Thank the maker it's finally over.

After two months of constant articles and TV news stories, of hour-long MSNBC specials and Rosie O'Donnell gushing, of the kind of hype that could kill a lesser film phenomenon, the Star Wars Episode One frenzy is pretty much through. The movie has opened, the opening weekend box-office tallies have been totaled and those folks who waited for a month in line have taken much-needed showers. I could smell those L.A. line folks from my front porch in Chicago. Pee-yew!

What have we all learned, culture vultures, from this once-in-a-lifetime, at-least-until-Episode-Two-opens-in-2002 pop culture cataclysm? Let me run down the list:

• George Lucas is an asshole. On the many occasions where he could have been cool to fans and the general public--or even just the media--he didn't bother. At ShoWest, Disney screened an incomplete print of Tarzan for rabid exhibitors and reporters. What did Lucas offer? A crappy trailer that was gonna hit theaters the next day anyway. He was too "busy" to spend any time greeting fans at the massive Star Wars Celebration set up in Denver to pay tribute to his brilliance, and couldn't even be bothered to throw together some exclusive clips from the movie for the assembled (and VERY WET AND CRABBY) throngs of uberfans. He manipulated coverage of himself and his film to the utmost detail and forced theater owners to leap through unreasonable hoops just to screen his latest cinematic gem. For all these reasons and many more, he kinda deserves the backlash against his movie gurgling right now in the mainstream media.

• On the other hand, he doesn't necessarily deserve the backlash, because the media are mostly assholes too. When did major print and television outlets forget that their job is to fairly comment and critique on entertainment, and not to tear it a new asshole just because it's produced by a self-important prick? Witness the good people at Newsweek, who in a fit of pique wrote two nasty articles about the phenomenon and the movie, then proceeded to plaster the film on its cover, clearly pouting in print about their failure to beat Time out on the exclusive Phantom Menace coverage. I'm willing to accept that Episode One doesn't hold a candle to the original Star Wars films, but all this negativity in the air smacks more of a self-righteous media crabfest than any fair approximation of the film and its qualities.

• Everyone needs to geek out once in a while. This past month has been an amazing geek pilgrimage for me, starting on April 30 with the Star Wars Celebration in Denver, Colorado and ending at 10:15 a.m. this past Wednesday, when the words "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...." silently appeared on the massive Theater One screen at McClurg Court in Chicago. It continues still--I just can't stop seein' dat Phantom Menace of mine, no matter how hard I try--but it's not quite the same anymore. The build-up of hype...gathering with fellow Chicago Star Wars fans to plan some charity efforts surrounding the big premiere...taping TV shows and buying stacks of magazines to catch every morsel of news coverage (yes, I hate the asshole media, but I'm a whore to their crack)...reading books and fiddling with my lightsaber (insert dirty joke here) as I rewatched the "Classic" Trilogy on video. I've been of one mind for weeks, focused almost entirely on Star Wars, and for someone who shares that passion with many close friends, it's been a unique experience, somewhat akin to having a really heavy and fun fever for weeks and then breaking clear of it suddenly.

• Most Star Wars fans are definitely not assholes. After spending over ninety hours in various lines waiting to buy tickets to the movie and then to actually see it, I've met some fine fans from all walks of life, from Andy the brilliant college student who was dressed up as Obi-Wan Kenobi to Shauna the vivid redhead who plans to invite her new line buddies to her wedding. Camping out for tickets for four days was part slumber party, part camping trip, part unparalleled geekfest and part bonding haven. It's an experience I wouldn't trade for anything, and it's all thanks to the great fellow Lucas cult members I met while there. I'd daresay that meeting such cool people and having such a great time might have been better than the movie itself...

• ...leading me to my ultimate point: these massive pop culture phenomena aren't about movies, or filmmakers, or special effects or actors or boy bands or even Wookiees. They do stem from powerful sources of inspiration that are dispersed into the culture, but they're worthless unless they act to bring people together in meaningful ways. From the Trekkies who meet their future spouses at conventions to the pre-teens who bond over Jordan Knight in the cafeteria line, it's not really about them. It's about us.

My eyes welled with tears when the first Phantom Menace screening began last Wednesday not just because I was so thrilled to see the movie, but also because I was there with my best friends and my dad, along with thirty or so newer friends I'd made in just the weeks prior to the film's release. All these new relationships springing up over a shared love for a fictional galaxy, with new common interests and passions revealing themselves over time.

Those tears were there because I was surrounded by people I cared about, and I was honored to share that moment with them. Sure, we debated the finer points of the films and imitated Chewbacca to no end over our time together in sharing this experience, but it was never solely about seeing this huge new movie and endlessly talking Star Wars, at least not for me. It was also about sharing this moment with fellow fans...other people, just like me, staring wide-eyed and dreaming into a window to another place. Maybe I'm alone in this, but I'd rather have skipped the premiere of Episode One than seen it alone or with a room full of strangers.

As I write this, the media is gurgling in a fierce anti-Star Wars backlash, the movie itself looks like it might not come close to beating Titanic and even some fans are turning on Star Wars and the new films. Ultimately, I don't even care. I've gained some amazing human connections out of my Star Wars month, and I think that's what makes it worthwhile. I'll never really visit any galaxies far, far away, but my galaxy is a better place right now, not thanks to any movie but thanks to other people. I guess there are a few perks to being an unmitigated Star Wars loser.