'The Empire' walks for charities
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
By MICAH MERTES / Lincoln Journal Star
Jet-powered bounty hunter Jango Fett is having trouble with his seamstress.
He would have been marching with his comrades last weekend in Omaha at the Great Strides Walk for cystic fibrosis.
He would have made his debut as Boba’s dad and impressed his fellow Empirians with his sweet new threads.
But Jeremiah Parker couldn’t find the woman who was stitching up the rest of his $4,000 costume. And he couldn’t join the rest of his gang.
“Oh, she’s going to hear about this,” said a livid Parker, 31-year-old Lincolnite, of his seamstress.
Parker belongs to the 501st Legion, a worldwide volunteer group of about 6,000 people who dress up in movie-quality “Star Wars” gear.
And despite the fact they’re technically the bad guys — the Empire, the minions of Darth Vader — their goal is actually a benevolent one.
Don’t be surprised to see them at a fundraiser for heart disease or cystic fibrosis charities. Dozens of Stormtroopers, Snowtroopers, Jabbas, Fetts, sometimes even a Darth Vader or two, roving around, helping to raise money.
They’re the villains, but they’re also inveterate do-gooders.
Does that contradiction of identity ever get confusing?
“The bad guys have got to be helpful too sometimes,” said John Jaeckel, an Omaha resident and Stormtrooper scout since 2000.
“George Lucas said, you know, the Stormtroopers aren’t bad guys. They just work for bad people.”
The Nebraska-Iowa-Minnesota-Dakotas branch of the group is the Central Garrison, which holds about 80 active members.
These garrisons and squads and outposts pop up throughout the country, the world, anywhere people have heard about “Star Wars.” Which is everywhere.
There’s the FanWars Garrison in South Belgium, the Nordic Garrison in Finland, the German Garrison, the French Garrison, the Croatian Outpost, and, of course the Outpost of the Republic of Djibouti (really).
In 1997, around the time rumors of “The Phantom Menace” were in full swing, a couple of guys decided to launch the legion. The 501st started out as a costuming organization in which members could live a brief, wondrous moment as their favorite “Star Wars” character. But it soon went from geeky fandom to philanthropy.
“We wanted to do something that could justify going out and dressing up as a Stormtrooper all the time,” said Gary Furgason, an Omaha mail carrier who recently dressed as Boba Fett, clone son of Jango.
Since Furgason joined the group about five years ago, he’s collected 52 full costumes of “Star Wars” characters, half of which he stores in a warehouse. Now remember: A costume must be movie-quality for it to walk amongst the 501st. And costumes of this caliber cost anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000.
The parts of these costumes aren’t made on assembly lines. Members usually have to obtain the items from private dealers online, people who make this stuff in their garage.
Furgason said he has at least $70,000 invested in his collection.
So what possesses a grown man (or woman) to do this, to spend thousands just to sport Stormtrooper apparel?
“I’d have to say it’s the kids,” Jaeckel said. “The tops is when you walk into a room and you see that kid’s face just light up because something he’s seen on TV and never expected to see in his entire life just walked through the door. And it’s an amazing moment.”
Sometimes the kids are big.
Like 45-years-old big.
At last weekend’s Great Strides walk, the small group of Stormtroopers mingled with children from a several generations. The Gen Xers who were there at the ground floor of the cultural phenomenon. The tweens and teens who experienced the new wave of Episodes One through Three. And all the “Star Wars” aficionados in between.
Little boys with lightsabers kept running up and challenging the Stormtroopers, then calling it a draw and high-fiving them and running away. A few men gently taunted the Stormtroopers: “Hey Stormtrooper,” one shouted, “here comes Luke Skywalker!”
This scene, the 501st Legion in general, reminds one that despite the fact the prequels are over, despite it being a summer full of new and old cultural staples, such as Iron Man, Batman, Hulk, Indiana Jones and Sarah Jessica Parker, this movie universe is the one that seems to remain dominant.
It’s been 31 years since Luke left Tatooine and embarked on his quest, but people, a lot of people, still care.
“I think it’s in part because people all relate to at least one particular character,” said Parker, the man who would not be Jango Fett. “It’s like a football team. Everybody’s got their favorite player.
“It’s remembered. It’s been passed down all these generations, and I think it’s going to continue to happen. There’s just something about lightsabers and Jedi that keeps people coming back and wanting more.”
So the saga will probably continue. And the 501st will remain, so long as they can find their seamstresses.
Reach Micah Mertes at 473-7395 or mmertes@journalstar.com.
Post Your Comment
Standards and RulesYour posted comment will appear after it has been approved.
Frequently asked questions about story commenting.
may the schwartz be with you wrote on May 15, 2008 1:36 pm:
nerds wrote on May 15, 2008 3:37 pm: