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Return of the Star Wars Fans
In 2002, “Star Wars” fans were ridiculed as being “huge” nerds on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” Those fans are lining up again — this time for the release of “Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” — and it’s for a worthy cause.
mil232@nyu.eduMiddle-aged men in costumes wield plastic lightsabers, act out scenes from “Star Wars” movies and play strategy board games.
A 2002 “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” segment featuring “Star Wars” fans lined up outside of a movie theater might have helped to solidify the image in many people’s minds of such fans as “huge” nerds.
For Suzanne Sousa, that stereotype ignores not only the diversity among “Star Wars” fans — she herself breaks the stereotype — but the significance of their gathering. The line was an opportunity for “Star Wars” fans to raise money for charity, said Sousa, “P.R. Princess” for NYLine, the group that gathered those fans.
On April 30, “Star Wars” fans will again line up outside of the Ziegfeld Theatre in midtown Manhattan for the midnight May 19 release of “Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.”
Those participating are encouraged to sign up “Stand-A-Thon” sponsors who will pledge money for every hour they spend in the line. The money raised will go to the New York / New Jersey / Connecticut chapter of Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation to purchase Fun Centers — mobile entertainment consoles costing $3,250 each and comprising a TV, DVD player and video game system.
Sousa said Starlight, which works with seriously ill children, was an obvious choice when it came time to choose a charity because of support “Star Wars” writer and director George Lucas has given the organization.
In 1999, NYLine raised $15,000 for Starlight with the release of “Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace.” In 2002, with the release of “Star Wars: Episode II: The Attack of the Clones,” the group raised $18,000. Sousa does not know how much money NYLine will collect this year, but the group is counting on cash raised by Stand-A-Thon participants and in-kind donations from companies such as Toys “R” Us and Lego. New this year is an online auction of “Star Wars” memorabilia, which Starlight is running on eBay from April 21 through May 17.
While it is not mandatory for those in line to raise money for charity, at least one former line participant came to appreciate what NYLine did for Starlight. “What was I getting out of it? Nothing, really. … No recognition, no thanks — nothing other than some kind of feeling that I’d heard someone mention on TV or something … selflessness?” wrote a fan called JediRob in The New York Clone, a newsletter put out by NYLine.
The line outside of the Ziegfeld will be manned in shifts lasting several hours each between April 30 and May 19. Each shift is worth a number of points, and any participant who earns at least 60 points is guaranteed a ticket to the midnight screening. “If you’re going to do just the bare minimum, it’s like 12 hours over 19 days,” said Sousa. In 2002, however, one fan spent a total of 300 hours in line.
During the longest shift — an overnight shift — those in line will watch obscure movies featuring actors from the original “Star Wars” trilogy. Trivia challenges, bingo and a street fair for children, including ones from Starlight, are among the activities planned for the other shifts.
NYLine was inspired by “Star Wars” fans in Los Angeles, who decided to stage a line outside of a theater where “The Phantom Menace” was going to be released. “The idea of lining up with fellow fans in a celebration captures the madness of the original release of all the movies,” Sousa said.
Those fans created a Web site to highlight their activities and to invite people from around the country to create fan lines in their own cities. The group connected Sousa, who contacted them about setting up a line in New York City, with some other people in the area.
NYLine organized a second line in 2002 for the release of “Attack of the Clones.” Knowing that “Revenge of the Sith” would be the last new “Star Wars” film to be released, the group started planning for the upcoming line a year and a half ago. And because NYLine, unlike the line in Los Angeles, for example, guarantees a ticket to anyone who meets the minimum requirements, some of this year’s participants are coming in from around the country and from as far away as Europe and South America. This is in spite of the fact that “Revenge of the Sith” will be released everywhere except in Japan on May 19.
Sousa and the 17 other NYLine volunteers are driven more by their dedication to offering fans a fun experience and to raising as much money as possible for Starlight than by their passion for “Star Wars.” All of them juggle their NYLine responsibilities with full- or part-time jobs, school and family.
“What I’ve always loved about this whole endeavor [is] you do what you can,” said Sousa, who works for a social service agency.
When Sousa took her seat in the Ziegfeld before the premiere of “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones,” she had the pleasure of knowing she had tried her best, not only for those sitting around her but for the children Starlight benefits. “All the frustrations, all the dramas that happen … I’ve got to say, it’s all worth it, once you’re in there.”
Stormtroopers in front of the Ziegfeld Theatre in 2002 (Photo courtesy of NYLine)
"Liberty Jedi," a 40-inch Lego sculpture, is one of the items that will be auctioned off to benefit Starlight. (Photo courtesy of NYLine)