The other day I was re-watching the final arc of Clone Wars season 7 on Disney Plus. I was not bothering anyone at my house and in walks my 17 year old daughter. She looked at me. Looked at the TV and then walked into the other room where my wife was and stated "I find it very disturbing that my dad, who is almost 50, is watching cartoons."
That comment stung a little bit. It made me start thinking, is there something wrong with this situation? Am I too old to be so passionate about movies, books, comics, animated series' and Baby Yoda?
I work hard. I have supported my family for almost 30 years. I see other men my age that work on cars, ride their Harleys, love their lawns, paint their faces to support their favorite team. Is my passion so different or socially unacceptable compared to theirs?
I love the movie Fever Pitch where Jimmy Fallon's character loves the Red Sox above everything and has a hard time having relationships with women because of how much passion he has for that team. He mentions how people his age find it socially acceptable to work 80 hours a week but somehow his passion isn't seen in that same light.
Now fortunately, my wife has always accepted my geekness. She does not always agree with my stopping in toy aisles or going to garage sales to find something Star Wars related but she gets me and knows it makes me happy. She was even okay with my son and I starting our Rule the Galaxy podcast. She knew that hour each week allowed me to share my passion about Star Wars. She also probably figured out that it meant I would not bother her so much with it since I had somewhere to release all my Star Wars talk and passion.
Now back to my daugher and society in general. She loves Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Twilight. I love watching Harry Potter with her. I am okay with the Hunger Games and I sometimes put up with watching Twilight because of her love for it. But I guess I am supposed to accept that because she is 17. I wonder if she will still want to read those books and watch those movies when she is 49? I wonder if she will want to share something she is so passionate about with her kids at that time and if they will roll their eyes at her and tell how disturbing it is that she is watching a movie about a Wizard or Vampire?
Time will tell. But in the meantime, I am going to keep being as passionate about Star Wars even if I should be concentrating more on my 401k and retirement fund. That stuff sounds like a "Boring conversation anyway."
As a side note, the Rule the Galaxy Podcast will be back soon...it might just be me and guests since my son has conflicts with work...but maybe every now and then he will be able to hop back on and talk a little bit about the Wars.
