Found in LA: Darth Vader Loose in the City

So, it was just a typical Los Angeles day of running errands. And then I noticed that across the street, Darth Vader was waiting at the bus stop with a group of seemingly oblivious commuters. Still kind of typical, since I live near the studios.

Of course I had to get a picture for you guys. I wanted that "everyday people" shot, but as soon as they saw me jaywalking towards them, Darth and his photographer made a break for it. I caught up with them, and politely asked for a picture, basically cornering them.

I asked if they were with Nickelodeon, across the street, and they said no. But they refused to tell me what they were doing. I was just wondering why in the hell someone was walking around the valley in 90-degree heat wearing that thing. They seemed to be enjoying confusing people, so I let them have the pleasure of random surrealism..

When the photographer asked me to pose alongside Darth for a photo, I felt like I had to comply. I mean, I had just chased them down the street at a full trot.

Darth posed, menacing me with the claw hand, but in his giant suit I don't think he realized he was right at breast level. Since the photographer didn't say, "Uhh, move your hand up a few inches there, buddy" I thought maybe that was what they were going for. So I made a shocked face appropriate to either being attacked or groped.

So somewhere out there, balancing out the karma of the all the pictures I have convinced people to pose for, is a photograph of me on the streets of Burbank with Darth Vader reaching for my breast.

Photo by Elise Thompson taken with a crappy cell phone camera