My name is Jenna Simon, I am a sophomore at Edina High School, and I have not seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens, [insert gasp here].

It’s not that I’ve never seen any of the Star Wars movies, or that I don’t care about the franchise at all and have no interest in ever seeing the new film. My dad made sure I was fluent in episodes IV, V, and VI (he didn’t care as much about the prequels). Chances are I will eventually see The Force Awakens, but I happened to be really busy the week the movie came out, and after the hype around the premiere died down I forgot about it for a little while. It wasn’t until the movie came up in conversation several weeks later and I mentioned that I still hadn’t seen The Force Awakens that I realized my lack of a movie-cation was considered a crime by many.

I can still remember the look of shock on my friend’s face when she realized I hadn’t seen the movie. When I saw that face, I made my own face of confusion, because I didn’t understand why this was so surprising to her. As we sat there making faces at each other, I began to ask myself: Why does she care?

In society as a whole, what people care about is often largely influenced by what other people care about. This is completely natural, and not necessarily a bad thing. If someone starts talking about something they think is cool, of course other people will start looking into this new thing, and they may find they think it’s cool as well. But what would happen if this became the only way people learned to care about something? We would have a society of people that only cared about the same events and the same stuff, time and time again.

Maybe I’m exaggerating, but if I am, why are people so surprised that I haven’t been exposed to the exact same culture that they have, right down to this one particular film? Our society claims to value diversity in ideas and experiences, but to what extent? It is encouraged for people to offer their opinion on any variety of topics, and it is similarly appreciated when someone introduces others to something they find interesting, whether it be a new type of music, a new series of books, or any other unique hobby. Yes, different ideas and new concepts are great. But wait, you haven’t seen the new Star Wars movie? How can you even function when your recent movie experiences are so lacking compared to everyone else’s?!

A large number of people today are overwhelmingly concerned with the big new this and the big new that. When a new hot topic emerges, for the next week or so it can become difficult to go even a few hours without that topic coming up in conversation. You could say it’s important for people to talk about what they care about, and of course it is. But if everyone is constantly talking about the same few events, you would be implying that the only thing people care about is the same few events. We know this isn’t the case, and yet this is what is being reflected by today’s most popular topics. Maybe you haven’t seen The Force Awakens, or you didn’t even try to get tickets to Adele’s concert this summer, or you just don’t care about the upcoming Super Bowl. Don’t disqualify yourself from conversations on popular topics just because of this. Be the person that says, “That sounds interesting, but honestly I don’t know much about it. But hey, did you hear about this new restaurant?” I challenge everyone to start a conversation on what could be the next new topic. Be the person to create the diversity of ideas in society that we want to see.

So no, I have not seen the new Star Wars movie. Eventually I will, but until then don’t worry about me. I appreciate that fads will come and go, but don’t let them completely distract you from other amazing opportunities or events that might otherwise never have their time in the limelight.