“With The Blast Shield Down, I Can’t Even See” – Avoiding STAR WARS: EPISODE VII Spoilers

I had a friend send me an email about Star Wars: The Force Awakens this weekend. It had something to do with the details of the design of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber. The great debate was finally over, as it had been revealed that the two bits of red light that blaze from the sides of the hilt are exhaust and not part of the “blade” itself.

Or something like that.

The truth is, I was completely unaware that there was any debate around the lightsaber. In fact, I was unaware that “Kylo Ren” was even the character’s name. I know my friend wanted me to share in his excitement, but beyond words like “Star Wars” and “lightsaber” the bulk of the article was fairly alien to me.

This was good news. This meant my efforts to black out as much about Star Wars: The Force Awakens was working.

As soon as the first teaser dropped, we all knew what was going to happen. We all knew that every frame would be picked a part and that, up to the moment of the film’s release, the Internet would be flooded with “inside” information and outright spoilers. More importantly, fans would be clamoring for these things. Most people say they want to be surprised, but most of the folks I know are constantly trolling for any detail of The Force Awakens they can find.

I could try and say that I don’t understand why people are doing this, but, honestly, I get it.

This is the first new Star Wars in quite some time.

And, because these are continuations rather than prequels, the ending is wide open. We don’t know where this thing is ultimately going. Add in the returns of familiar, and iconic, faces, and, yeah, I get that a rabid fan base is all but frothing at this point.

Still, I want to be surprised. I want to experience a Star Wars movie unhindered by Internet rumor and grainy set photo.

So after the first teaser, I put myself on Star Wars lockdown.

At first this was pretty easy as it pretty much meant not clicking on any story with a Star Wars related headline. But as time passed, it began to mean hitting the mute button on a small but not unnoticeable segment of my friends on a few social media channels. This was always as a last resort, however, as each of the people I follow are there for a reason. I like the things they have to say.

However, as part of my Star Wars lockdown, I couldn’t have people constantly posting overt spoilers.

Oh, and I avoided Star Wars section of the toy department as well.

This has been my life for months now, and the payoff has been big. I don’t know much about the new Star Wars film beyond what was in the teaser and the first official trailer. I’ve seen enough for my appetite to be whetted.

I’ve seen enough to be excited about new Star Wars.

Here’s the teaser trailer for the original Star Wars from 1977.