Happy Birthday Star Wars!
I was two weeks old when it came out, and living in Israel. My family story on this (which you may have heard already, my apologies) is that it wasn't in Israel for a while. Before it showed up there, my family was already moving to the US. My dad came over to get a job in order to procure visas for my mom and I (my mom isn't a US citizen). He finally saw Star Wars months after it came out and was blown away. When my mom and I finally did come over, one of the first things he did was take my mom to see it. The movie supposedly flopped in Israel.
For my own part, whenever it was on TV, we always watched it. It was something that's always been around. I couldn't imagine a world without it AND the sequels. They're a part of my childhood, and a part of my hardwired fantasies.
Whatever awful things happened afterward, I'll always be grateful for the Trilogy, and the wonder I still feel when watching it for the billionth time.
Happy birthday to Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Threepio, Artoo, Obi-Wan, and Vader...you're still the gold standard, and we still love you.