In case you haven’t heard there is a rumor that a new Star Wars movie is coming out — at Christmas. OK so it’s not a rumor.

However it made big news Monday when the theater trailer was released.

And the United States, the same country that fears climate change, has a house of representatives with no leader, is $18 trillion in the hole with a government shut down looming, at war in two or more regions of the world, with almost half it’s population on some form of government program, and a disappearing middle class crashed a ticket agency computer buying tickets to a movie that’s scheduled two months from now.

What’s wrong with this picture? (No pun intended)

Full Disclosure

I must confess that I have never sat down and watched any of the Star Wars movies. Now that might seem unusual that surly it was on at someone’s home or I found it channel surfing but no I never did.

What might make this even more remarkable is that during the early to mid-1980s I managed no less than five video rental stores in San Diego, California during the birth of at home movie viewing.

I guess my initial thought is what is the big deal that you have to order tickets now? Wait till the rush is over and watch it in a half full theater where you don’t have cell phones and people talking all around you.

Correct me if I’m wrong but the first movie if I recall was Episode IV? Now we are up to 7 of these things? They haven’t even been released in order.

What sequel was ever better than the first version? Was Jaw’s II, or III anything to write home about? Did Rocky’s get old fast? Rambo? Die Hard?

Even Spiderman and Superman are looking a little long in the tooth. How many Friday the 13th have there been?

Movie Making Not Keeping Pace With Technology

As I say I have not seen a Star Wars movie all the way though. But I have seen bits and pieces that make me question the technology of the future.

Dog Fights with manual guns? Granted they are ray guns but they miss half the time. Didn’t anyone see the protective shields the aliens had in “Independence Day?”

Do they not know about smart bombs? Laser guidance systems? And why are pilots doing the fighting?

Don’t they know about drones?

How come those two smart mouth robots aren’t flying these things?

I guess 1940s air battles are more exciting than, “Oh, we lost another drone.” That would be really boring.

And those laser swords? Are you kidding me? Shouldn’t we have developed force fields for soldiers by that point in the future?

And why the need for soldiers at all.

Where are the robot armies? Didn’t anyone see “iRobot,” or “Universal Soldier?”

Some Final Thoughts

Perhaps it’s the very state of the world and perhaps the state of our own personal world that so many people are looking for an escape. We are more than ready to suspend reality for a couple of hours.

And it’s some pretty expensive escape as I found out on Ebay.

I wouldn’t pay $100 a ticket if I were in the movie. But that’s just me.

What about you? Comments below.

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