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Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened Friday. I’m hoping to go see it Sunday. No spoilers please. I’m avoiding Facebook and the Internet pretty much until I watch it.

Yes, that’s right, I’m a Star Wars fan, not a full blown fanatic. I don’t have the costumes or lots of merchandise, except some M&M Star Wars key chains, hand-held fans and a tiny light saber. But I’m a fan. I’ve seen all six movies, have all six on DVD.

Star Wars is an interesting phenomenon and has been since Star Wars: A New Hope was first released in 1977. People either love it or hate it. My husband has never seen any of the Star Wars movies. I’ve watched them all multiple times. He’s never given me a good reason why he doesn’t want to watch Star Wars and it’s something I just don’t understand.

Here are some of the reasons I love Star Wars.

Star Wars is the essence of good vs. evil battles that you find in most movies, but it’s different in Star Wars and until you watch it’s hard to explain. Yes, I know the controversy of some fundamental Christian groups who oppose the move because of the “Dark Side.” But there is a heaven and there is a hell so there a good side and a bad side and that’s the overall human struggle is it not, deciding what’s right and wrong, good and bad, moral and immoral, light and dark?

Annakin’s struggles with anger with those who killed his mother, the struggles of jealousy of knowing you are “the chosen one” but feel like you’re being held back, of a forbidden love (remember Romeo and Juliet) these are human struggles, they are struggles we deal with, perhaps not all of them all at once like Annakin, but we all deal with disappointment, anger, jealousy and it’s how we handle those situations that shape who we are.

There are great characters — let’s not talk about Jar Jar Binks — well let’s do. No one likes the way he talks but let’s be honest he’s kind of a fun-loving character. My favorite has always been R2-D2. Why, maybe because he was short and cute. Yes, he was an android but I think I love his sarcasm and wit and his bantering with C-3PO. I even had a stuffed R2-D2 when I was a child and I wish I had held on to it. Another favorite is Yoda. Love him, you must. He’s wise, sarcastic, logical, loveable but a strong Jedi Master.

And there’s Chewbacca, who even though you can’t understand his “words” any better than Jar Jar Binks’ you know exactly what he’s saying. And there’s the loveable Ewoks from Return of the Jedi. There’s the original Star Wars gangster Jabba the Hutt, and Watto the male Toydarian junk dealer who owned Annakin and his mother and so many other alien characters that make Star Wars unique and entertaining.

I’m sure there are more loveable characters in The Force Awakens and I can hardly wait to meet them on the big screen.

There are great stories. Not just the good vs. evil but other stories everyone can relate to starting with the first one when Luke Skywalker dreams of something more than Tatooine. Growing up we all want to explore outside of our hometown, to see what else is out there. There’s the romance of falling in love — Luke and Princess Leia (until they find out their siblings), Princess Leia and Han Solo, and of course, Annakin and Padmé Amidala.

There’s great action; great fight scenes whether it’s armies or one-on-one fights such as Luke and his father, Obi Wan and Darth Vader, Yoda and Darth Vader, Annakin and Obi-Wan; and, of course, great chase scenes in every movie.

And, in the end, just like all good movies with “happy” endings, good triumphs over evil.

If you haven’t watched any of the Star Wars flicks, perhaps it’s time you found out what you’re missing.