For devoted “˜Star Wars’ fans, the wait is over
By Ryan Finstad
May 18, 2005 9:00 p.m.
t’s just past midnight Wednesday, and 15 to 20 people lay
sprawled out uncomfortably on the sidewalk.
No, they aren’t homeless; they’re waiting in line
for the new “Star Wars” movie set to debut early this
morning.
“It’s absolute paradise being married to someone who
won’t immediately slap you when you say, “˜Let’s
go spend six weeks waiting in line for “˜Star
Wars,”” said Idi Okilo as she looked lovingly at
her husband sitting next to her on the concrete.
The couple, who had been waiting intermittently in front of the
Mann Chinese Theater on Hollywood and Highland since April 2, began
camping in front of Westwood’s Mann Village Theatre on
Tuesday morning.
After what they described as a “six-week block
party,” the estimated 300 campers at the Mann Chinese were
informed that the movie would not be screened there as they had
anticipated.
The news prompted a factional split within the group, with some
campers abandoning their posts to wait at different theaters and
others remaining at the scene in protest.
The majority of campers who left moved to the ArcLight Cinerama
Dome on Sunset Boulevard, but Brian Williams and his wife Idi chose
Westwood instead.
“I hate the Arclight,” Williams said.
“It’s a multiplex. That’s not what “˜Star
Wars’ is about.”
Second-year political science student Terry Frink began waiting
in front of the Village Theatre at 9:30 Tuesday night.
One of the few UCLA students present, he consumed Jose
Bernstein’s for sustenance and had taken to relieving himself
on the tree across the street.
Frink was holding tickets for himself and 16 others, including
his mother, who had to drive a few hours to join him for the
premier.
Next to Frink stood a shifty-eyed man wearing an overcoat to
conceal the Star Trek uniform he wore beneath.
Though he calls himself a peacemaker between the rival groups,
the man refused to be identified for fear of retribution from
fellow Trekkies.
Another camper, Matthew Bortolin, roused himself from a midnight
siesta to talk about his book, “The Dharma of Star
Wars.”
A fan since 1977, Bortolin said he first got the idea for a book
about Buddhism and “Star Wars” when he wrote a paper
for his girlfriend’s class at California State University,
Northridge last year.
The paper only earned a C, but eventually landed the author a
deal with Wisdom Publishing.
“Buddhist teachings are apparent on both sides of the
Force,” he said.
Tickets for the midnight screening of “Star Wars: Episode
III” went on sale April 21, and the first fans began camping
in front of the Village Theatre on Friday, May 13.
The theater opened its doors for seating just before 11
Wednesday night.
Hours before the doors opened Wednesday, the line had grown
around the block.
The official capacity of the Village Theatre is 1,341 Jedis.
