A Star Wars Rookie: My Theory Revealed!

Okay, I'm all caught up. I'm officially not a Star Wars virgin anymore. Do I look any different? Perhaps, older and more mature? I feel a bit wiser as I've expanded my pop culture knowledge and no longer have to pretend that I understand references.

I just finished re-watching The Force Awakens and I've come up with my theory of who Rey is and what her connect is with the force. If you'll remember from a couple weeks ago when I declared this a challenge accepted, my hope was to find out all I know about these movies and chime in with my theory of her origins.

Before we get into that I need to say how much I like this movie. Now, I saw it when it first came out, and while my husband promised me that I didn't need to know the other movies to get into this one, it was so great to have the insider knowledge! This has to be my second favorite of all the movies I watched (#1 has to be Return of the Jedi). It's just done so well. This movie some how manages to be self aware of itself as an anticipated Star Wars movie. Example, Finn and Rey are in the same boat as me when they realize they're on the Millennium Falcon and hey wait, they're talking to Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker they thought was a myth. I almost expected one of them to say "Wait, Am I in a Star Wars movie?" Unlike the prequel trilogy JJ Abrams and co. realize that they are not only making a new Star Wars movie for the die hard fans who grew up with the originals, but also to a new group of people who are experiencing these stories for the first time.

This movie also knows how to do the "comedic relief" very well. After having just watched the prequel trilogy and thinking I would be scarred for life from Jar Jar Binks, this was much appreciated.
Finn offered some funny lines "we'll just use the force!" and of course Chewie and Han Solo are always funny... "did you just call me Solo?" And you know I love a kick ass heroine and the originals delivered Princess Leia so of course I love Rey, too.

That brings us to Rey, who is she? Drumroll please...

Rey is Han Solo & Leia's Daughter!

Okay, okay, hear me out! There really is a lot of hidden evidence to support this. When you know what you're looking for you can find it. 

• She grew up right near the Millennium Falcon, which has been in a junkyard for years but she almost instinctively knows how to fly it even though its suppose to be a heap of junk.

• When Rey meets Chewie and Han Solo on board, they almost fall right into this sort of Father-Daughter team of being in charge of the Falcon...even saying things at the exact same time. 

• Han gives Rey a sad look when she says she "didn't know so much green existed in the universe". At this point, she never mentioned where she comes from or her story. You would think if they were perfect strangers that he would give her more of a puzzled look. He definitely already knows about her being stranded on Jakku for many years. 

• Kylo Ren has a pretty strong reaction when he finds out about "a girl from Jakku". We seem him lose his cool a couple of times when people mention Rey as if he already knows who she is..because why would a total stranger have such an effect on him? And we have all seen how Kylo Ren reacts to his family. 

• During Kylo Ren's interrogation of Rey he mentions that she feels "Han Solo is the father she never had". Why would she really have those feelings about him unless she feels a deeper connection? I think this was a big hint that is impossible to miss. 

• Leia gives Rey a pretty strong hug when she returns...maybe she's just being sentimental because she knows Han Solo died (spoiler alert) but for just meeting Rey for the first time, its a pretty long hug. I think there's a connection there. 

• When Kylo Ren reads Rey's thoughts he said she dreams of an ocean and a green island, or something like that. Which we find out at the end of the movie that is it the location of the Jedi temple where Luke is hidden. 

• Why would Leia just send Rey off to find Luke on her own at the end of the movie? You would think that Leia would be like "I'm going to get my brother not sending some strange girl." There's a connection there, which I'm aware is good support evidence for the popular theory of Rey being Luke's daughter. 

via GIPHY

My husband thinks that Rey is just Han Solo's daughter and not Leia's...but I had to debunk this because she has the force and Luke's lightSABER called to her. She must be connected to the Skywalker family. What I'm thinking is, that Rey is Han & Leia's daughter but was a former padawan of her Uncle Luke at his school. When Kylo Ren came back and destroyed the Jedi school and the padawans, I think Rey survived. Then, Leia and Han decided to put their child on Jakku for her own safety and wipe her memory of the event since it was so tragic. This would sort of be a similar situation that Luke was in when we first met him in A New Hope, except he was a baby. The story line connections are just so similar and I know that is happening on purpose. I predict that maybe Rey is going to be integral in turning Kylo Ren back to the light since Leia hints she feels "there is still light in him". I think that a brother and sister dynamic would have a bigger impact on this rather than a first cousin (if she were Luke's daughter).

