Everyones parents tell stories of howtheir world was different from ours.
When it came to media, my parents told me how they only had a handful of TV channels.
Their parents told them they didnt even have TV.
Now this is film writing.Image: Lucasfilm
And,more specifically, The Phantom Menace.
Its back in theaters,weve re-examined it, all sorts of stuff.
But for me,The Phantom Menace is something else.
Image: Lucasfilm
It was something that so encompassed my being that it changed who I was.
The story starts with first logging onto the internet.
This happened sometime in 1997.
Image: Lucasfilm
And, at that time, the first website I ever remember visiting was Aint It Cool News.
Lets check this out.
The new Star Wars movie is going to have a trailer.
Image: Lucasfilm
At that time, I was still in high school on dial-up internet.
Shout out to AOL Instant Messenger and Away Messages.
Thats when I thought, Aint It Cool cant be the only other site like this.
So I found Corona Coming Attractions.
I found Dark Horizons.
Then I found the motherload: Star Wars sites.
And so thats what I did.
Anticipation for the film consumed every cell in my body and these websites were my fix.
My desktop wallpaper was an image from the podrace scene.
It was all new.
I also scooped up tickets for the 7 p.m. show the same day.
I wasnt messing around.
The theater, however, was messing around and added a midnight show a few days later.
The lights dimmed, the trailers played, and finally, The Phantom Menace began.
Thirteen minutes and 23 seconds later, I felt it.
By by this time, I was even deeper.
I was in New York, studying Cinema Studies, so who better?
Thats how I came to cover the junket for the Keanu Reeves/Charlize Theron movie Sweet November for Countingdown.com.
I was on the path to my whole life, and I didnt even know it.
But The Phantom Menace led the way.
Attack of the Clones was released the day I graduated college.
So happy 25th anniversary, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.
Your existence is a huge part of why I am who I am.
Watch The Phantom Menaceon Disney+ now.
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