Member-only story
George Lucas
Lessons in high magic and synchronicity
In the history of cinema, there are a few moments that were life altering for the audience in ways it’s hard for us to imagine today. One was in 1939, in The Wizard of Oz — when the start of the movie was “normal” in black and white… and then she crashes in Oz, and walks into a world that’s in color. It would have been transformative.
Another was in 1977, in the opening scene of Star Wars: a little space ship is running away from a terrifying monster of an imperial destroyer, and the theater speakers are emitting ultra low frequency sounds, the kind that are created during earthquakes, that rattle your bones and make the hairs stand up on your neck. I was already primed after reading about the upcoming movie in Time magazine earlier in the summer. But from the moment the film began, I was a fan.
It’s also hard to imagine today in a world of binging TV shows on Netflix, but waiting three years to see the next episode… the anticipation was palpable. The only way you could mollify the longing was to keep watching the first episode again and again. Which everyone did. And then Empire released in 1980, and Jedi in 1983. Shuffle these with…
