Get ready to get angry. Of course, who’s better at getting us angry than George Lucas? Lucasfilm executive producer Rick McCallum revealed this past week that the Star Wars TV series is tentatively being titled Star Wars: Underworld, with both he and Lucas adding that it’s just an idea, and not the real title, and other than that nothing’s really set for the show. Which isn’t coming out for “more than 4 or 5 more years.”

In other words, Lucas’ response was It’s Star Wars, and you’ll see it, bc I’m George-F*cking Lucas… And while it’s taken quite a while to finally get some new info on this thing unfortunately a ‘temporary title’ is all we have to go on as of now. McCallum insists Underworld will be set during the 19-year span between Episode III and IV, and focus on all the stuff fans want, like “smugglers, gangsters, bounty hunters, and a few Wall Street-type power brokers.” (We can definitely use more OWS references, because The Dark Knight Rises trailer didn’t have enough).

Seriously though — more than 4 or 5 more years? McCallum responded, “Even longer. Because I think we don’t have the technology yet to be able to do it for the level of money that it would have to be done.”
There you go. So as a sort of palette cleanser, watch Patton Oswalt detail his plot to travel back in time and kill Lucas himself.

It wasn’t my goal to focus on two arguably once-great directors this week, but in other big news Tim Burton’s confirmed that Beetlejuice 2 is officially a go. Or that the project’s underway, and that he’ll be involved. Only in that distant, sort of-involved Lucas-like way (read: executive producer) that Burton’s been big on being as of late. On the brighter side, he seems pretty bent on getting Michael Keaton involved again. The idea of a Beetlejuice sequel might not be as new as you think: they started floating the idea around way back in 1990 with “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.” Unfortunately other stuff came up with the studio involved and the project thankfully folded.

“I love that character, and Michael is so great in it. I always think about how great and fun that character was, so I just said to Seth [Grahame-Smith], ‘If you have some idea about it, go for it, and then I’ll look at it freshly… In the past, I tried some things, but that was way back when. He seemed really excited about it.”

Fortunately there’s Christopher Nolan, who’s relatively young hopefully naive and most importantly finishing the Dark Knight franchise before he gets old and bitter. Speaking of which: about the Bane problem? “Shut up and take it.”

Not a direct quote. But in EW, Nolan addressed the issue: “I think when people see the film, things will come into focus,” he said. “”Bane is very complex and very interesting,” he said. “And when people see the finished film, people will be very entertained by him.” He also went on to add that the mask doesn’t matter, and that you don’t need to understand everything he’s saying, because it’ll be obvious in the movie.

I dunno. Could you imagine him having the same attitude about the Joker, or even Scarecrow? That makes it sound like one of 2 things: Bane is a 1 dimensional stock character bore or 2)I’ve got this under control, and you’ll watch it, cause I’m Chris -f*cking Nolan. Maybe we can get Patton Oswalt to go back in time and smack Nolan around til he wises up.  It’d be a shame to see this thing tank because Bane sounds more like the gimp in Pulp Fiction than muffled pseudo-British accent. Oh, who am I kidding. I’ll see it and like it, cause it’s Nolan…

Words by Jeff Nau.

Star Wars photo and Beetlejuice stuff via Coming Soon

Interview video via youtuber sncollura.

Bane photo courtesy of fansshare.com

Beetlejuice photo courtesy of Screenrant

Blue Tardis Christmas Ornament – Just because the holidays are here and stuff, and you need something to distract you from the usual Santa and reindeer crap. P.S. Has anyone else seen what’s been made of the obvious Bill and Ted/Doctor Who connection yet?

Gay Stormtrooper Action Figure: If there’s two things that were wrong with the Stormtroopers, it’s a) there was not enough glitter and b) the codpiece wasn’t long enough. These are problems easily remedied by amateur action figure maker Sucklord, who rightly guessed that during off hours under a repressive Empire, a few of the Stormtroopers  just needed to turn the Death Star into a West Hollywood club.

Cthulu Ski Mask :  It’s up to you whether you want to use your mask for good or for evil, but say it’s really cold outside that bank/liquor store/post office… also a plus for the beard-sporting thief. If that’s not your thing then try these.

