Okay, I know there is a lot of Star Wars hype happening out there, but there is a whole demographic who have no idea what we're all on about. I'm calling this gang the "Star Wars Virgins" (S.W.V.) and chances are, you know one. Heck, maybe you are one! They look just like you and me, but you can tell by their vacant smile-and-nod tactic whenever Star Wars comes up in conversation their S.W.V. status.
If you're under 30, and perhaps the first Star Wars you were aware of featured Jar Jar Binks I can see why the thought of Star Wars would make you run a mile. But the true Star Wars fans (like me) just pretend those 3 prequels from the late '90's simply don't exist = a blip on the radar; not close to our hearts.
As a girl, growing up in the 80's it was wonderful to have a tough cookie like Princess Leia to look up to... she had rockin' hair, cool clothes, she told the boys what to do and never seemed to break a sweat. Leia and Wonder Woman were my heroes (still are)... and so when I heard a new Star Wars was coming and that it was a proper return to form I went out and promptly bought Star Wars pyjamas complete with matching I Only Date Rebels appliquéd house slippers. I returned home and proudly showed my new P.J.s to my boyfriend, he gave me a blank smile. It turns out he is a Star Wars Virgin (how?) so I made him watch Star Wars and then fill out a questionnaire about it and my findings were interesting. So here goes:
1. Why did you never see Star Wars?
I always thought it was because I was not old enough to see them the first time around and by the time the nostalgic excitement for them came around leading up to the prequels, I wasn't particularly interested, plus all I kept hearing about was how awful the newer films were and that even the old ones had been ruined by Lucas trying to soup them up with modern ( 90s ) special effects. My mum recently reminded me though that another reason for me not seeing them might have been down to a childhood friend I had when I was around 3 or 4 years old who would go on and on and on about Star Wars, so much so that it possibly put me off ever wanting to seeing them. He was also the kid who somehow convinced me it was a good idea for us both to urinate on my bed and pull all the leaves off my mum's favourite plant and hide them behind the sofa. After that, I think I decided better not to take his lead on any thing, including being a fan of Star Wars.
2. Having never seen Star Wars, what were your expectations of it? && what did you already know about it via cultural osmosis?
I had a vague grasp of some of the characters. Darth Vader particularly, as well as his brilliant musical theme. I probably knew the soundtrack better than any thing else about it actually, mainly because a friends band "The Rock Of Travolta" used to do Darth Vader's theme in the middle of one of their songs which led me to listening to the whole soundtrack a few times in the early 2000s. I used to think that Harrison Ford played Luke Skywater. Wrong on two counts. There's a lot of imagery that's totally unavoidable even if you haven't seen the films: like the little pedal-bin thing (r2-d2), the annoying looking Gold robot (c3po), Princess Leia, etc...
3. Now you've seen it, what did you think? Did it live up to the hype? It's impossible for a Star Wars fan to have an unbiased opinion, so what was yours? & what was your favourite bit of the film? Least favourite bit?
I did really enjoy it. One of the things I was struck by was how terrible some of the acting is, with the exception of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. Mark Hamill is particularly bad. I also couldn't stop thinking about why any one would ever program a robot to be so anxious and worried as C-3PO! Why would you spend time creating that in a machine!! He was even more annoying than he looked! On a positive note I do think that all the space stuff looks amazing. All the internal space craft scenes - the giant evil thing where the evil people live, can't remember what it's called? - the white storm soldiers - all very impressive. And, the music is excellent!
4. Based on "A New Hope" do you want to see the other 2 Star Wars films "Empire & Jedi"? (we're not counting the 3 prequels!)
Yes. I will definitely watch them. I don't think all the hysteria for the Star Wars could possibly be down to "A New Hope" alone, so to get the full experience I will need to see the next two for sure. As it stands having only see the first one though, I must say I'd take "2001", "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" or even "Indiana Jones" over Star Wars...