Relics
Chris' Journal, October 29, 1998
When did Boba Fett become a cultural icon? Is there really a hidden moral message in Star Wars that is worthy of a museum exhibit? Or is there something at work here a tad bit sinister?
Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the "Mythology of Star Wars" exhibit at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum just as much as the next guy (who happened, I guess, to be Brian) but I did find something about it a little disturbing.
Museums are supposed to be places you go to learn about things of the past. Places you go to hand in hand with your parents as they tell you the stories of the relics you see. You listen as they relate personal accounts of seeing the movie, or hearing the person speak at school, or watching as their father used the object in daily life. The museums were jumping off places for the reminiscing of older folk, those that came before. What began with a stroll through the museum usually ended with a story about "walking barefoot through the snow uphill both ways..."
But this is Star Wars! This is my movie, my generation, my memories. My parents wouldn't even go to see it until dragged by me or one of my brothers. How am I suppose to react to this?
And there in the Museum of American History, who's idea was it to put those in there? They weren't there the last time I visited DC. In fact the whole exhibit didn't exist. But there they sat in the display on the history of the computer: a TSR-80 and Commodore 64 personal computers. These dusty relics of the past were still fresh in my memories, and I can easily recall one sitting in my living room back home as I strolled the corridors of the same DC museum over 2 decades before.
How does one react to the classification and cataloging of his world into the archives of history. Am I supposed to pull a kid aside there in the museum and share with them my memories before cable TV, home satellites dishes, remote controls, CDs, microwaves, and Nintendo? Do I sigh and tell them how tough it used to be and how lucky they are today?
I stared at the displays with a weird sense of mortality. I just turned 30, I can't really be ready for museums already can I? What's waiting around the corner, a display of Izod shirts and Steve Austin lunch boxes?
No, Oscar the Grouch behind plexiglas.
Ouch.
© Chris Moeller, 1998
Read Chris' related journal entry on the question of maturity:
Passing The Torch
The Quest | Insights & Inspirations | Our Journey | Community | Home
Have questions or comments? Please email us at
pathfinder@quest-4.com