Mad Men – The Illustrated World : Even if you’re not a fan of Don Draper and Betty Francis, you’ll still find time to appreciate this collection of retro illustrations celebrating all things Sterling Cooper. How-to dance instructions cover everything from The Madison to The Mashed Potato. Real question – do they show you how to make a Manhattan and a Greyhound?

Words by Jeff Nau

5. The Google Maps Orange Guy: These two guys loved the Google Orange Guy so much, they decided to put together a costume, from what looks like stuff you could get at your local Rite Aid. The costume itself isn’t that interesting, but the video detailing its conception is pretty cool.

4. Han Solo in Carbonite: I almost put ‘iPad torso wound guy’, here, but yeah we know it’s a great costume, and he’s everywhere. So here’s this guy: I don’t know what works better, the fact that he doesn’t look anything like Han Solo — unless Han Solo was really Mussolini and wore a beanie — or the fact that his carbonite is probably just electric tape and silver spray paint.

3. AT-AT Dog - So you’re not in the mood to dress up. What to do? Look at the dog. That lazy, mangy, take-a-dump-wherever-it-wants-to, incessantly nipping at your heels, needy- mutt. In many third world countries it’d be sautéed and have an apple in its mouth by now. So it’s time that it gave back, and while dumping on your neighbor’s lawn is fine, why not torture it more with this bizarre plastic contraption like a leftover torture device from SAW for dogs.

2. Human Game Boy – This isn’t the first guy who dressed as a Game Boy for All Hallow’s Eve, but you’ve probably never seen somebody go to such lengths to dress as one. Far from just some cheap-ass cardboard box , the guy drew himself a nifty logo, made himself a battery container, everything. Pretty amazing.

1. Human Leeloo — Just pretty self-explanatory, thus the repeat offense…even better that it was probably made out of duct tape and little else…

…Last but not least, just spotted a ton of Dark Crystal conceptual art from set artist/designer Brian Froud that was just too good to pass up. Froud’s also well-renowned helping design the movie Labyrinth.

(via io9)

Words by Jeff Nau (@JeffNau)

The 30-minute film premiered at the Harmony Gold Preview House in Los Angeles earlier this month, and tells the story of two teenage boys (Nathaniel Weiss and Justin Okin) who live and breathe Star Wars as they are tortured by jocks and rejected by girls. They are invited to the hottest party of the year, but there’s a catch. They have to bring a hot girl. Unable to attract one, they take matters into their own hands by pulling a Weird Science and creating one (Taylor Treadwell) from a mint-condition Slave Leia action figure. She teaches them how to use The Force in their own lives to accomplish the most difficult mission of all: fitting in.

Star Wars and John Hughes might not seem terribly similar at first, but director J.C. Reifenberg thinks the juxtaposition makes perfect sense. “Star Wars is kind of like the ultimate underdog story. It’s a small, underdog group of humans and aliens coming together and trying to defeat an oppressive, tyrannical mechanized beast that wants to suppress freedom and creativity. Similarly, John Hughes’ movies are about the social structure of high school and the teenage years oppressing people who are geeks. And the geeks in John Hughes movies always, they don’t necessarily become popular, but they realize it’s not about becoming popular. It’s about becoming who they are inside, and being happy with who they are. And usually at the end, when they do that, that’s when they get the girl, that’s when they go to the party, that’s when they win.”

Hughes the Force was a labor of love. Reifenberg had a script written that he then showed to producer Ruark Dreher, whom he met at Star Wars Celebration V. Dreher loved the script and the concept so much that he agreed to invest in the film. That investment turned into traveling to L.A. from out of state to actually help with the filming, and the result was larger than anyone expected. Writer Stephen J. Koistinen Jr. was cheerful at the premiere, and when asked about how they made the film saw this as something any aspiring filmmaker could’ve done with enough determination. “Basically, you just gotta start doing something,” he says. “We started under the impression that it was gonna be a five-day shoot for a couple thousand dollars. It ended up being a much, much longer shoot, but we adapted to the things that came along. We cheated a lot of lighting set-ups. We figured out how to get things for cheap or for free. So, there’s always a way to figure something else out. There’s always a way to do what they do [in mainstream film] in a different way.”

