Ten thousand views! Oh my gosh!
Millennium. It’s not the Millennium Falcon it’s…it’s the...
**gasps**
**puking**
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
IT'S A MODIFIED, CORELLIAN YT-1300 LIGHT FREIGHTER AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW THE NAME.
Millennium. Millennium.
Mi-
Le-
Ni- Millennium!
Millennium Falcon!
So at this point in time, over 10,000 people have witnessed me call the Millennium Falcon
the Millennial Falcon.
In a video in which I’m telling my son how important it is to
know the name of Han Solo’s ship. If you’re writing an English paper, you have my permission
to use this as a perfect example of dramatic irony, possibly tragic irony.
After I posted the video I got some very polite comments from people kindly letting me know
that the planet featured is not Tatooine, it's Jakku. And a couple people asked if I
didn't know that it was Luke speaking. I did. I asked, "who is that?" just to my son. If
you see a plane in the sky you might be like, "what is that?" It doesn't mean I don't know
what it is. And I called a droid a robot, because my son doesn't know what a droid is,
but he knows he likes robots. So all of those things I don't mind. That's just fine.
But then it came to my attention that I had made one of the most rudimentary mistakes
in the Star Wars Universe. I called the Millennium Falcon the Millennial Falcon.
NOOB!!!
and I did it THREE TIMES. I’m pretty sure I can get my jedi license revoked for this.
When I first realized this I was so embarrassed I literally thought I was going to puke.
This is not something I did not know. This is something that somehow, at some point in time, I forgot.
If my twelve-year-old self got wind of this happening she would build a time machine and
come forward to whack me upside the head with my well-worn copy of the Han Solo trilogy.
The truth is, sometimes, even if you love something very much. You can still lose touch.
I told you that my heart had been broken. I think the last time I watched those movies
or read those books I was fourteen, maybe fifteen. I’m turning 29 this July.
That means that my Star Wars fandom was literally over half a lifetime ago. It's like when you
suddenly realize that you can't remember what your ex-boyfriend's smile looked like, and
it used to be the most basic thing ever.
I never stopped identifying as a Star Wars fan, but the enthusiasm you see in the video
was actually a surprise to me too. You’re witnessing the re-emergence of my nearly dormant
nerd-dom. Okay, I mean, it wasn't that…that dormant. The reason I’m getting more and
more excited as I watch the trailer in that video is because I'm remembering what it feels
like to be GENUINELY EXCITED about what’s happening with Star Wars. When you watch that
video, you are watching me remember.
I think I figured that Star Wars would be like a speeder-bike I’d never forget how
to ride, and then I jump back on and it’s turned into an AT-AT Walker and I...never
went to the Imperial Academy.
When I first posted the video, I wasn't aware there was anything wrong with it. So when
a lot of people were watching it I felt like it was a success and I was glad that more
and more people were seeing it. And as soon as I realized my grievous mistake, I saw it
as a failure, and regretted anyone ever seeing it ever. And I even thought about just taking
it down out of complete humiliation. And then I reminded myself that it only mattered as
much as I believed that it mattered. And then I remembered all the wonderful comments everyone
had left on the video, telling me they found it inspiring or heartwarming.
And then I thought of a line from the poem “IF,” By Rudyard Kipling, where he says,
“If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same.”
And I realized that as long as the video is an honest representation of ME, and MY REACTION
to that trailer, then that’s all there is to it. Do or Do not, there is no try. And
what I did, was share a few minutes with you. And they're brutally honest. And that's why
it's okay. I don’t mind if that video reveals a few millennial kinks in my rusty gears.
The truth is, you can share your passions with people for one of two reasons: to impress
others or to reveal yourself. And I revealed myself. And I like myself. Even if I can't
always make the jump to light-speed because my hyperdrive is broken and someone needs
to hand me a hydro-spanner. You know, I kind of relate to the Millennium
Falcon. You can look at me and go, "What a piece of junk!" Or you can say, "She's the
fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy." Or you can say, "You came in that thing? You're braver
than I thought." But I know what Han would say.
"This baby's got a few surprises left in her, Sweetheart."
May the Force be with you.