As a 20 year old who has never seen a Star Wars movie before, I decided to check out the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens. At first, I was nervous to be thrown into a world and a fandom I was not familiar with. I remember telling some of my friends, who were intense Star Wars fan, that I was going to see the newest movie with minimal knowledge of the franchise. Several of them tried to give me a crash course on the background and history of the other movies, but there were too many names, places, and wars that didn’t stick with me, and went completely over my head. But regardless of the lack of background, Star Wars was incredibly interesting for me to watch.
My first reactions after seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens was how great the plot line was. Even for a non-fan, first time views are able to understand the plot without having to know the complicated history of the previous Star Wars films. The cinematography was fantastic, and the action scenes did not feel over-done. As someone who was not previously a Star Wars fan, I immediately became a fan after watching Episode VII.
Afterwards, I immediately wanted to learn more about the other plot lines and politics of the previous movies, and I eagerly watched the first two Star Wars movies. Let me just warn new Star Wars fans that they are in for a bit of a shock. The quality of the older episodes are far outdated, as well as low quality graphic (and arguably, low quality acting). The older movies pair no comparison to the newest movie. Yet despite this, I still found the earlier movies enjoyable to watch, as I slowly enter this new culture and fandom.