One of the things that makes Hughes the Force successful is the high caliber of performer the creative team was able to attract to the project. James Arnold Taylor, the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Catherine Taber, the voice of Padme Amidala on Star Wars: The Clone Wars got to play live-action versions of the characters they usually only get to voice; geek hero and auteur, Kevin Smith, has a wonderful cameo in the film; and the entire cast are all solidly working actors in Hollywood. This wasn’t simply a case of a filmmaker hiring his friends. This film was treated, from top to bottom, like a professional production, and it shows in the finished product.

Taylor agrees, “This is something special; something that hasn’t been hit on yet, with the combining of Star Wars and John Hughes, two of the most – in my age group – such a core for all of us. To see someone taking the initiative and creating a film that combines these two, it was like This is awesome! How can I be involved?” Taylor was also thrilled to finally be able to get into the Obi-Wan costume, rather than simply voicing an animated version. “I think [Hughes the Force] has risen above the traditional fan film – and I don’t mean that to bring any fan films down to a lower level – but this is a film within itself. It is a tribute to two great filmmakers and what they’ve done, and I think it’s done beautifully.”

Taber was impressed by the enthusiasm and passion of everyone involved. She says, “They were so excited about the project, and they were doing it the right way. You really felt like it was gonna be something great.” She, like Taylor, sees Hughes the Force as a film in its own right, rather than a mere riff on existing pop culture staples. “It kind of started as a fan film, but then you had so many people involved that put so much heart in it, and more effort into it than you would normally have. It became a professional production in the sense of the work that everyone was putting in and the talent they acquired. It’s the extra effort and the extra care that I think made it  a better quality project than a lot of films that are being put out by Hollywood today, actually.”

During the Q & A at the end of the premiere screening, the creative team revealed that once Hughes the Force has made the rounds at fan film festivals and other smaller screenings, the intention is to put the film online for viewers to watch for free, so keep your eyes on the Hughes the Force website for details. The film is, indeed, funny, nostalgic, and a higher quality production than one would expect from a film of its type. In fact, it is a short film that screams for a feature-length version. Well-written, acted, and directed, Hughes the Force is a charming film worth seeing whether you’re a Jedi or a jock, a Sith or a basket case.

Check out the HUGHES THE FORCE TRAILER Below:

Words by Teresa Jusino. Photos by Emily Heyer. Trailer courtesy of Hughes the Force.

5. The Darth Vader Alarm Clock. Too tired to get outta bed, lazy-ass? Well perhaps he can find more ways to motivate you. The crick in your neck isn’t from sleeping the wrong way, it’s because you dared to hit snooze.

4. The Darth Vader Toaster.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Complete with Darth Vader branding, a nutritious piece of toast makes you ready to cut down Obi-Wan in a flash of the blade. Come, good food, come.

3. The Yoda Plush Backpack. No, the muppet Jedi master isn’t sneaking up behind you to cut your throat with a light saber, or hump you. It’s merely a brilliant way to carry your books and/or supply of illicit substances. Who’s gonna suspect a guy/gal with a Yoda backpack? No?! Then put it in your kid’s or something. Yoda looks kinda high already here.

2. R2D2 Trashcan. Give in to the dark side. Some part of you was always irritated by that little bleeping blipping rolling piece of metal. How the little f*cker withstood laser blasts and being kicked over and always managed to get back up. But now, when your roommate’s in the bathroom, and there’s nowhere else to go — or when you’re too lazy to flush that used condom down the toilet, R2 is just what you always wanted him to be: the perfect all-purpose receptacle.

1. The Death Star BBQ Grill: After a hard day, you just want to toss some Ewoks on the grill, kick back and watch Alderon explode. A tractor beam… for the tonsils!

Words by Jeff Nau (@JeffNau)

Seth tends to be a pretty outspoken guy — and has become even more so as of late. He seems pretty serious about this, but would it work? I don’t suppose there’s any way to get the Roddenberry estate to team up with Seth for more of the above.  Like on a regular basis. Once a week maybe?

