Waking up with the force

Netnet Camomot

SPOILER alert. BB-8 is cute.

And that’s it for spoilers unless you want to have lightsaber duels with “Star Wars” fans.

“The Force Awakens” has not only reawakened the heart of the film series’ fan but also that of the newbie whose knowledge of the franchise is limited to the white thingie aka the Stormtrooper that happens to have–spoiler alert!–James Bond inside a white-thingie suit.

This must be the most hyped movie ever, second only to other “Star Wars” installments? The first part of yet another trilogy in the franchise, George Lucas has morphed to J. J. Abrams, prompting my youngest bro to comment, JJ for Jar Jar. Hehe. And the franchise now belongs to Disney, thus, the “Finding Dory” trailer before the appearance of The Force.

Abrams has been a familiar name to the fans of the TV series “Alias” and “Lost” which he created or co-created, although for “Lost,” the apt word could be not created but found.

“Alias” starred Jennifer Garner, and also Michael Vartan who eventually became my crush. Haha. But only Garner and the other cutie in the series moved on to fame in the movies as lead actors. That other cutie was Bradley Cooper.

“Alias” lasted from 2001 to 2006 when I chose to have a simpler life than the one I had before. It was in 2006, though, that it started to become complicated again.

Bad Robot is Abrams’ production company and his TV series of course had its logo at the end of each episode. “The Force Awakens” also has that. We were waiting for a post-credits clip, hoping Abrams has decided to do a coda a la Marvel, but there was the Bad Robot making me go senti on the good old days.

But even the avid “Star Wars” fan can’t say he’s absolutely happy or sad with the latest installment. His feeling is somewhere in-between, thus, not enough to merit a “I have a bad feeling about this.”

My youngest bro is the avid fan in the family. Each time he downloads a more updated version, watching all six episodes again is bonding time for him and his wife and children. This has been ongoing for years, that’s why when I joined their latest movie marathon the other weekend in preparation for “The Force Awakens,” all his kids already sounded like their dad–they’ve memorized the dialogue and were familiar with the behind-the-scenes story, leaving me as the only one who couldn’t tell the diff between the Death Star and the Star Destroyer. At least I recognized the Millennium Falcon, thanks to its bottle opener version that was posted on Facebook.

I was a Luke Skywalker fan. Or, to be more specific, a Mark Hamill fan. Hmmm. I wrote about this a few columns ago, this should be the last time for that to be mentioned again, eh? An old woman writing about crushes–ewww.

There was this old married woman who asked aloud during a meeting, What does it mean when a guy gives you a bouquet of roses? That is, a guy aside from the husband who happened to work in a galaxy far, far away. The husband was then rumored to be having a girlfriend in that galaxy and the wife must have felt she had to prove she still fit the description “may asim pa si Lola.”

Her query met dead silence from the other attendees in that meeting, could be out of shock for she’s known to be this religious and pious woman who treats the Bible as her ultimate guide for everything including sex.

Which now brings us to this realization that it’s better for your behavior to match your religious practices in order to avoid confusion.

Revenge is said to be best served cold. I don’t know if it’s called revenge in “Star Wars” but each of its episodes proves that a good heart always wins in the end.

The battle of good versus evil goes on and on not only on TV and in the movies, but also in real life on which most of these scripts are based anyway. The scriptwriter, director and producer need some inspiration to kick off the artists in their hearts, and there’s life and its library of wars, conflicts, intrigues, insecurities, jealousy, envy, and putting others down to make oneself shine.

And life sometimes has its way of reminding you on what you should be doing on a Saturday morning. Last Saturday though had a rainy Onyok morning, time to stay home and, well, write this column. The househelp were listening to the radio and guess what was on constant replay? Our gym instructors’ favorite song, Redfoo’s “New Thang.” How timely, since the day before, on Friday, I was mulling over the idea of transferring to a gym nearby. The “New Thang” on a cold, dark, rainy morning could be a sign for me stay with the present gym. Or does it mean I still have asim and could be the “new thang”? Bwahahaha! More like old, without the thang.

And then, there’s this friend who had two appointments–for 10 am and lunch–last Saturday. My advice for her: bring scuba diving gear for the flood. She then texted that she’d PM to me her photo if ever she would decide to go out. I’m still waiting for that photo as of this writing.

It’s the oldies who do know or should know the importance of commitment and appointments after all these years of dealing with people who can’t be loyal and true to their calling.

This is also evident in “The Force Awakens” especially now that “Star Wars” oldies Han Solo and the Skywalker twins Luke and Leia are back to teach the young ones some lessons. And, no, that news about Luke and Leia as twins is not a spoiler anymore.

The oldies, though, have to be consistent with their behavior as they remain true to their goal. In an organization, for example, if the oldies are sowing the seeds of intrigue, the new members would of course question why the oldies, supposed to be the club’s pillars, are now the ones behaving like kids, unable to maintain peace and unity among themselves.

A long-time friend is expected to be patient with his friend, and to understand the other’s unique qualities that keep her, well, unique. But if he himself will insist that his friend does have this certain quality even if she doesn’t, there’s a probability they were never friends in the first place but merely, hmmm, acquaintances. There must be a scene in at least one “Star Wars” episode that has this same scenario on friendship but only an avid fan can recall that in detail. For the rest of us, the madlang pehpohl who pretend to be “Star Wars” fans, good luck na lang. Oh, well, OK, sige na nga, may the Force be with us all pa rin.

“The Force Awakens” did not only awaken. I had goosebumps while watching some scenes and tears threatened to pour down my fatty face. And I’m not even an avid fan.

Definitely looking forward to “Episode VIII,” the next part of this latest trilogy, which will be released on May 26, 2017. Ilang tulog na lang!