Time to fire this thing up again, it's been a long while. What's inspiring me to write? Bounding. It's a relatively new concept to me, and not one that I would otherwise would have taken to. Don't get me wrong, I love to put together a costume. We are the parents that go above and beyond with our kids' Halloween, Disneyland, and even birthday party outfits. As a family we take Pirate Night on a Disney Cruise very seriously. See also my Han Solo cosplay elsewhere in this blog.
But that's costuming, a no-no for adults in Disneyland. And thus far I've been mostly content to attend Disney parks dressed as the superfan I am--always a Disney (or Star Wars) tee, Disney hoodie (or my Star Wars fan jacket, or Raiders jacket), and Chewie shoulder bag. The Mickey Mouse backpack on my back is always stuffed with alternate kid costumes, lightsabers, swords, and accessories.
Now, Galaxy's Edge represents something different. You're directly being invited to participate, as a grown-up, in the make-believe. A whole land where you get to, nay are encouraged to play along with the cast members! And that includes, to a certain degree, dressing the part by bounding. Joy!
I delight in browsing #batuubounding on Instagram and seeing what people come up with, but I do have a bone to pick. A lot of what I see is not bounding, it is downright cosplay, and that violates the rules. Yes, I care; I have kids, and I understand the safety implications of having adults running around who look like cast members but aren't. Therefore, in planning my own Batuubound, I backed off a bit from the extreme I was taking my outfit to.
I'm sure you will be shocked to know I've got a smuggler-inspired outfit going. Making use of my Han Solo vest and buckle, I'm combining them with a pair of brown chinos and a plain polo (blue, gray, or olive). The Chewie bag is coming along, but embellished with the logo of my imagined smuggler character's ship, the Fool's Errand. This logo also adorns a cap I've made to complete the look of a working freighter captain. (My thinning hair demands I wear a hat of some sort at Disneyland. Usually it's Mickey ears or a fedora.) I also have a pair of driving gloves not dissimilar to Han's flight gloves to tuck into a vest pocket.
I added a transponder/commbadge/greeblie thing to the vest, but that's as far as I go taking it away from normal-ish street clothes. I decided to forego belt accessories, blood stripes, and goggles. Those would take it from being a Disneybound to being a costume.
A family trip is planned for pretty soon, and I'm beyond excited to go play in this little piece of a galaxy far, far away! To say nothing of the rides and merch, just to be in a place, to be part of a place where you are surrounded by the used universe of Star Wars will be a dream come true.
I think our collectively decided upon ‘NO SPOILERS’ for Star Wars is so honestly kind of precious?
Obviously there are some jerks out there trying to ruin it, (I had a small bit spoilered for me, for example, by internet trolls attacking someone else) but overall?
I mean, sure, in some ways I think it’s a bit extreme (no, ‘I liked the movie, the main character was great’ is not spoiler-territory), & frustrating because dangit I WANT TO FLAIL ABOUT XYZ AND THE THING WITH THE STUFF…
But when BIG movies like this happen of late, I walk out of theatre & key scenes are already giffed, live-tweeted, hyped…
If not beforehand, when set pics & spoilers & previews & interviews & hype mean that half the movie feels telegraphed prior to it even hitting theatres.
But this movie?
Everyone is being really quiet about it, and it’s interesting.
I think part of it is us recognizing the desire to capture nostalgically something of what the first audiences must have felt in 1977…
To go in to some weird space movie they knew very little about, with no idea it would be the massive phenomenon it was.
And it’s hard, to still feel that way, when there’s that weight of the last six movies, for better or worse, and a PR machine that includes branding of almost every product on the shelves…
So the avoiding of spoilers is almost a way to preserve that tension & innate excitement of the unknown, even as PR for the movie saturates?
It’s ‘I want you to be just as surprised as me, just as hesitant in the right moments, just as excited & joyous & sad’, & ‘I want you to love this on your own terms, not because of what other people thought about this scene or that, to form your own judgement, & hopefully embrace it with the giddiness of the new’.