“I don’t know who would give me the keys to that car,” MacFarlane laughs, referring to Paramount’s possible lack of interest in bringing back Trek to the TV screen. “But I’d love to see that franchise revived for television in the way that it was in the 1990s: very thoughtful, smartly written stories that transcend the science fiction audience.”

In other sh*tty movie news, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has officially exited the remake of the 1994 Brandon Lee film The Crow, making it perhaps the most abandoned big screen comic book adaptation since Brad Pitt, Keanu and pretty much everyone else bolted from Akira. This might have something to do with the fact that the studio canned writer Nick Cave (yes, that Nick Cave) even though he wrote the amazing genre-defying Western pic The Proposition, and would probably be perfect for bringing The Skull Cowboy and Eric Draven back to the big screen? I’m just speculating, but when Stephen Norrington leaves a film because of the script, it’s probably because it’s not retarded enough for him.

Finally, rumors have been surfacing whether Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow appearance in The Dark Knight was really a fitting end for one of Batman’s greatest enemies (which was basically an effeminately bat-gloved wrist slap.) The answer is probably no, as various eyewitness accounts refer to Murphy showing up on set. Fortunately the BBC’s Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo bullied him into giving all but a confirmation. Say what you will about Murphy’s acting ability, he doesn’t have much of a poker face in the studio.

And for a refresher, the ‘torture Carmine Falcone’ scene from Batman Begins:

(via Niki Stephens at joblo and comic book movie)

Words by Jeff Nau

While some are better than others (The Star Wars one pretty much trumps all) clearly a lot of work went into this, and kudos to the guys for coming up with it.

But let’s be honest, all we give a sh*t about is The Dark Knight Rises. Yes, Joey G (as we close friends of his like to call him) said spoilers are bad. But it’s everywhere and impossible to avoid. So here’s your spoiler for the day: numerous eyewitnesses are confirming that Cillian Murphy has been hanging out on the set and that he’ll be returning for The Dark Knight Rises. After a brief and disappointing cameo as a has-been Scarecrow peddling serum out of the back of a van, hopefully we’ll get something better than just another arrest. Like I said, throw Flass back in the mix and we’ll be perfect. Dammit.

Club Silencio is like a bizarre hybrid between L.A’s The Museum of Jurassic Technology and the club he modeled it after. Six flights of stairs, so that you feel you’re descending into the basement of in Eraserhead. Furniture designed by Lynch himself. Gold tinting and highlights courtesy of the same technicians that helped renovate Napoleon’s tomb. And according to The Guardian, Club Silencio might mark the beginning of a new era in Lynch’s diverse slew of artistic endeavors.

The club itself has a rich, if somewhat morbid, history: French naturalist Zola wrote J’accuse here, and renowned comedic playwright and The Bourgeois Gentleman author Moliere is supposedly buried here. And when asked if he’d be doing any more movies, Lynch dodged the question and focused on his club. “Silencio is something dear to me,” Lynch said to a reporter at The Guardian. I wanted to create an intimate space where all the arts could come together. There won’t be a Warhol-like guru, but it will be open to celebrated artists of all disciplines to come here to program or create what they want.”

In other news, sort of, comedy group Dr. Coolsex has posted their trailer for the porn parody of The Dark Knight Rises, featuring Buttman, The Poker, Poison HIV (perfect timing) and of course, Scatwoman. You’re welcome.

Finally, UCLA alum Richard Hom created a cool little short about Lightsabers and the love affair we’ve all had with them (insert dirty joke here). Think of it kind of like the bag of weed in Harold and Kumar, only with a Jedi’s favorite weapon.

Words by Jeff Nau

New York City geeks were recently lined up around the block for five hours in anticipation of one of Geek Culture’s patron saints. Simon Pegg, star of fan-favorite films Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, the J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek, and the cult-hit television show, Spaced, made an appearance at the Strand Bookstore as part of his U.S. tour to promote the American release of his new book, Nerd Do Well.

