The problem with the new Star Wars trilogy...
SPOILERS! (To all Star Wars movies and TV shows.)
Star Wars was the first movie series I was truly in love with. Although a '90s kid, I watched the original trilogy, episodes IV-VI, at least a dozen times while growing up. I truly loved this movie series. Before the prequels came out, episodes I-III, I read most of the books and comics and used up way too much brain space in accumulating vast knowledge of the Star Wars universe. Of course, most of this was retconned with the new trilogy, episodes VII-IX, where many of the characters from the Expanded Universe were eliminated along with their stories and a whole new timeline and characters were introduced. Despite my commitment to the Expanded Universe, I was excited. I loved all of Star Wars, even the prequels. To me, episodes I-III not only gave us a background to the original trilogy and the Skywalker family tree, but a reason for the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire. It showed us the frailties in the Republic and we learned more about the Jedi Order, which had disappeared by the time of the original trilogy. Yet, like many Star Wars fans, I feel cheated by the newest trilogy. I wanted to love Rey, wanted to develop an attachment to that character the way I had to all of the Skywalker family. Instead, I kind of wish she had stayed dead.