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sunshine jen: My Han Solo Moment
Recently the interweb was all aflutter with Harrison Ford rumors. What rumors could my favorite low key celebrity warrant? I thought he was too cool for rumors.
The rumors were all about Harrison Ford possibly reprising his role of Han Solo in the new Star Wars movies. You know, those Star Wars movies that sound like they haven't even been written yet.
I've been trying to ignore anything to do with new Star Wars movies. I remember the last time we got new Star Wars movies. Yep, I remember that well. I can summarize it with one word said twice: Jar. I really don't want to go there again.
So I've decided to ignore all Star Wars hearsay and announcement and rumor. I would become a Star Wars Buddhist. All things Star Wars would all travel through me and not affect me as I breathe in and out, in and out, uuuuuuuh, ahhhhhhh, uuuuuuuh, ahhhhhh, uuuuuuh, hannnnnn, uuuuuuuh, hannnnn, solo, Han Solo. Damnnnit!
I was always a Han Solo kind of gal. How could I not be? He had his own ship with secret compartments. He could fix things. His best friend was a Wookiee. He wore tight pants and a blaster. He'd outrun Imperial starships. No mystical field controlled his destiny. It was all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.
The original three movies were about Luke becoming a man (without getting laid). Han was the man. Han got laid. Of all the human characters, Han seemed to be the most in his skin. Sure, he didn't have the Vader Dad/Luke & Leia twins angst on his plate. He was motivated by money in the first film, saving himself and his gang in the second film, and getting laid in the third film (why do you think he volunteered to lead the strike team on the Endor moon).
A galaxy far far away is a strange place to travel through, but with Han, we had a comic hook. He wasn't into all that Jedi stuff, and that made the force even more interesting. He had real world problems and a space ship in need of constant maintenance.
I could get all sophisticated about Han Solo. I could talk about the antihero or the mastery of a machine in a machine driven society. I don't want to go there. I just want to take a moment to go ahhhh Han Solo.
Ahhh Han Solo.
I can't begin to tell you how happy typing that makes me.
I have liked other handsome male movie characters, but Han Solo still makes me sigh. Han Solo still makes me grin in that cocky way. Maybe it's because the original Star Wars films came out in my youth leading into adolescence. Maybe it's because I watched them way too many times as a kid. It doesn't matter.
As I was thinking about this piece, I was trying to come up with my favorite Han moment. Was it the infamous I know (apparently adlibbed) line as he was lowered down into the smoking carbonite in Empire? Was it the meeting in the Cantina in Star Wars? Was it the subsequent scene with Greedo in which he shot first? Was it one-liners like Fly casual and Hey, it's me in Jedi? Was it the yeehoo at the end of Star Wars when he hits Vader's ship and clears Luke to make the shot at the exhaust port? Was it the garbage shoot or rescuing Luke on Hoth or possibly becoming Ewok dinner?
If I could come up with my favorite Han moment, it would be the moment when the Millennium Falcon gets caught in the Death Star's tractor beam in Star Wars. It's a quick little scene in the cockpit right after they realize that what they're heading toward is no moon. It's a space station.
Luke: Why are we still moving toward it?
Han: We're caught in the tractor beam that's pulling us in.
Luke: There's gotta be something you can do.
Han: There's nothing I can do about it, Kid, I'm full power I'm gonna have to shut down. They're not gonna get me without a fight.
Obi Wan: You can't win. But there are alternatives to fighting.
And then we learn about the secret compartments.
It's an adrenaline scene in which Han has to say what's going on. I like that there are alternatives to fighting. We learn that he listens to Obi Wan.
So will I go to the cinema to watch an older Han Solo? I always saw Han Solo and Lando Calrissian sitting in the old rebel generals home. Every day, they would shoot womprats and nerf herders. Every night they would play cards to see who wins the Millennium Falcon.
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