‘Star Wars’: My Week of Binge-watching

I finally understand the hype.

It’s been a very long time since I watched a Star Wars movie. I had only ever seen Episodes I, II and III but I was very young when I watched them, so I didn’t quite understand what was going on. I had never seen the originals and although I did attempt to go see The Force Awakens when it came out in 2015, I was on a date and the dude did NOT shut up during the whole movie. He just kept blabbing his mouth and it wasn’t even about Star Wars! Needless to say, I didn’t really get to watch the movie and didn’t attempt to go back a second time to see it. And no, there was no second date after that either.

I finally decided to start from the beginning. I was on vacation last week in Tennessee visiting some family, contemplating what movie to watch one evening. Social media was crawling with anticipation of Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker. This final movie was premiering that night. I felt left out of this hypeness. I wanted to understand what everyone was so crazed about and so- I turned on A New Hope.

This is exactly the same thing that happened when Avengers: Endgame came out earlier this year. People were PUMPED. It was insane. And what did I do? I spent the whole month of May watching every darn Marvel movie, in order, that led up to Endgame. Because just like Star Wars, I wanted to understand and be a part of the hype, too.

I think it’s something fascinating to witness the passion of fandoms. It’s this entire community of people who bond over this one commonality and develop relationships because of it. And if you’re someone like me, their enthusiasm can make you feel like you want to be a part of it. That’s the whole reason I really got into watching and dissecting movies- I hadn’t seen so many that people would reference, it made me feel left out. I wanted to be included in the conversation.

Okay, back to Star Wars! I watched the OG three while on my vacation in Tennessee and to be honest, I loved them more than I thought I would. I had considered watching them in the past, but sometimes I have a hard time watching older movies because of the graphics. The writing was sometimes awful, even Harrison Ford agrees on that. And what a difference 1980 Yoda is from 1999 Yoda! But I still loved it all. It was groundbreaking for its time, it was riveting, and Mark Hamill was kind of hot too. It must have been amazing for young girls back then to have had someone like Princess Leia to look up to and be as badass as Carrie Fisher was in that role.

I watched Episode I, II and III earlier this week and my god did it feel fantastic to understand the plot lines. Seven-year-old me definitely did not grasp the political aspect of Star Wars. I didn’t understand the prophecy of the Chosen One or that Jar Jar Binks was essentially the sole reason Palpatine gained so much power in the Senate. Who dare let me watch these as a youngling and not explain to me what was going on when clearly, I only liked watching Star Wars because I had a crush on Hayden Christensen. On a side note- I don’t think Christensen was the wrong choice for Anakin Skywalker; I just think the writing didn’t help him very much in Episode II.

I don’t get why everyone has their panties all in a bunch over the prequels. I LOVE them.

Yesterday I watched The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. I did it. I caught up and now I’m left with The Rise of Skywalker. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. If I’m being honest, I like them but I don’t love them. Come on, can we put the Death Star plot line to rest? I understand that a lot of it has to do with nostalgia and paying tribute to the OG three but it just feels like a lot of the same ish we’ve already seen. I was stoked to see Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill reprise their roles to some extent but I absolutely do NOT agree with the direction they took with Luke Skywalker. George Lucas why did you have to sell Lucasfilm to Disney WHY?

Daisy Ridley is fan-freaking-tastic as Rey, Adam Driver is a phenomenal Kylo Ren and the chemistry between Poe (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) is brilliant. But I wanted the story to be brilliant too! And I’ve read the spoilers. I know that Palpatine is not dead and he’s Rey’s grandfather. WHAT? Don’t know how I feel about that one but we’ll see how I feel after I watch The Rise of Skywalker.

It’s been a beautiful week y’all. Watching all the Star Wars has truly been magical and I’m stoked to be a part of yet another fandom. May the Force be with you.