Letter from Boston
Watching 'Star Wars'
By MASAKO YAMADA
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話題の『スター・ウォーズ』を見に
話題沸騰の映画、『スター・ウォーズ エピソード1』。雅子さんもさっそく研究室のみんなで見に行くことにしました。席がとれないといけないので、チケットをインターネットで予約し、授業をさぼって、平日の早朝に映画館に出かけるという用意周到ぶりです。映画の内容はともあれ、久しぶりに遠足気分の一日を過ごしました
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To some people, the intergalactic fantasy movies "Star Wars," "The
Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" form a trio that is
more sacred than the Holy Trinity. At least that is the feeling that I get
from the hype that has surrounded the second coming of George Lucas. He
has finally released the first of three "prequels" to the familiar series,
and many newspapers, magazines and television shows have treated it as a major
event. It was anticipated that movie theaters across the nation would be
booked solid for days and weeks.
I wouldn't consider the people of Gene Stanley's research group to be the
most loyal followers of popular trends, but we couldn't let a news event
like this pass us by. A few of my colleagues arranged a trip to a local
movie theater, and a bunch of us ended up going to watch the newly released
"Phantom Menace" together. Several of the guys invited their girlfriends,
so the total count was 14. To make getting tickets easier, we decided to play
hooky and go on a weekday morning. We even ordered the tickets ahead of time
using the Internet so we wouldn't be stranded once we got to the theater.
Although we were successful in getting tickets, we walked over to the movie
theater about 45 minutes early so we could all get good seats together. Sure
enough, there was a line stretching around the corner when we got to the
theater, so we thought we'd done a good job planning ahead. However, the line
had formed mainly because the box office had not yet opened for the day.
We were able to go inside the theater as soon as the box office opened and we
picked up our tickets. There were no mobs of people pushing toward the
theater, and we found good seats right away. As a matter of fact, we realized
that we could have gotten good seats even if we hadn't ordered tickets early
and waited in line. Contrary to the hype, there were plenty of seats left over
when the movie started. This was only a day or two after the movie was
released.
After the movie was over, we decided to head over to the nearby shopping
district to pick up some lunch. We then walked over to the Charles River to
eat and sun ourselves on the bank. There was, inevitably, some garbage
floating on the river, but the weather was pleasant, and we had a nice view of
MIT from where we sat.
After we finished eating and sat around chatting for a while, we headed over
to a coffee shop. Everybody except me ordered espresso. There is a very
strong Italian presence in my group (even the non-Italians have started to
say "pronto" upon picking up the phone).
By the time we got back to the office, it was already 3:30. We had spent over
five hours on our little excursion. Since we were planning a barbecue in the
evening, some of the students started preparing to go home as soon as they got
to school!!
I saw one of my friends smoking outside as I was entering the building and I
told him about our trip. He asked, "Does Gene like that you're doing this?"
I replied, "Gene's in Poland." Indeed, he was in Poland. But even if he
weren't, I think he would have understood. He knows that his students need
time off. Besides, some of his best students led the trip. He wouldn't have
been able to argue against them.
Since most of my fellow group members are foreigners, this trip was partly
an American sociology lesson. I think we all agreed that the movie was not
so bad, but none of us was particularly moved. The action and the special
effects were nice, but the plot and characterization were rather thin.
I've met people who've taken great joy in memorizing the names of all the
weird aliens in the "Star Wars" movies, down to the tiny characters who
flash across a corner of the screen. I've heard about people who have
memorized every single line in the script. None of the people in my group
are of that temperament. But the trip was still fun. Some of my friends are
already talking about arranging a trip to see the sequel of "Austin
Powers," which is coming out in a few weeks. Now that is surely an example
of modern American entertainment.
Shukan ST: June 4, 1999
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