So there you have it, my theory of Rey's origins. Like I said before, I really liked this movie. I think it was great in keeping the original generation of Star Wars characters and story lines while also getting us excited for a new generation of characters to see what happens with Rey, Finn, Poe, and even BB8. I'm so excited to watch the next couple of movies and see what we find out!

I know you can't call no spoilers on movies that are over 20 years old, but, thanks for going on this journey with me and for all the people who chimed in with their comments (mainly my husband and brother in law) without any spoilers. It's been fun and if any of you get into Harry Potter and have questions just holla at me, I owe you some answers.

Look, mom, I'm a Star Wars fan!
xoxo.

A Star Wars Virgin: My Questions Have Answers!

Yesterday, I posted Round 2 of my Star Wars challenge after I finished watching the prequel trilogy and I had some lingering questions and I wasn't sure if I would ever get answers (because I was NOT going on a Star Wars fan discussion board again).

This is where my brother in law, Rocco, is vital to my sanity. He has proven to be my own personal Yoda in this journey and I'm young and naive Luke. He's very wise and has a lot of insight into things I didn't even know were there. He has thorough knowledge of the characters, scenes, and facts about George Lucas and filming. It's been great to have an expert in my corner since I find these movies to have a lot of different parts and characters!

I think its worth stating that Rocco has been in my life for about 15 years. He is the husband of my older sister, Yana, and I've literally known him since I was 17 years old. And I have never, ever, gotten as many texts from him in those 15 years than I have in the past two or three weeks of me watching these Star Wars movies. But that's sort of the great thing about Rocco. He's not in anyway an overbearing person but when he's passionate about something...he's passionate. He always has insights into how movies were made and directed and unknown facts or has seen deleted footage...so I shouldn't have been at all surprised that he would text me after every one of my posts to drop some knowledge.

So after finishing six of these movies, I had a bunch of questions which I thought did not make any sense, some of which I would say could be considered plot holes. However, like the good Yoda that he is, Rocco sent me some answers to my questions and I couldn't help but share them with you.

Question 1. Why doesn't Obi-Wan recognize R2D2 in A New Hope? 

Rocco: Technically the appliance reference makes sense. R2 droids are extremely common and though droids become characters with us in the movies they are just tools. There is actually a very cool droid side story about how C3PO ends up with an orange arm in The Force Awakens. 

Question 2: How did the Jedi just end up using the storm troopers as an army?

Rocco: The Jedi investigate the planet that was removed from the maps (the scene with Yoda and the kids) and they discover a defect Jedi (later found to be Count Dooku...worst name ever) went there and had the clone people clone Jango Fett (Boba Fett's dad) into a clone army. The clone people were told by Dooku that this army is for the Jedi they will need in an upcoming battle. That battle is orchestrated from Palpatine with the trade federation as the "false threat". So the Jedi use the clones but they are also programmed to double cross the Jedi. They are also clones which is why they are so dumb later in episode 4...the gene pool is diluted. 

Question 3: What happens in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope? How come it seems like Leia grows up to already be involved with the Rebel Alliance? How did the Death Star get created? 

Rocco: Almost all of these questions will be answered in Rouge One coming in Dec. except Leia. They tried to shoe horn Jimmy Smits as her stepdad/rebel leader so she is essentially born into the rebellion but never told she has the force

Question 4: Yoda tells Obi-Wan that he should learn to commune with Qui-Gon (his former master) while on Tatoonie...what? That doesn't make any sense? Why would they put that in there if it never gets mentioned in the next one?