The book is an entertaining and insightful read whether you’re familiar with Simon Pegg or not. Part memoir, part comedic genre fiction, Nerd Do Well chronicles Pegg’s journey from being a young boy obsessed with Star Wars and zombies to becoming a man who gets to hang out with George Romero and be introduced to George Lucas. As Pegg puts it, it’s “about the idea of an adult fulfilling his childhood passions.”

Pegg understands what it is to be a fan, having been one all his life. So, rather than have the crowd gathered at the Strand sit through a reading and risk not having the time to get their books signed, Pegg chose to skip reading and go straight to the signing, determined to give every single person the one-on-one attention they desperately craved. It’s this kind of understanding that makes Simon Pegg so beloved in the Geek Community.

I was lucky enough to be able to speak with him several days later, as he continued his book tour across the country. It wasn’t originally his intention to write a memoir at all. As I said to him, it seemed a bit soon for this kind of a book, rather like getting a Lifetime Achievement Award when you still have so much left to do, but his original plan was to do a book about film, or even a work of genre fiction. It wasn’t until he met with his editor that he was convinced that it would be worth it to write something a bit more personal.

“Richard E Grant wrote a wonderful book called With Nails, which is all about his first five or six films in quite detail and talks about the story of making them and what was going on, and I thought that could be worth doing, because it felt more work-related,” Pegg says. “But I found that [I] couldn’t get excited about talking about work – as much as I love my job – it felt like something that would be boring to read.” He began to see that there were many parallels between his childhood and his adulthood that he thought would be more fun, both to read and to relate. “And I had to then get over the fact that I would be sharing – I’ve always been a very private person, I try to keep my private life out of my work – and this would necessitate me actually talking about my private life. So I wrestled with that for a while, and came to the conclusion that…this is the kind of stuff that I would share with friends down at the pub, and it was also coming straight from me, and not being filtered through anybody. So after going through that whole thought process (laughs) I finally thought OK, I’ll write the memoir.”

After writing the book, Pegg thought it important to get in contact with the people he mentions in it, to get their blessing. That, in itself, proved to be its own journey. “In some instances I found odd moments of closure where I didn’t realize I needed it or even wanted it,” he says. “And [I] also found an excuse to talk to people that I missed, whose company I’d fallen away from just through distance and time.” He even got in touch with Mrs. Taylor, one of the English teachers he mentions warmly in the book: “She’d written a comment after one of my projects about ‘Perhaps you can do this when you’re published’ and then to sort of, twenty-five or thirty years later to be able to say, ‘Well, now I am published, and here it is! And here’s your comment!’ That was a nice sort of circularity.”

As kind and thoughtful as Pegg was on the phone, there was also a seriousness about him that seems a bit surprising at first, until you put it in the context of his real-life close friendship with actor, Nick Frost, which has been immortalized in a fictionalized version in the projects they’ve done together. He’s the one who could stand to let go a bit more (like Nick Angel in Hot Fuzz) and Frost is the one who teaches him how to do that (like Danny in the same film). Their friendship, as well as the bromance in all its incarnations is a large focus of Nerd Do Well.

In fact, there are a several humorous as well as not-so-nice incidents in Pegg’s life that have involved other boys and men by whose inclusion I was surprised. It isn’t many actors of a certain caliber who openly discuss, for example, the times that they kissed male friends in a group for a laugh, or the times they briefly wondered if they were gay; but he believes such hesitance is unnecessary if one is secure in who they are. To Pegg, it’s just not that big of a deal.

When I asked him why he chose to include those anecdotes, he says, “I just wanted to be honest, really. My agenda wasn’t anything more than just telling it how it is, and everything else be damned. I don’t care what people think about me in that respect, I have nothing to hide. And I’m sure there were things there that lots and lots of people can relate to. Nowadays, particularly in light of my screen relationship with Nick Frost, there are guys being a lot more open about being friends and not being worried about… I mean, guys who worry about people thinking they’re gay are probably gay, and that’s the root of their insecurities, when it’s actually fine to give your mate a hug. It doesn’t matter, you know? And also there are things that a) they’re quite amusing, and b) they fed into my emotional growth, which is part of the book in a way. So, no, I didn’t worry about that at all.”

