Rogue Anniversary

Yesterday would have been our 31st anniversary. The Amazing Bob and I got married a decade and a half after meeting, hooking up and recognizing that we were a thing…a BIG, IMPORTANT, BRING-DOWN-THE-HOUSE thing. We used the date, January 27th, as our overall anniversary.

So yeah, yesterday was rough city. Jen and Oni (my heroes!) arranged the day to reduce my mondo pain. At 9:30 AM, Oni and I motored down to the movie theater in Braintree – the one with closed captioning and cushy recliners in ALL ten auditoriums (!!!).

What did we see? Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

 In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves. (source)

It was FABULOUS!

Forest Whitaker was utterly brill (as uszh) as Saw Gerrera, the leader of an extremist bunch of Rebel Alliance fighters. He is Jyn Erso’s, the main hero played by Felicity Jones, long time mentor, a father figure.

The rest of the cast is brill too. Donnie Yen is Chirrut Îmwe, the ass-kicking, force believing warrior monk. Jiang Wen is Baze Malbus, a freelance assassin and Chirrut Îmwe’s bestie. Riz Ahmed plays Bodhi Rook, a cargo pilot for the Empire before defecting. Diego Luna plays Cassian Andor, a soldier, pilot and Intelligence officer for the Alliance.

My favorite droid of the entire Star Wars canon debuts in Rogue One. It’s K-2SO, voiced by Alan Tudyk. He’s a reprogrammed Imperial droid and, in the readjustment, got a tremendously dry wit. 

Yes, I want an action figure now.

This is the Star Wars film we've always deserved, one that more closely resembles the mix of people found on our own little planet. And though it's long overdue, it represents a changing Hollywood, and a more globalized film industry. (source)

Much has been written about the tremendous diversity of the cast – that is, the actors aren’t all white boys – COOL.  Also too, as with The Force Awakens’ Rey, the main hero, the prime mover’s a chick. A totally kick ass, outside the mainstream vagina toting human. AWESOME! She was the highest paid of the entire cast too. Unusual considering the overwhelmingly entrenched gender pay gap BUT only fair since she was the lead.

There should be more, more, more women in the next Star Wars flick.

I do believe we need a Rebel Alliance here in the this former democracy, known as the U.S. I gotta find/strengthen my own inner Leia/Rey/Jyn just like Whitney Taylor of the Massachusetts ACLU who has said:

We (the ACLU) will fight for the civil rights and liberties of everyone in the Commonwealth and beyond. We may not have blasters, but these are the smartest, most dedicated people I have known in my life.

As we prepare to battle and protest the threats presented by the Trump Administration, I ask that everybody reach for their inner-Leia. We need to take the momentum created by the Boston Women’s March for America and the Women’s March on Washington on January 21st and take action! (source)

I do believe I’m going to go see Rogue One again this morning.