Written by Miha Palancha. Graphic by Miha Palancha.
This May 4th, SCAD went full Star Wars. The Lucas Theatre screened The Phantom Menace—yes, the one with baby Anakin and pre-beard Obi-Wan. And honestly, the energy was kind of insane.
There was a full-on photobooth set up outside, and so many people came dressed. Jedi robes, stormtroopers, even a Darth Maul or two. At some point, it felt like half the student body owned a lightsaber. Which not even that surprising if you know SCAD students. We take our costumes pretty seriously.
Watching The Phantom Menace again, on the big screen, surrounded by a couple hundred other Star Wars nerds? It hit different. That podracing scene? Still slaps. And seeing little Ani leave his mom to go train as a Jedi—knowing what’s coming later—ugh. “I’m not afraid to try. I don’t want to be a problem” (Anakin). It hurts in the best way.
“Even after everything he did, I still love Anakin,” someone behind me whispered during the scene with Qui-Gon. And honestly, same. If he hadn’t turned, we wouldn’t have gotten one of the most iconic villains ever. But sometimes I still wish he had never put that helmet on.
There were some great crowd reactions, too—cheers when Obi-Wan showed up, laughter when Jar Jar did literally anything and a whole lot of gasps during the final duel. Slyvie, an acting major, said, “That double-bladed lightsaber moment? Still legendary. I got chills.”
Another viewer joked, “I came for the nostalgia, stayed because I actually forgot how cool Darth Maul was.”
The whole night felt like a celebration—not just of Star Wars, but of growing up with it, loving it, critiquing it and still showing up. Even after all the sequels, prequels, rewatches and debates about the Jedi Council being kinda trash, we’re all still here. And we still care.
By the end of the night, everyone was taking pictures with their sabers outside the theatre, quoting random lines and arguing about who deserved better (Padmé, always).
So yeah, maybe it’s just a movie. But to a lot of us, it’s also the reason we got into storytelling in the first place.
And at SCAD, surrounded by a crowd that gets it? That galaxy far, far away didn’t feel far at all.
Miha is a first-year Graphic Design student, minoring in Motion Media and UX Design. She loves writing, recording, and designing cool things for District. Otherwise, you’ll probably find her at a coffee shop, listening to Taylor Swift and designing or animating something cool 🙂