He tends not to talk about his baby daughter much, given his desire for privacy, but I asked him how he feels about the current Geek Girl movement as the father to a future geek girl. “I think it’s great,” he says. “It’s another moment of empowerment. Just as we’ve gotten to a point where guys can talk about the things they love without being ashamed of it, then women are feeling the same thing. And it’s great, because it’s creating a new layer of female geek output, you know? There are new characters, and new types of genre fiction that are tailored specifically for and created by women and that can only be a good thing. Cause guys can get a kick out of, you know “They’re here now! They’re here!” (laughs) Men can enjoy that, too! I love the rise of the Nerd Girl.”

Simon Pegg is a talented and funny actor/writer who is comfortable enough in his own skin to not be threatened by bromance or girls and women in the geeky clubhouse, and Nerd Do Well is a funny, entertaining, and honest read from one of geekdom’s greatest heroes. It’s available now from Gotham/Penguin wherever books are sold!

Words and photos by Teresa Jusino.

Now, more than ever, a Geek Girl movement is thoroughly under way. Books like Chicks Dig Time Lords, panels like “Geek Girls Exist” at San Diego Comic Con, and upcoming events like Geek Girl Con in Seattle all spotlight the fact that not only do women and girls genuinely enjoy things like sci-fi and fantasy independent of the men in their lives, but that they have valuable contributions to make to the creation of sci-fi/fantasy stories, as well as to their respective fandoms.

It’s easy to dismiss such efforts as unnecessary in 2010. After all, do we really need another “Women in Sci-Fi” panel? Aren’t we past all that? Couldn’t women just be included in things where gender isn’t the primary focus? Well, no. Not yet. If you ever wonder why the current rise of the “Geek Girl” movement is so important, one only need look at stories like that of Katie, a 7 year old Star Wars fan in Illinois who was teased in school for carrying a Star Wars water bottle.

Because Star Wars is “for boys.” Apparently.

Katie’s mother, Carrie Goldman, wrote a blog for ChicagoNow about the general topic of bullying and related it specifically to the teasing Katie was getting as early as first grade. When the news of Katie being teased for her Star Wars paraphenalia hit the internet, the geeky troops were rallied and the story was spread everywhere. Soon, Katie and her mother were being interviewed on national news programs and online for outlets like The Huffington Post. #MayTheForceBeWithKatie became a popular hashtag on Twitter, and a Facebook group was started for what has become Wear Star Wars/Share Star Wars Day, which is tomorrow, December 10th!

I had the chance to speak with Ms. Goldman about being a parent to the most well-known Star Wars fan under 10, how Katie’s been doing now that she’s been adopted by the geek community, and how she hopes Katie’s story will help others.

How did Katie get to be a Star Wars fan in the first place? What sparked her interest in it?

CARRIE GOLDMAN: Katie idolizes her daddy, and she noticed at [about 2 or 3] that he is a Star Wars fan. She becomes very “fanatic” about his same interests, and so in addition to Star Wars, she is a big Chicago White Sox fan, a Harry Potter fan, a Narnia fan. She loves science fiction and fantasy stories.

What’s the reaction been like from other parents with whom you associate, or from kids that go to Katie’s school after her story exploded the way it did? Do you find that parents see this as a way to teach their children about teasing and bullying?

CG: There has been some amazed disbelief by the other parents at school, but in a positive way.  I was worried about a backlash from the parents of the first grade boys, but fortunately, they have all been supportive. To protect Katie from that situation, I have told her that she is NOT to reveal the names of the boys involved, because I want to protect their privacy. After all, they are just little boys. Katie has been excellent about not naming them publicly. We also have protected the name of her school so that Jedis won’t show up there! The other parents have read my article and many of them have passed it around on their own Facebook pages, so I think they are proud of the way that the school and the community have responded. And, yes, people are definitely talking about teasing and bullying.

I know that you’ve been trying to keep it from getting too overwhelming for her, but how does Katie feel about all the attention she’s gotten?

