One of the questions I get asked most often is, "How did you become a Star Wars fan?" I love answering this question and hearing other people's responses because two stories are never the same. One of the most interesting things about being a Star Wars fan is learning how guys and girls from all walks of life all feel the exact same way about a franchise that started off with a few simple movies. How cool is it that so many people all have one common thread that can bring everyone together?! I mostly answer this question on podcast appearances, but I thought it would be nice to share on here as well in case any of my readers are curious.
I was born into a family that watched the Star Wars VHS tapes until they were worn out. My mom saw the first movie in 1977 when she was a little girl and fell in love with Star Wars like everyone else at that time. Later when she got married to my dad, she found out that he had never seen the trilogy before and quickly fixed that. While my mom didn't convert him into a fanboy, she still continued loving Star Wars and showed the movies to my older brother when he was about two years old. By the time I was born, my brother was hooked and wouldn't put his Luke Skywalker lightsaber toy down no matter what was going on. I never remember a time when Star Wars toys weren't around me or the movies weren't playing on our TV.
Fast forward about nine years. I specifically remember dressing up in a Jedi costume my mom hand made and wearing it to the midnight premiere of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. My mom, brother, and myself were all wearing costumes that night and I couldn't wait to get in the theater. There are very few things I remember before my teenage years, but I clearly remember seeing the opening space battle of Episode III and instantly falling in love with the movie. My friends and I collected the trading cards on the cereal boxes, my brother and I played Battlefront for hours on end, and we would make our own Star Wars movies on summer break that year. While I loved Star Wars when I was little, I always felt like it was my brother's "thing". He was the one with all the trivia knowledge. He had all the toys. He had all the cool Star Wars shirts. I was just the little sister that wanted to be like her big brother so I was into the things he liked...until The Clone Wars came into my life.
Again, just like my younger years, I watched The Clone Wars on TV with my brother because I wanted to be like him. I didn't really connect with the first season so when the show returned for season two, I wasn't as hardcore about watching it every week. One day my brother called me into the living room and said that I needed to watch the new episode of The Clone Wars because there was a new character he thought I would really like. That character was Cad Bane and boy was he right. I'm a huge fan of anything western inspired so when I saw Cad Bane and realized he was basically a space cowboy with an awesome hat, I was all in.
Later that year my mom met a family at a homeschool convention and connected with them over a cool Star Wars tote they were carrying. I got a phone call from her that afternoon and she told me that she met a family with a daughter about my age that ran a Star Wars forum online just for teen girls. She assumed I would blow her off and say that was for nerds, but I was really intrigued so I looked it up online and instantly joined. For years my daily routine involved checking the forum each day, talking about new Star Wars content with tons of girls just like me and I finally felt like I had a group of friends. Ever since then I've met a lot of girls on that forum in person and to this day we still keep in touch.
Around that time is also when I started my very first blog called "Pandas, Lightsabers and Cameras, oh my!" Cringe. What a name, right?! Basically at the time my top three interests were panda bears, Star Wars, and photography so I created a blog to talk about all of those things in one environment. I also joined Facebook and Twitter to connect with more fans like me and share my blog content. In my spare time I would sew Clone Wars inspired outfits, review my favorite episodes on the blog, and even started to delve into podcasting. I reached out to every Star Wars voice actor and screenplay actor I could think of and asked to interview them on my blog. Surprisingly, many of them said yes! When I went to my first Star Wars Celebration back in 2012, I met several of the people I interviewed and they actually remembered me. My mom was shocked when we walked around the convention hall and people recognized me as the "panda blog girl". I couldn't believe it. People were actually reading what I was writing and knew who I was which fired me up to keep blogging even more.
After owning my PLC (that's what I called it for short) blog for a few years, I decided it was time to create a new blog that was more grown up and polished. I brainstormed with my brother on some new name ideas and he's actually the one that came up with The Dorky Diva. It was perfect and just like me. I'm a clumsy, silly dork with a heart that still loves girly things like fashion, makeup, and reality TV. Obviously if you're reading this blog, you probably know what comes next. I've grown up and had to deal with real life things like college, relationships, new jobs, and all that "fun" stuff. The Dorky Diva is my favorite space online because it's mine. I can talk about anything under the sun on this platform. Star Wars is still a massive part of my life, but it's mostly because of the people. I wouldn't still be talking about Star Wars if it weren't for the friends I've made along the way. I'm so grateful to Dave Filoni and all of the team at Lucasfilm who created The Clone Wars. Without that show, I honestly don't know who I would be today. That show completely shaped my life and I wouldn't change any of it.
If you're reading this and you're a Star Wars fan too, I want to know your story! Leave a comment below with your background on how you became a Star Wars fan!
Savanna, James and I are about 98 percent sure we found each other because of your old blog PLC! I'm sure I found him from a comment he had left on one of your posts and followed it to his blog. Had no idea I had just found my future best friend and boyfriend, but Star Wars and community brought us together, thanks to people like you who put yourself out there! I wanted to say thanks for that. It feels like forever ago haha! So happy Star Wars was created to impact us all in such beautiful ways! <3
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My name is Katey and I fell in love with Star Wars when I viewed ESB (the first one I ever saw) and fell in love with Leia. Growing up she was my icon, I wanted to be her. She was the only strong woman role model I had. Then Clone Wars came out, and ever since then Ahsoka Tano has been my favorite character. Ahsoka was me growing up (I grew up in Seattle!), so I really connected with her. Growing up I was made fun of liking Star Wars since "it was only for boys". I hid my love for Star Wars until TFA came out, I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I was a full out Star Wars nerd. I love the movies, TV shows, and novels, besides my love for Jesus SW is the most foundational thing about me. I am so thankful for such an amazing series that has impacted me so much.
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