Rocco: Yoda telling Obi-Wan to communicate to Qui-Gon is Lucas's half- assed effort to explain the ability to talk to the dead via the force as Obi-Wan does to Luke later. There is actually a deleted scene where Qui-Gon talks to Obi-Wan from the dead but its stupid and rightfully deleted. The force can allow communication with the dead but its never really explained and this was a bad attempt. 

Question 5: How did Princess Leia get her message for Obi-Wan to R2D2 if they were suppose to be randomly sold at the end of Revenge of the Sith? 

Rocco: Its said that the droids are like ever present beings throughout the saga. Somehow, someway, they end up in all the crucial moments. So short answer...fate or the force.

Question 6: Why does Darth Vader interact with Leia so nonchalantly throughout the first trilogy but immediately knows something is amiss when Luke is present? Does she not have "the force"? Or if so, shouldn't he be able to sense something with her too? When Luke and company arrive on the Death Star to save Leia, Vader says "I sense a something, a presence I haven't felt since...". Is he talking about Luke?

Rocco: Leia had the force but doesn't get in touch with it. It can be said that she didn't ignite the flame before she met Luke. I have always felt that the quote you're referring to is for Obi-Wan not Luke because later Vader senses Luke when they are flying around the Death Star.

Question 7:  In the first trilogy...Palpatine tells Vader "We have reason to believe that the pilot who destroyed the Death Star is Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker." Doesn't Palpatine know that's Vader? 

Rocco: Like Obi-Wan telling Luke your father died, technically he did and Vader is not his father. So Palpatine is continuing the long con that you are now Vader and there never was Anakin Skywalker. The dude is evil. 

He also imparted his wisdom on what I SHOULD be asking:

• Would an Ewok make a good pet?

• Why is Lando randomly wearing Han Solo's clothes when flying the Millennium Falcon?

• Why couldn't Kylo Ren kill two people who never picked up a lightSABER after he showed that he can literally stop a laser in mid air while talking to someone and giving orders to kill. 

While I still maintain my point that Obi-Wan should have recognized R2D2, it relaxes me to have explanations for my other questions. There is a lot to focus on and keep track of in these movies and it was tough to keep everything straight. Now I feel that I can fully move on and towards The Force Awakens with full knowledge on everything that happened.

So thank you, Rocco! You're going to be a great help for your sons if they ever grow up to love Star Wars...or...maybe they don't have a choice. :)

xoxo. 

A Star Wars Virgin: Round 2

Okay, we need to talk. Although I was thoroughly warned, I was not prepared for how much I would dislike the Phantom Menace. I won't say hate, I'll say dislike. There were two major factors in this for me: Jar Jar Binks and little kid Anakin Skywalker. You guys, Jar Jar Binks is the worst. He's so horrible I couldn't stand any scene that he was in. I really don't even know what to say about him except that I'm so glad he wasn't a large role in the other movies. My husband said he thinks that is due to the fact that fans revolted after they first saw Binks. The whole movie was pretty odd. The little kid was horrible, the worst actor, and then some of the cheesy lines were annoying too.

As you can gather, I finished watching Phantom Menance, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. After watching these movies I can say that I'm so glad I started with the original three because I don't think I would've made it if I started with these three. They're pretty good, some of the lightSABER fights were awesome and it was nice to get most of my questions answered but overall I wasn't as into these as I was the originals. I had to kind of make myself watch them and I admit that I fell asleep a couple of times during Attack of the Clones and we needed to keep pausing and going back into it.

I didn't like the over usage of CGI but I know when these movies came out this was a new tool to use so I can sort of understand being overly excited about it. I definitely preferred puppet Yoda over CGI Yoda, something in his character just got lost there. And was anything on the set real or were they all just standing in front of green screens?

Let's talk characters.

Anakin Skywalker is of course the main character of the movies. The whole point of the series (for me) was to find out who he was and how he became Darth Vader. The writing in combination with the acting was distracting me from Anakin's character. The little kid in Phantom Menance and then Hayden Christiansen really fell flat for me. *deep breath* I didn't think the puppy love for Padme was cute at all. I feel like they tried to write him similar to Luke but he came off annoying instead of lovable. I was so excited to finally see how Anakin became Darth Vader but by the time Obi-Wan left him to die in the lava of Mustafar, he was so annoying I couldn't have cared less what happened to him. I was unconvinced that his anger towards what happened to his mother would harden him and make him weary to "the dark side".

