Prepare yourselves; I have never seen a single moment of any Star Wars film. Not a single frame.
The closest I’ve ever come to the franchise is wearing my hair in Carrie Fisher-esque bagel-buns (the official terminology) aged 17 to a disco at the local community hall. Which in truth was more of a homage to Bjork, but my dad said it was very Princess Leia.
I’m not one normally to miss out; I am after all the Culture Director at ELLE. I tend to dine out on my mildly above normal cultural caché, and will watch a few minutes / read the first chapter / listen to a few seconds of anything to ensure I don’t suffer any form of arts FOMO.
But Star Wars has just never been on my planet. You could say the franchise is in another galaxy. Perhaps one far far away (at least I do know some of the terminology).
The reason for my Star Wars neglect? Well, having been born a good eight years after the original 1977, I was never caught up in the first wave of Star Wars excitement. And then when it returned with episodes I, II, III staring Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor, I simply didn’t see the appeal.
In truth it's nothing personal. I’m just not that in to the space scene – Star Trek is another beloved sci-fi classic that I’ve missed out on.
A quick, highly scientific poll of the 20-something women at ELLE HQ reveals I’m not entirely alone. And when I Google it there’s a whole BBC Radio 4 show called ‘I've Never Seen Star Wars‘, which proves I'm not a complete anomaly.
But my life is about to change - this week I have bought tickets to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in the hope my fandom for the series will awaken too. And I reckon anything with Lupita Nyong’o and Adam Driver must be pretty amazing. And if the first reviews are anything to go by, I’m in for a treat.
And you know what, I might even wear my hair in some 90s buns to the cinema to celebrate.
