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Ode to the Millennium Falcon

It seems that “change” is the rallying cry of our time. The word change has lately done yeoman’s service as a slogan in successive political campaigns.
mfalcon
A space jalopy made from spare parts and barely able to fly at the best of times, the Millennium Falcon is like that first beater vehicle you bought after high school.

It seems that “change” is the rallying cry of our time.

The word change has lately done yeoman’s service as a slogan in successive political campaigns. It has also been proffered that fear of change is at the root of the current Donald Trump phenomenon.

During the month of December, however, it feels like we eschew change through a series of traditions. Quite a few of us may never open a Bible all year, or say a prayer, yet we still pull our decorations out of storage to hang a bobble, a wreath, or a string of lights to celebrate Christmas.

Objects take on significance for us during this sentimental month. It could be a snow globe, a book, a Menorah or a movie that transports us back from whence we came.

The degree of change happening right now is tantamount to being on a ride at Playland. Uber, Airbnb, iPhones, online commerce, Netflix and binge watching, GPS, MP3s, Facebook, Car2Go and Snapchat are a sliver-sized sample of the disruptive technologies that are shaping Canadians’ world today.

But during December, it feels like we can put all that exuberance on hold. Instead, we reconnect with family and friends, exchange cards and email missives, give gifts or send salutations.

Real change may be all around us, but for a week or two we try to recharge our souls by shutting it all out.

The record-setting box office set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens — launched last Friday — seems to express this condition to a T. Why is it that so many adults are as eager to go to a galaxy far, far away as much as their kids?

There are many factors that are determining the success of the Star Wars reboot, such as the choice of director, a fine cast, an exciting score behind a group of archetypal heroes and villains, and brilliant marketing of course.

But above all it is an object that elicits the feelings of awe in fan boys like me: the Millennium Falcon.

The hamburger-shaped spacecraft co-piloted by Han Solo and his sidekick Chewbacca is what you would imagine a hot rod-obsessed auteur like George Lucas would create. A space jalopy made from spare parts and barely able to fly at the best of times, the Millennium Falcon is like that first beater vehicle you bought after high school.

It thrills you then to see the Millennium Falcon lift off, dodge asteroids and TIE fighters, and, with a swift kick and a lot of luck, engage the hyperdrive.

The original Star Wars arrived in Vancouver in June 1977, a month after its Memorial Day weekend release in the U.S. I was in grade nine and bussed from East Van to see it at the Stanley Theatre on Granville a week after it opened. It must have been a pretty thrilling experience, because I marched back to the Stanley to watch it again the following week.

It is remarkable to consider what life was like in June 1977, back when the Stanley Theatre was still a cinema.
Vancouver’s mayor at the time — Jack Volrich — used Brylcreem. Our Queen, Elizabeth II, was in the midst of Silver Jubilee celebrations.

A bloated Elvis Presley was on a U.S. tour mere weeks before keeling over dead at Graceland, full of prescription drugs. The Sex Pistols were turning the music world upside down with their newly released single “God Save the Queen.”Soviet despot Leonid Brezhnev dominated world politics. A Trudeau was our PM. Popular culture was obsessed with poster girl Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner.

Led Zeppelin played Madison Square Garden during their last American tour, and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” was topping Billboard magazine’s Hot 100.

Meanwhile, a new generation of music acts like Talking Heads, the Jam, Blondie and the Stranglers were drawing crowds in small clubs.

When there is so much change, a simple object like the Millennium Falcon can transport us back to a meaningful place and time.

I do not know whether it is the magic of cinema, or a primal belief in the forces of good versus evil, but somehow that damn bird always puts a lump in my throat.

@MikeKlassen