The Solitary Star Wars Fan – Why Do They Exist

By D. Maxwell

 

One of things I enjoy about being a member of Star Walking Inc. is opportunity to meet other Star Wars fans and to share my interests in Star Wars with them.  In fact I’ve been a part of Star Wars fandom so long now that I can’t imagine ever living without it. Yet there are many out there who are not a part of fandom and never will. It was this thought process that prompted long time Star Walking member Ken Howlett to ask me on last year’s bus trip Sydney “why more Star Wars fans do not join Star Walking?” This article is an extension on the discussion that followed.

 

It can be a little hard to imagine, but almost by default Star Walking is both a grace and a curse to some Star Wars fans. By now you may be asking, “how is this possible? How can Star Walking - or any Star Wars club for that matter - be viewed as a negative thing?” After all Star Walking allows fans from all over to unite together because of their passion for Star Wars. This in turn allows people to explore their writing and artistic potential by contributing to The Force magazine, or perhaps even more enjoyable is the opportunity to attend the Skyforce social club meetings where people can share their love of the Star Wars universe for a few hours every couple of months with other fans. Also when Star Walking organises conventions and banquets, it really is an opportunity to experience Star Wars fandom at its very best.

 

With this in mind, wouldn’t it seem like “common sense” for all Star Wars fans to flock to Star Walking, especially considering that it provides for Star Wars/Science Fiction fans who are often “frowned upon” in mainstream society? With the weight of sceptical public opinion in mind, why wouldn’t a Star Wars enthusiast embrace an organisation full of likeminded individuals with open arms?

 

It’s my belief that there are two reasons for this (ironically, neither of which are likely to apply to you reading this). Firstly, there is the feeling of “stepping over to the other side” of your Star Wars interests. I believe there is a psychological “barrier” that people face when deciding to join any organisation, as they now have to acknowledge a higher level of devotion to their passion - akin to a “crossing over” ritual. Secondly, clubs like Star Walking can be a threat to the way fans experience Star Wars in their lives.

 

Allow me to elaborate on each point in turn:

 

1) “Stepping over to the other side”

 

If you have an interest in a particular field, do you automatically join a club which relates to that interest? A good example is why aren’t all football followers members of their respective clubs? After all it could be argued that a football club financial member is a better, more devoted supporter than the non member. If you listen to the advertising and read the car bumper stickers, you’d believe this was the case. Yet for many non members, the high level of devotion to the club is there and is equal too, if not greater than, the financial members themselves, but this devotion does not exist on a particular plain which automatically commits the person to joining a supporting organisation.

 

Star Wars fans are the same. There are many people who are huge Star Wars fans, yet their passion for Star Wars does not justify them joining Star Walking. I think the difference between those who do join a club and those who don’t is that joining a club means that a person’s interest in Star Wars has propelled them in a direction where they want to learn more about it, to go beyond just watching the movies and reading the books - in essence, to go beyond the realm of what the general populace can see. Once this point has been reached, they have knowingly progressed past having a “public access” interest in Star Wars. As such, they are now prepared to pay someone else their hard earned money just so they can get more of it (taking a “first step into a larger world” if you will). Alternatively, there are those who prefer to not “give in” to this desire despite the advantages a club like Star Walking can offer.

 

An unwarranted side effect of being a part of a fan club is the perception which is attached to it, ie:  the impression that if you are member of a Star Wars club you are somehow a lesser person in the eyes of society. This of course is totally unjustified and incorrect – as those in Star Walking will testify – however the image that accompanies this common viewpoint is enough to keep many potential fan club members away.

 

The “out” clause these days for people who want more Star Wars but don’t want to join a club is the Internet. Through the Internet a person can search out and absorb as much Star Wars information that they can handle, all from the relative seclusion and isolation of their home. The only thing the Internet can’t offer is person-to-person social interaction which is just as important to the overall enjoyment of Star Wars as knowledge gathering.