Obi-Wan was another character I was interested in getting to know more about. In the second movie, Attack of the Clones, I was afraid we were going to get another stupid love triangle with him, Padme, and Anakin so I can be grateful they didn't go that route. I thought his character would be more integral for me...bringing up Anakin as a young Padewan and showing him the ways of the Jedi. The delivery of cheesy one liners, I could've lived without but overall his character wasn't too bad. He had some good lightSABER fights but I didn't really root for him...I guess I was suppose to feel for him when he was so disheartened by Anakin turning to the dark side but I was kind of just like "shut up".

I guess Padme is another main character. Going into these I wanted to find out about Luke and Leia's mom but I was ill prepared for the long drawn out love story. In the first movie I loved Queen Amidala. She was reminiscent of Leia by wiedling weapons and leading her troops. She had strategies and was really intent on making sure her people were safe. I really loved how they bait and switched me with her bodyguard, that was pretty cool. Then she falls in love and she goes totally pathetic on me. Like I said before, I was glad there wasn't a love triangle I would have to sit through. What was with that scene where Anakin is watching her brush out her enormous perm in the moonlight. Really? Who WROTE that scene? First, you don't brush OUT curls ever and second, no. And in Revenge of the Sith shes pregnant and just running around worried about Anakin and she dies from "a broken heart" and "lost the will to live"...even for your two babies? Whatever.

What I Learned:

• Palpatine! He is sinister to the bone. He ended up being my main source of curiosity throughout the films. His character is what makes me think there was some sort of talented writers on these movies because he is what you want in a villain. I learned how he manipulates Anakin into thinking that the Jedi are bad. Although Anakin spent his whole damn life with the Jedi and Palpatine says this to him once and now he's convinced of it too? Wait a minute! Maybe Anakin was suppose to be written as a big dumb kid?!?! 

• If you are a Star Wars virgin, like me, don't make the mistake I made by asking a question on a Star Wars fan discussion board. All I did was point out what I thought was a tiny plot hole. I said "How come Obi-Wan doesn't recognize R2D2 in A New Hope when we see him spending all this time fighting along side R2 in the prequel movies?" Well, that upset the nerds. Within minutes...no SECONDs...I received answers like "Anakin owned R2D2 not Obi-Wan" and "R2D2 isn't a person, he's more like an appliance...do you remember the blender that you owned 20 years ago??!?!?!" to which I replied "Yes, I freaking loved that blender". 

• The Jedi Order is all wiped out by a single order to the storm troopers to kill them. Although, I really didn't care too much about the Jedi for this moment to make a large impact. Sam L Jackson's character seemed like he was suppose to be a main character but I don't even remember his name, to be honest. 

• The twins get separated as babies because of the order that killed all the Jedi. They move the twins to where Anakin/Darth Vader won't know how to get to them. Leia ends up on Alderaan and Luke goes to Tatoonie. 

• The meaning of the different colored lightSABERs is all in my head.

• Some battle scenes and lightSABER fights go on for 20 mins and then the really cool one with Darth Maul gets cut way way too short. 

Lingering Questions: 

• Why doesn't Obi-Wan recognize R2D2 in A New Hope? He even freaking says "I don't remember owning a droid before". And yes, even though he technically didn't own him, you would think he would still remember him! R2 is fighting along side of them throughout the other prequels. It doesn't add up.

• How did the Jedi just end up using the storm troopers as an army? Were they just hanging out and waiting for someone to tell them what to do? Because then Palpatine shows up and tells them to kill all the Jedi and they're like "oh okay." And then as we know they become Darth Vader's army...I missed something with that one. Like I said, I kept falling asleep. 

• What happens in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope? How come it seems like Leia grows up to already be involved with the Rebel Alliance? How did the Death Star get created? 

• Yoda tells Obi-Wan that he should learn to commune with Qui-Gon (his former master) while on Tatoonie...what? That doesn't make any sense? Why would they put that in there if it never gets mentioned in the next one?

