Star Wars

As a kid, my oldest brother who is hearing showed me the advertisement in Richmond Times-Dispatch of a movie called "Star Wars". My hearing brother is fluent in ASL and he animatedly described the battles in the space with Death Star looming in background. Then he talked about the fierce lightsaber fight between Darth Vader and Obi-wan Kenobi. I was enthralled and persisted my parents to take us to see the movie.

Suffice to say, it was my hearing brother who hooked me up with the mystical fantasy of Star Wars folklore. Later, we saw the fake lightsabers -- Gary, Billy Jr and I persisted Mom to buy three for us all. We ended up staying in our bedroom -- turning the lights off. And turn the lightsaber on -- suffice to say, we all destroyed our bedroom, along with some bruises on our heads, shoulders, arms, hands -- and yeah, by the end of the night, the lightsabers were worn out, you could see the long stick bend in half.

Star Wars IV, V and VI were fun for me as a child and a teenager. Never mind that Luke is the son of Darth Vader -- it is the battles that counted the most. The explosions, the attacks, the fights -- that s what makes the movies so fun back then since there was no subtitles or captions in a movie theater. Sometimes, my hearing brother would say, "Luke's father who? THERE!!" He would point at Darth Vader who seemed to breathe hard and loud enough for me to feel it on the armchair. I said, "Liar, you crazy, you stupid hearie bro!"

My hearie bro would grab my jaw and say, "TRUE! NOT LIE! TRUE!" I'd gurgle with his hand on my jaw and say, "Yeah, yeah."

Last night, I saw the advertisement on the tube about the complete DVD collection of Star Wars IV, V and VI. IN that, Darth Vader was hanging out with this fan of Star Wars and watching the DVD. When the Death Star exploded, the fan cheered -- Darth Vader turned to stare at the fan who went quiet so fast. So hilarious. Then when the fan tried to use the mind to get the remote control, Darth Vader looked at him then at the remote control -- then sighed. Darth Vader gave up and grabbed the remote control and gave it to the fan in exasperation. So funny!

Thanks, Billy Jr, but you still dumbfuck hearie bro to me.

R-