 second trailer with a movie they had no interest in seeing?

Lauren loved horseback riding as a child, I understand that, I rode horses constantly on my mother’s ranch in North Texas herding cattle. I’ve got a strong affinity for that sort of thing. And ya know, a lot of people love to watch horse racing. They pay a ticket price to enter a stadium, they sit in the sun, and they watch horses run in circles for less than 2 minutes and 20 seconds.... They come away thrilled, excited. The sounds of the audience, the exhiliration... the energy... it just coarses through you.

That’s how I felt at the screening of the trailer. The trailer felt like 5 seconds. My eyes and mind trying to grasp at the hues on screen. Trying to record the textures, the sounds, the movement of the audience, the gasps, the shrieks... the joy.

I walked into that theater absolutely terrified. Having read the script I had many many questions about the film. It could go either way. Could it still look... Star Warsy? Would the universe look... used? I had no clue. I knew that the images I saw would instantly begin coloring in the line drawn sketch of the film in my mind.

I’ve seen the film now. That trailer did it for me. I wish I had the script to read again, to pour over, to read with those sights and sounds in my mind. I wish. But hey, it’s best that I don’t right? Let the memory fade, let the knowledge escape into the ether... Let those brain cells die. Some things are best forgotten. Hey brother... pass the glue.

The last note is this. I hate myself for every doubt I had. What on earth was I ever thinking? Analyzing every nugget, every whisper... Worrying about fuzz and blurs.... Worrying about reshoots and deadlines... the anxiety, the stress... George seems to be 100% on his game.

Oh... and as for Yoda. I, too, felt a... shall we say... “disturbance in the force” when he appeared. But you know what. Now that I’ve watched the trailer non-stop for 36 hours... Well, have you ever seen a picture of your mother or father as younger people. How they just don’t look... right? That’s how Yoda strikes me. My great-grandma Mac, my first memories of her were with a fuller face and taller. By the time I was 14 or 15 she was hunched over with a cane, she had lost a lot of weight... and looked just like a ‘Granny Mac’. Last year I discovered some old pictures of her with me as an infant. I don’t know who that is in the pics. Both of us.

George Lucas pretty much rocks the universe right now. And the great thing is... All the best parts... they ain’t in that trailer! See you May 16th at the front of the line.

Harry

P.S. That’s when I’m getting in line.