CG: Katie does not want too much of a spotlight on her. Although she is very outgoing and talkative when she is comfortable, she gets shy around people she does not know.  But she warms up quickly!  Still, a few days into the whole Star Wars explosion, she had trouble falling asleep, and when I sat on the bed to talk to her about it, she admitted that she felt “cuckoo.” That was the night after she spoke to the Tribune and also gave an interview to WGN, and I decided that she was done giving interviews. From now on, I will do interviews without her. She is just a little girl, and it is my job to give her a normal life. Her life is not going to be lived on TV.  It is fine for me to speak publicly, because I am an adult, and I can handle the pressure. But I don’t want to subject her to the pressure. So, no more interviews for Katie. And once I made that decision, I was glad, because the next day CNN and MSNBC asked us to do live national interviews, and I said I would do them without Katie, and it was great. Katie is back to acting like herself, and she is really enjoying the Star Wars explosion as long as she doesn’t have to talk publicly. She REALLY loves reading the comments and emails and messages. She gets a wonderful smile, and she is awed by the support.

I think that using the support Katie’s received to spread the Star Wars love to needy children was a great idea. How would you recommend people take part in that? Are there any specific organizations you’d like this effort to support?

CG: A Facebook event has been created on December 10th called “Support Star Wars and Geek Pride for Katie.” So far 12,700 people are participating. Basically, people are going to wear Star Wars clothing that day in support of Katie. My husband and I have asked to remarket the event as “Wear Star Wars/ Share Star Wars“ and we would like every person who participates to donate a Star Wars or science fiction toy to a hospital or shelter or low income child that day.  And we hope that the donors will include a Post-It note that specifies that the toy can go to a boy or a girl, not just a boy.  Katie has received such an outpouring of love and support; we want to spread that goodwill around to other kids. Every kid deserves to feel supported. As far as specific organizations, I think that people should donate to whatever feels special to them.  Katie was in foster care when we adopted her, so of course we like to donate to children in foster care or group homes.

I think it’s great that, when buying toys for Katie, you didn’t really adhere to “boy toys” vs. “girl toys.” Other than her being a Star Wars fan, how have you noticed that not adhering to those distinctions has affected Katie as far as her personality, her schoolwork, or in her relationships with other kids? Or do you think those things are entirely dependent on the individual child?

CG: Katie likes all kinds of toys, both “boy toys” and “girl toys,” and she has always enjoyed playing with boys.  I do think the early exposure to trains and trucks has paved the way for her interest in “boy toys,” but nurture alone is not responsible.  I believe that every child is the product of both nature and nurture combined. As far as Katie’s social activities, in the summer, she is always one of a very few number of girls who attends the local Sports Camp, and she makes friends with the boys instantly. In Kindergarten, she was readily included by the boys when they played Star Wars on the playground, and I think that was part of why she felt so shocked and dismayed when she reached first grade and suddenly the boys told her that Star Wars was not for girls.  She had a crisis of confidence about her identity, because she has always played Star Wars. Katie has always had plenty of friends, both male and female, but she is like any child in that she wants to be liked and included, and she has cried to us more than once about being teased.  But every kids gets teased at some point, and we are teaching her to be herself no matter what.

It’s telling that what boys will readily accept in kindergarten they are taught not to accept by first grade. This is why things like the Geek Girl movement remain important. Because apparently, we still need the reminders: that women and girls do enjoy geeky pursuits and plenty of other things that are arbitrarily deemed “male”; that the little girls that grow up enjoying that stuff today may well become the sci-fi writers, scientists, or engineers of tomorrow; and that no one should be forced to hide who they are or what they like for fear that someone will give them grief for it.

So tomorrow, wear your Star Wars shirt (or any other sci-fi related clothing) with pride, and donate a Star Wars toy to your favorite children’s charity in honor of Katie and all the other little geek girls out there. I will be rocking a Star Trek shirt and donating a Star Wars toy to the Children’s Aid Society. And I’ll be labelling it “FOR A GIRL.”

If you’d like to continue to keep up with Katie, “Like” Portrait of an Adoption on Facebook.

Words by Teresa Jusino. Pictures courtesty of Carrie Goldman.