Villains and Scoundrels

The Boo is literally overcome with excitement and anticipation about the opening of Revenge of the Sith later this month. Here's a glowing review of the movie (hat tip: Ace).

She has been a Darth Vader fan since she was 2 years old and obsessively watched Star Wars hundreds of times on video. I remember thinking, uh-oh--why does she like the villain? "Mommy," she told me, "he's stronger than anybody. I feel safe with him."

Safe? Safe? I couldn't imagine why she needed Darth Vader to make her feel safe (identification with the aggressor? monsters under the bed? bad parenting?)

For her 5th birthday, my husband and I arranged a special surprise visit from a Darth Vader impersonator (very realistic, with light saber and ominous breathing) who arrived in the middle of her birthday party to surprise her. There were about 10 other kids at the party. Unfortunately, it was a total and complete disaster--an event that she will likely mention in any future psychotherapy as being one of the more traumatic ones in her life. Kids started screaming and crying and running away in terror. The adults watched in horror at the sudden conversion of a happy birthday party into a frenzy of frightened and hysterical 5 year olds.

Sobbing, and gasping for breath as I held her shaking little body that day and tried to explain that it was only someone pretending to be the Sith Lord; she told me that she thought that our imitation Darth Vader had been real and that he had come to her party to kill her and all her friends.

"But I thought you liked him!" I wailed (definitely no "mother of the year" award for me).

"Mommy, I like him in my imagination. Not for real."

Wow. Did I learn a lot that day. She reminds me of that horrible birthday rather frequently (I think its a way of putting me in my place when I get too overbearing) and is wont to announce to all and sundry at the most inopportune times of how I permanently traumatized her on her 5th birthday by inviting the Lord of the Sith.

Since that awful party, she has had less interest in Vader (although she really thinks Hayden Christianson is "cute") and has taken up with a somewhat less evil character--Boba Fett, the Bounty Hunter. She knows every line of his dialog (there were only four) and has read every book, comic and fan site that discusses him. While I bought her his trademark helmut for Christmas last year, I most certainly didn't invite him to her 12th birthday party.

I guess Boba Fett is progress of a sort. She despises Luke Skywalker ("he's so goody-goody"), and my best hope is that she'll eventually settle for a Han Solo--who at the least is a dedicated scoundrel.

Scoundrels can be nice.