 

2) “Star Walking is a threat to a person’s Star Wars experience”

 

A Star Wars fan club, especially a large successful club like Star Walking Inc., has many positive elements to it: you can meet people, you can participate in discussions, you can read the stories people write, see the pictures they draw, view the collections they own and hear the opinions they have. But for some, all these many varied inputs and opinions can actually encroach on an individual’s Star Wars experience. It is this “threat”  which prevents them from joining a club. I know because this once happened to me.

 

For this statement to make sense, I must share some of my own experience.

 

ANH came out when I was 10 years old, and like my friends in primary school at the time, I became obsessed with Star Wars virtually overnight – especially considering Star Wars was aimed at kids of my age group. Even though there were some kids who embraced Star Wars more than others, some who knew more about it than others, and some who became the centre of attention in Star Wars discussions more than others, the result was that we all enjoyed Star Wars in our own way. In our minds, we knew everything about Star Wars; we knew every ship, character, planet, weapon, alien you could imagine, and we lived with a feeling of Star Wars superiority over any one else - even though in reality we were just little kids who thought we knew more than we actually did. For people like myself, this mindset remained in place for many years.

 

Then I experienced a culture shock of mammoth proportions, the introduction to a Star Wars fan club, in this case HAMILLS. HAMILLS was the Australian Star Wars fan club that ran from 1981 to 1987 and at one point was the only Star Wars fan club in the world. It was big, it was popular and it was the central focal point where all Star Wars fans could become one.

 

Within what seemed like a heartbeat I discovered an army of other fans. But instead of instantly embracing this “long lost” fan base, I viewed it with extreme caution. Flicking through the club newsletter I was shocked to discover that these fans could write articles, draw pictures, show photos of their collections, and write about their Star Wars experiences in ways I could not imagine. Instead of being the only one true Star Wars fan in the world, I was but one of thousands. Ironically, as luck would have it, in time I became best friends with the man running the Victorian chapter of HAMILLS – which in turn lead to my eventual involvement with Star Walking – but even with this friendship, I just could not ever bring myself to join HAMILLS even though becoming of member of it seemed like the most logical action for any Star Wars fan to take.

 

Why didn’t I join? Because my illusions had all been shattered. This great Star Wars fan club was a threat to the way I saw and experienced Star Wars. After six years of thinking I was someone unique, in the end I was just another fan. For all intents and purposes, I was ordinary. People already knew the knowledge I had - even knew things about Star Wars that I had never even considered - and lots of people had special experiences in their own Star Wars lives that were beyond my comprehension. I couldn’t help but feel inferior.

 

When a person suddenly discovers that they are but one of many and that they really aren’t that prominent in the scheme of things, it’s very easy to just turn away from the threat, pretend it does not exist and go back to living in your own “world” where you are supreme.

 

It is always a challenge for new members to fit into a well established organisation. Every day we hear people say “I didn’t know there was a Star Wars fan club.” Which means that whenever a person comes into Star Walking from the cold, it is not just the club that they face, it’s also the history that accompanies it - a history that has bypassed them completely. For this reason Star Walking can seem like a very formidable organisation to be a part of. The club has run many successful conventions and banquets, it holds regular social club meetings in Melbourne and Sydney, and it has links to Lucasfilm Ltd. All this can be a lot to swallow if you’ve just walked through the Star Walking front door for the very first time only then realising you’ve missed 15 years worth of fun and opportunity. In terms of successes and achievements, Star Walking has a pretty impressive and dominating stature.

 

This is why new people can feel overwhelmed and even a little intimidated by it all. For this reason I concede that Star Walking is always destined to suffer under its own success, even though deep down, Star Walking is operated and run by likeminded fans who have the same passion for Star Wars just like everyone else.

 

So what is the solution to this? Unfortunately there really is none. Star Walking is big and proud yet is friendly and open to new comers and veterans alike. All we can do is support the solitary fan in their decision and wait with open doors should they choose to venture into the wonderful realm of fandom.

 

 

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