I feel that these films are released for exactly the same two reasons the OT was released - To entertain children and to make money. Nothing more and nothing less.
Disney (quite rightly as a business) couldn't give a sh*t about OT exclusive fans, they don't need to, OT exclusive fans are largely irrelevant in the equation. They spend very little money in the grand scheme of the franchise's appeal that Disney will ever see and the noise they make is a small voice grumbling amidst a much louder cheer. Look at the national film reviews in the media versus the moans on forums and the like.
I prefer the OT, I grew up with the OT, I lived the OT as a child, sat through the dark times in my 20's, was excited and then subsequently confused by the special editions. Even more excited by the prequels, but after TPM, lost a great deal of passion for them. To be clear I love TPM, but despite having no love for the the other two, I've never slated them... I'm a Star Wars fan, always have been, always will be. In many ways I guess that I'm blind to its faults and love all the bumps and curve balls it throws at me.
It's the ultimate fantasy universe where anything can happen, where people can be no one and become someone where magic can make people float through space, rocks and space ships can be moved with your mind, where good is pitched against evil and where children grow into men and women through the adventures they undertake... best of all though for me its the alien races which are beyond endless and reimagined in every instalment.
That is the crux.. its meant to be magic, its meant to be new, its meant to be diverse.
The Skywalker story is one of a million stories that can be told, this film is telling us very openly to move on, to leave it in the past, I wish people would stop trying or expecting everything to join up across the universe... Star Wars wasn't constrained 40 years ago and was all the better for it, sadly 40 years of (IMO the utterly terrible) EU fiction and of course fan expectations, it has turned a beautifully simple magical universe into something that's becoming awfully divisive when it should be celebrated for what it is and what it does... make kids and families have fun and forget for a few hours the troubles we all deal with in the real world.
As far as
_Lee_ said:
I hope the kids of today can grow up regarding the ST in the same way, and I mean that. Just don't expect everyone too like the movies that are released in an attempt to recreate the era we were used to.
I can already testify to knowing at least 6 kids (friends and relations) that think Star Wars (the new ones) is the best thing ever and they live and breathe it everyday... the best bit of this new film coming out was having all these kids as excited as me (maybe more so) to see it on opening day, dressing up for it and of course getting all the new toys. The modern toys hold zero interest for me, why would they, I'm both not a kid and they don't fit my aesthetic reference that is attached the OT, but the joy they have and the way they want me to be involved to share their love of the films makes my day