• How did Princess Leia get her message for Obi-Wan to R2D2 if they were suppose to be randomly sold at the end of Revenge of the Sith? 

• Why does Darth Vader interact with Leia so nonchalantly throughout the first trilogy but immediately knows something is amiss when Luke is present? Does she not have "the force"? Or if so, shouldn't he be able to sense something with her too? When Luke and company arrive on the Death Star to save Leia, Vader says "I sense a something, a presence I haven't felt since...". Is he talking about Luke? Or maybe he's talking about Obi-Wan!

• And in the first trilogy...Palpatine tells Vader "We have reason to believe that the pilot who destroyed the Death Star is Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker." Doesn't Palpatine know that's Vader? Why doesn't he say "Oh snap, we think you're son is alive!"

Overall, I think I can say all these movies were good for was to answer a lot of the questions that I had lingering since the first trilogy. They weren't bad but they definitely weren't good and they were no where near the first trilogy. At points in this movie I felt like they just threw in some old characters to be involved in the action for nostalgia? I'm not sure. Like Chewbacca? Why was he there? I understand there is a whole Wookie species but throwing in Chewbacca was just like, yeah okay. You're trying to make me excited to see a loved character. 

Anyways, I could talk about these movies for days. haha. I am glad I watched them! But I'm not quite finished. I'm going to re-watch The Force Awakens and see if there is anything I missed. I started this whole series-watching to figure out my own theory on Rey's origins so that's what I'll be stewing up next. 

Until next time, may the force be with you.

xoxo

Unity & the Olympics

I'm speaking from my heart, here.

It seems as though the past year in the United States has been nothing but turmoil. Well, the past couple of years, really. Let's be honest, we've gotten use to hearing sad and disturbing news reports every evening while making dinner. The steady climb of social media, race relations, gun control, parenting choices, and politics have put us in a divisive mentality in our daily lives. My newsfeed and twitter is constantly retweeted "news" articles (yes, I mean to put that in quotations) and memes that put ourselves in a specific category. Why do we do it? Because we're angry!

And with the start of the political election last summer, things have gotten worse. We're getting more angry and more hateful. We have two nominees for the presidential election and without any thought we have compared one of them to that of Adolf Hilter and another one we so callously say should be thrown in jail. Two things that I don't think should be thrown around lightly. We find anything to take sides about and we chastise the people who don't agree with us. I can't even tell you how many people I have unfollowed on Facebook because I can't stand the fighting anymore. It's enough to make a sane person crazy. Actually...its just enough.

I've had it. I'm tired of the divisiveness that this country has gotten to and I have been desperate to feel any sense of unity.

Cue the Olympics.

I've always loved the Olympic games and enjoy watching the top people in the world compete on the same level to be the best of the best.

This year I was craving it. This year the Olympics is about more than just sports, to me, its about feeling the sense of pride in our country. The USA has always been a power house to beat in these games, but this year I just needed something to root for in our country.

I'm like a little kid on Christmas morning, excited to turn on the news and hear about Katie Ledecky shattering her own world record. Watching the women's gymnastics team dominate the competition and there really was no competition, they beat the other countries by a long shot. I was tearing up this morning seeing the footage of Michael Phelps kissing his baby after winning two more gold medals to add to his collection. I've never exclaimed "USA! USA!" more in my life! And even though he's not an American, I can't wait to watch Usain Bolt set records and beat them in track and field.

The media is finally reporting on things that feel positive besides running away with a news story about which politicians are currently in a Twitter fight.

It just hits home with me. We are a great country and we're becoming our own worst enemy. Our ego is getting in our own way and we will self destruct. But for these two weeks, we can have the same common pride in ourselves as a country. We can watch people of all different races and backgrounds represent the United States because THAT'S what makes us a great country.

I hope we keep this feeling that we can root for each other even if we're different. Isn't that what we're all about as Americans?

Oh say, does that star - spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

USA.
xoxo

A 'Star Wars' Virgin : Round 1

Twins, huh? I didn't see that one coming...but we'll get to that.

