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The 'Star Wars' generation
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May 16, 1999: 12:30 p.m. ET
Millions grew up on 'Star Wars.' Now as adults, will they return in force?
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The year was 1977, and 8-year-old David Wells was quite the eager young Jedi. He remembers eating box after box of breakfast cereal to send away for free "Star Wars" action figures - collectibles that he's hung on to dearly over the years.
Today, the Nashville, Tenn. native, now married with a 5-year-old son, is still a big fan, and he was decidedly disappointed this week about his unsuccessful quest to order tickets through MovieFone and over the Internet for the eagerly awaited new installment of the intergalactic fairy tale. An art director for an Internet service provider, he can think of few cultural milestones that he remembers as vividly as the debut of the original "Star Wars" film 22 years ago.
"I don't think that it had any underlying meaning at the time, but as I've grown older, I really appreciate the level of detail," he said. "It has really made such a lasting impression."
For "the Star Wars generation," those who grew up in the 1970s and consider the movie's characters cultural icons, the film is an emblem of their childhood and one of the first bits of nostalgia specifically from their youth to be resurrected in their adult years. As children who were inundated with the force of the "Star Wars" marketing machine, they grew up dueling with light sabers, playing with Luke Skywalker and Han Solo action figures, carrying Jedi lunchboxes to school and, for little girls, mimicking the Princess Leia braided, donut-style hairdo.
But "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," which opens May 19, already has gotten some lukewarm reviews and is considered by some critics to be more juvenile-oriented than the original trilogy. Will Generation X fans, now a couple decades older and notoriously fickle and cynical consumers, rally around the latest installment?
In short, almost certainly yes, "Star Wars" watchers predict. They say that especially for those who loved the original as children, this film is about as review-proof as a movie can be.
It's not just a movie, it's a marketing vehicle as well...
"After all, the original movie came out in 1977. It's now 1999," said Dan Marks, senior vice president of ACNielsen EDI, the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based box office tracker. "People took to it in a big way and held it dear and close to them for many years."
And for many moviegoers in their 20s and 30s, that reverence still resonates in an astonishing way.
A poll conducted by World Research Inc. of San Jose, Calif., last year found that of people ages 17-34, their No. 1 hero was Luke Skywalker, followed by Jesus Christ. Rounding out the Top 5 were Michael Jordan, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr.
"Luke Skywalker, while being an adventurer, a hero and a soldier -- he's also very spiritual in nature," observes Michael Bach, president of World Research Inc. "I think that's part of what captures this generation and why 'Star Wars' has become such a phenomenon."
In the poll, the same group of respondents considered the release of "Star Wars" the fourth most defining moment of their generation. The 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger with school teacher Christa McAuliffe onboard was ranked first, followed by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Gulf War.
At the time of the "Star Wars" premiere in 1977, Jimmy Carter was president and the energy crisis was beginning. For Wells, who says that that he grew up in a post-'60s era with little idealism, Skywalker & Co.- albeit fictional characters - were role models at a time when there were few real heroes to emulate.
"I remember hearing about Robert Kennedy and the stories of the Kennedys," he said. "Aside from that, I don't think there was a lot to remember."
So how diehard are they?
The filmmakers, of course are hoping "The Phantom Menace" will draw all types of moviegoers, and children and teen-agers are expected to comprise a major chunk of the audience. And the movie will undoubtedly attract audiences of all age groups and every demographic, movie experts said.
But a key element to catapult it from hit to blockbuster - and whether it can come close to sinking record holder "Titanic" in terms of its all-time box office take -- will be whether diehard fans are satisfied enough to go see it again. And again. And again.
If the film is disappointing, fans who are now in their 20s and 30s with careers and families might not be as eager to stand on line again and fork over cash for another ticket. Many fans of "Star Wars," as well as its popular sequels "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," have seen the films scores of times.
"The question is how many times will you see it," says Edward Mintz, president of CinemaScore, a Las Vegas based movie research firm. "If it's not good, the backlash is they don't keep seeing it again."
For Wells, he plans to go see the film probably at least two or three times - no matter what.
Whether the movie also breaks records also may hinge on whether women viewers turn out in droves, Mintz said. While many young women love the film, its Gen-X cult following is largely male.
Then and now
But a big draw for original "Star Wars" fans is the way the film has been devised as a "prequel," observes Dan Marks, of ACNielsen EDI. For people who spent their youths following the story of Luke and Leia, the opportunity to see how it all began is very satisfying and a great marketing move by the film studio, he said.
"How many movies continue on with the same themes, same characters?" Marks said. "Now, they've carried it forward."
For Generation X, the only other cultural phenomenon that comes anywhere near the same type of lasting appeal of "Star Wars" might be "The Simpsons," said Bach, of World Research Inc. But nothing, he said, even approaches the esteem this generation holds this sci-fi film.
"I think it says how much entertainment culture has affected this generation," he said. "The difference between real life and the movies is a blurred line."
-- by staff writer Martha Slud
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