Pretty much everyone in this world knows "Star Wars," right? It's a franchise that has immersed itself fully into popular culture, spanning multiple generations. Parents loved it as children, and then they get their own kids into it and so the cycle continues.
It's ingrained into our society. Now that "The Force Awakens" has been released in theaters, the "Star Wars" world has been given new life, and it is everywhere. They have "Star Wars" brand oranges at Target, folks. And it's great, right? Everybody on this earth is familiar with the movies, yeah? Well, not exactly.
A select group of people in the world, myself included, knows not even a lick about "Star Wars." Our parents, if they're like mine, never saw any of the movies, so therefore, they didn't show us the movies. We were never exposed to those wars that occur in the stars. It's tough. I never realized how enormous this franchise was until the new movie came out. It's like constantly being in a crowded room where every person there knows each other...except me.
People look at you funny when you say you've never seen "Star Wars." Mostly, people just assume you've seen the movies and start talking to you about them. When you have to break the news that you know squat about them, you can almost see the light leave their eyes. "What?!" they exclaim. "What do you mean you've never seen 'Star Wars?'" They almost become offended by your lack of participation in the "Star Wars" world and find it to be off-putting.
There will be many times where you'll be gathered with your "Star Wars"-oriented friends, and someone in the group will make a reference from the movies. Everyone there laughs and carries on...except you. They all turn their heads and stare at you, thinking, "That was funny as anything. Why didn't they laugh?" And it's because in the vast universe of "Star Wars" related things, you're just this little meteor floating out in the distance all by your lonesome.
While everyone was freaking out over "The Force Awakens" being released, you probably didn't even know they still made "Star Wars" movies. Then, once it came out in theaters, and the merchandise was all over the place, you most likely thought, "Why the hell is there "Star Wars" stuff everywhere? Didn't those come out in, like, the 1970s?" And your "Star Wars" friends were probably flabbergasted that you knew so little about the franchise.
It really is amazing how fully these movies have infiltrated the world we live in. Truly, when I say that "Star Wars" is everywhere, I mean that it is everywhere. The costumes, the score, the characters...it's unavoidable. Seriously people, "Star Wars" brand oranges sit in the produce section of Target. For non "Star Wars" people, like myself, we shall continue to float through the vast openness that is being a person who has never seen the movies. Perhaps one day, we'll join the ranks of fans all across the globe and be able to freak out over Harrison Ford's character or that big hairy dude. Until then, though, we'll just have to continue living in a world full of references we just don't understand.