So I finished the first round of Star Wars movies! I watched IV, V, and VI and I have to say, overall, I really liked them. At first I wasn't sure what to think with the Han Solo chest hair, the corny lines, pouty main character, and bad special effects but I told myself I just needed to watch it for what it is and for the time period that it was. I got a lot of advice about which order you're 'suppose' to watch these movies. Some said to watch it by release date, others said to sort of mix the first three and the last three together, and others said to watch from episode 1 and on. I ended up going with the release date order because that was what I had always heard as the way to watch them, and honestly I had already started the first movie before I decided to do this challenge, so I couldn't start over. But I really liked watching it this way, I feel like I was right along with Luke Skywalker in his quest to find out who he is and I think that would've ruined it a bit for me if I would've  known everything ahead of time.

So let's get right to it. Let me take this time to mention one of my favorite exchanges of the whole series:

Leia: Aren’t you a little short to be a stormtrooper?

Luke: I’m Luke Skywalker, and I’m here to rescue you!

Dawwww, Luke! He's like a puppy. 

I think I need to start by apologizing for thinking Princess Leia was going to be this damsel in distress princess that everyone needed to save. Yes, she literally needed saved, but I pictured her to be randomly flailing around and people were going to have to stop and pick her up all the time. I guess I just only knew the gold bikini scene where she's Jabba the Hut's prisoner. But she totally kicked ASS. I love her. I mean, she was in the Force Awakens, that's true, but to me she was just another character. Again, I knew enough to know who she waaaass but I just didn't get the full scope of her until watching these originals. When she grabbed that weapon and shot off the storm troopers, I was impressed! And she kills Jabba! She's awesome. 

That brings me to Han Solo, if you'll remember my initial thoughts on what I assumed coming into these movies,  I thought Han Solo was a 'good guy' in my head that equaled me thinking he was a Jedi. I had all these visions that Luke was going to join them in their fight against the Empire. Boy was I wrong. I found out that he's a smuggler with a sidekick named Chewbacca and he's the one that has the Millennium Falcon! So he's on the run and becomes tangled up with the Rebel Alliance in the first movie. He then becomes an unofficial member. Anyways, I find his exchanges with Leia kind of annoying but I understand why he becomes an important character. I already knew he would get with Leia since in the Force Awakens, Kylo Ren is their son, but I wasn't prepared for all the corny lines and really wanted Leia to keep saying things like "into the trash, flyboy!" Also, all the chest hair...

I loved Luke Skywalker as a main character in the first movie. I didn't realize he would be learning all of these things about himself, I suppose it sort of mirrors Rey in the Force Awakens. I'm assuming that's on purpose. In Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi,  Luke sort of falls flat for me. He spends two weeks training with Yoda and all of the sudden he's a master Jedi? Okay... Even if that was believable for me, I still felt like he got a little boring. I missed young, naive Luke. The best moments with Luke are when he's finding out who he is. I did love his lightSABER fights with Darth Vader, particularly the one in Return of the Jedi. That was amazing!

What I Learned:

• LUKE AND LEIA ARE TWINS! I really don't think I ever knew this! I always just knew "Luke, I am your father". So this was a big reveal to me. When I watched the first movie I was anticipating a love triangle between Luke, Leia, and Han and we would have to see if she wanted the good boy or the bad boy. Also, didn't they kiss? I think I remember a kiss..so that's a bit strange but I liked this twist. And I was underwhelmed with Leia's reaction to the news. You'd think she would be like "Uhhh, Darth Vader is my DAD!". But she was just like "Oh yeah, Luke is my brother, Han, so you can make out with me now". 

• James Earl Jones is the Darth Vader voice. This didn't work for me since I equate his voice to that of Morgan Freeman, very soothing and reassuring, so I was never afraid of Vader. I get it though. 

• Not everyone in the Rebel Alliance is a Jedi. 

• Storm troopers are dummies. 

• If you're literally hanging in the universe at the bottom of a ship while escaping your crazy father who just cut off your hand, just use your twin super powers and have her come rescue you. Then fall perfectly into the small door that was opened for you. Works every time. 

