Spaceballs.... The greatest Star Wars parody ever made. Though, i have to admit I don't really know of any others. Spaceballs is brilliant in its perfect execution of the jokes.

But, I'm not here to give a run down of the best Spaceballs moment versus what they are parodying. What is brilliant about the parody is that even though it was made to coincide with the OT, coincidentally it works quite well with the PT. Who knows, perhaps GL is a Mel Brooks fan & decided to deliver a movie that wouldn't interfere with a classic bit of comedy so there would be no need for a Spaceballs Special Edition 2006 after the PT was released.

As I get older, Spaceballs got funnier & funnier. I still think Barf is the funniest name for a mog ever.

Why, Oboe-Wan, are you bringing up Spaceballs?

Good question oh gentle reader. A funny thing happened this weekend. I am attempting a SW saga marathon (don't worry, a blog will be following shortly) when I reached a certain little scene in AOTC. It made me laugh to think that in not being parodied it is a parody.

Ok, screw your eyeballs back in straight, I meant what I said! In AOTC Anakin is charged with the job of protecting Padme. He accompanies her back to Naboo where she's going to go into hiding in one of the most romantic settings of the saga this side of Cloud City. They are walking and discussing her political career when I notice that Anakin is carrying all the luggage. Perhaps one of those bags is his, but doubtful. A Jedi packing a bag? Nah. He's going commando so he doesn't need a suitcase. But Padme... those costumes she wears can't possibly fit into 2 small carry-on bags, but what the hey. There's only one logical explanation for how she could fit all her clothes into those bags: The Schwartz.

Spaceballs... the winnebago crashes on to the Moon of Vega.. LoneStarr, Barf, Vespa & Dot disembark and begin walking to find help. Vespa is worried about leaving her luggage behind on the ship so LoneStarr gives her permission to bring "Only what [she] need[s] to survive." The joke of course is that the next scene shows Vespa walking daintily through the desert, parasol protecting her from the sun while the men, Lone Starr & Barf, carry all her luggage & of course..... the giant trunk..... Finally, Lone Starr hits his breaking point. He slams down the trunk and declares that he needs to know what it is that is so heavy. He opens it up:

LONE STARR What's this? I said take only what you need to survive.
VESPA It's my industrial strength hair dryer, and I can't live without it!

So did Padme bring along all her costumes? Did she stuff them into space bags, use her shop vac to suck all the air out, and that's how she fit them into the luggage? What about all her headdresses & jewelry? Those must weigh a ton. Anakin is a strapping young man, he apparently can carry her two 3-ton bags without complaing, but one has to wonder what he's thinking. "Why do I always have to carry her bags?" Or is he just "so in love" that he turns a blind eye to the 5 costume changes per day packed into the suitcases? Doesn't matter. It still comes back to the Force.

Lone Starr refuses to bring the industrial strength hair dryer in the end and now carries the empty trunk across the sands.

LONE STARR See, it's lighter.
BARF Oh yeah. This is best. I could carry two of three of these.

So what is the point of this blog? Um.... not sure there was a point except to say that the men always get stuck carrying the suitcases. As a woman I'm ok with this.

A reminder to also crack out your copy of Spaceballs. Rent it! Buy it! Love it. Be one with the Schwartz.

May the Schwartz be with you!