I grew up a stereotypical nerd. I wore glasses, obsessed over boy-bands and loved cartoons. But adding Star Wars to my fandom felt forced, so I avoided it. Until recently when I gave in and realized how wrong I was. Here’s why I used to hate Star Wars…
I have a confession to make…
For as long as I can remember, I had the mindset that Star Wars just wasn’t for me. I didn’t have a solid reason as it was more personal than anything. But I wanted to avoid adding to my nerd stigma that seemed like it would hang over my head for the rest of time.
You see, I didn’t want to be labeled a “geek” or a “nerd” because those words had described me for so long. My glasses wearing, cartoon loving, boy-band obsessing self had already cemented myself as such. And I didn’t need another property to make me look even more like a walking stereotype. So I assumed watching Star Wars would have only added to that perception.
Oh, how times do change.
The one thing I had always doubted was if the movies could entertain me. But after seeing the hype surrounding ‘The Force Awakens’, I figured it was about time to finally watch the original trilogy.
With my eyes glued to the screen during ‘A New Hope’, I realized how entertained I truly was.
“What’s going to happen with Leia?”
‘Can Han actually be trusted?”
“Will C-3PO end up being less cynical?”
These were all questions I asked while first watching and becoming highly entertained with ‘A New Hope’.
This same pattern would continue with ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’, which I was forced to ask: “Self, what took you so long?”
You win, Star wars. You win.
Watching Star Wars completely changed a lot of habits for me as I entered a new world of fandom. Princess Leia was never on my radar when I was younger and she certainly didn’t make her way onto my radar when I got older.
But now? I suddenly wanted to know everything about Leia. I admired her courage, her aura and everything else about her. My fascination with Leia continued and I knew I was hooked after watching ‘Return of the Jedi’, which quickly became my favorite.
It took a while to get here but now I come clean with my confession: I LOVE Star Wars! Princess Leia is already one of the greatest female characters of all time and I can suddenly feel like I can enjoy all the hype surrounding ‘The Force Awakens’ and will be the first in line to watch as we’re gifted a new movie for several years to come.
You win Star Wars. You win.
Featured Image via the Star Wars official twitter page
