A while ago I wrote about how I’d gotten “generation gapped” at lunch with my co-workers. Well, in what is probably a sign of my swiftly approaching decline into senility and being completely out of touch, it happened again yesterday.

One of my team members was telling me about how she read on some blog somewhere that they are developing fancy computerized limbs so that amputees will “have cool new arms like that science fiction guy Luke something.” “You mean Luke Skywalker?!” I said. “You’ve never seen Star Wars?” And no, she never had. And then it turned out that one of my other team members has never the Star Wars movies either. Never seen one! This is inconceivable to me. Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back and yes, even Return of the Jedi were such a HUGE part of my childhood. I was Princess Leia for Halloween in 1st grade. I remember very clearly being excited to go see the sequels. Apparently not so much for girls who were ten years younger than me.

Now, my brother is around the same age as a few of the people on my team, but he’s seen the movies. Of course, he’s related to me. And evidence from the rest of my team seems to indicate that the younger guys did see the movies, although some of them may be more excited about the Transformers. I do remember watching the Transformers with my brother when he was little, and I have to say, it’s no Star Wars. Although it probably is better than Episodes 1-3, burdened as those movies are with Jar Jar Binks, Hayden Christensen’s leaden acting, and horrible writing. As one of my co-workers put it “After watching those movies, I actually thought Natalie Portman was a really bad actress until I saw her in something else.”

Perhaps I have been confused all these years. I thought all my peers had seen the Star Wars movies, but I could be wrong. Maybe it was just me and my particular group of friends. So I ask you: Did you see Star Wars and do you know who Luke freaking Skywalker is? How old are you (a range is just fine for those of you who don’t want to be specific)? And are you male or female? Now I'm curious about whether it is a generational thing or a gender thing. Either way I'm still the odd one out, but I'd like to know!

Posted by Bad Penguin at February 21, 2008 10:29 PM