• R2D2 is not a robot, he's a droid and he plays a very integral part in their fight against the Empire! Even if C3PO puts him down all the time... 

• Around the 3rd movie, my biggest question was "Why doesn't Darth Vader take off his helmet like Kylo Ren?". Besides just not being as gorgeous as Adam Driver (that hair <3), I found out that he actually needs it to breathe! I was also disappointed that it wasn't actually James Earl Jones...

So Many Questions: 

• So what happened to Darth Vader to make him look so scarred up and need the helmet to breathe?

• Why are there so many species on all these different planets? And how come some of the species need a translator like C3PO with Jabba the Hut, but everyone pretty much knows what Chewbacca and the Ewoks are saying?

• Who is this "beautiful but sad" mother of Luke & Leia? I know there is a Queen in the next couple of films...soo...maybe? I mean she is Princess Leia...

• What happened to all the Jedis?

• What is Obi-wan Kenobi's relationship with Darth Vader? 

• How did Darth Vader become Darth Vader?

• Who is Emperor Palpatine, really?

That's it for now. Is there anything I missed? Anything I should keep an eye and ear out for? I'll be starting the Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. I'm a little weary going into these movies because people always mention how terrible they are but I feel like I just need to see for myself. I need answers!

xoxo. 

A 'Star Wars' Virgin: The Challenge

Up until this point in my life I have never sat down to watch the Star Wars movies. Not really. I remember the originals being re-released somewhere around the time I was in middle school, and I went to see one of them at the movies (but it was really just to go to the movies) and I sat and gossiped with my friends for 2 hours. So I can't say that I really knew the story but I am a big enough pop culture nerd to know the main characters and the references of "the force", "Luke, I am your father", Princess Leia in the bikini, and Yoda...all that jazz.

My husband, though, he loves these movies, so when The Force Awakens came out last year he convinced me that I didn't need to watch the other movies to get into it. He was right! It was a great movie, and I think I knew enough to follow along. If I'm being honest, it sweetened the deal for me knowing that Adam Driver was going to be in the movie. Because I love him. I knew he was going to be a bad guy but I didn't know he was going to be THE bad guy. I felt like I needed to state that for my friends who may read this and call me out on it. :)

After we went and saw the new movie, my husband started bugging me to watch the originals. I held strong for awhile there until I saw a random article online written by some super fan who was trying to guess the origins of Rey. "Origins of Rey?" I thought..."What do you meeeaaannnn?". I had no idea how interconnected everyone was (besides knowing Vader is Luke's father...spoiler alert) and kind of completely missed the weight of seeing Luke at the end of The Force Awakens.

And just like that, I gave in and loaded our Netflix queue with the Star Wars series, determined to figure out my own theory of Rey's origins! I've decided to drag you all on the journey with me. I'll be watching the movies in their three part series and then doing a round up of my thoughts and many many questions.

Let me just state right now that I am in no way hatin' on the Star Wars movies. I do not intend to personally offend anyone if there are comments I make that you may not agree with. I fangirl with the best of them when it comes to Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter so I do not judge superfans! These are just my opinions from an outsider looking in, so to speak.

I've been told that I must watch them as Lucas intended starting with Star Wars IV: A New Hope and so forth and then watching the prequels. I have already started the first batch of movies and I'm almost finished with Return of the Jedi. I'll do my wrap up after I've finished it but I just wanted to introduce you to my naivety going into this challenge.

Here is what I knew/thought I knew going into this:

• Vader is Luke's Father
• Princess Leia is the damsel in distress that Luke and Han Solo will fight over
• Luke is the badass army-type-guy
• Vader = bad
• There's a round robot that beeps and people know what he's saying. But only a select few, like me with my dog. 
• Its lightSABER not lifeSAVER
• Han Solo is the leader of the good guys! He saves the princess and Luke wants to be like him!
• There are soldiers in white
• There will be epic lightSABER fights

I hope you follow along with me while I watch these movies but please don't ruin anything for me! Like I said, I think I know enough but not everything. I'm excited, I love a good series.

xoxo