Wonder how many people in the fandom saw the prequels first and didn’t know the OT existed… Because it’s a different outlook than if you knew there were 6 films and is aware of Vader? I basically thought Obi-Wan was the protagonist of a pointlessly tragic saga lol.
I work with elementary school kids and 99% of them were introduced to Star Wars through TCW or Rebels. It’s really interesting to hear their thoughts on it because their knowledge and interest comes from such a different place than mine and most of my friends. They LOVE Anakin (one of my students called him “so ridiculous but he’s awesome”), they love Ahsoka, they love Jar Jar, they love all the stuff from the PT. They love the OT too! They love Rogue One, they love TFA. They have no concept of SW as a somewhat splintered fan experience. They accept and love all of it unconditionally and it’s so much fun to engage them in conversation about it because of that.
I have multiple SW tattoos, including a huge Ahsoka on my arm, and when they see her for the first time, they lose their minds because to them Ahsoka is from THEIR SW experience, they can relate to her, and they immediately glom onto me as “one of them”. It’s pretty amazing and it’s one of the things I love about my job.
This is all so true! My backyard has been the setting for “the Clone Wars” for my son and his friends more times than I can count. He is probably more into TCW and Rebels than he is into the films (though he loves all of those, too.) He thinks Ahsoka is the best, and that Obi-Wan and Anakin are awesome and hilarious. (He is not wrong about any of these things, of course, especially the fact that Anakin and Obi-Wan are worthy of being laughed at, hahahaha.) He adores every single Rebels character, too.
Re-experiencing Star Wars with him has been such fun for me, and it’s been so interesting to see what things he latches on to most. He would seriously watch Anakin in the podrace 800 times in a row if I let him. He thinks the entire concept of “small boy gets picked to be a Jedi because he has magic powers” in Phantom Menace is AMAZING OMG WOW SO COOL. And there is nothing funnier than watching him CRACK UP at some lame Star Wars joke. Little kids LOVE corny Star Wars humor, and it warms my cold black heart.
He doesn’t divide any of it up into “good” or “bad”. It’s all Star Wars to him and he loves it all. (Granted, it’s all Star Wars to me, too, so maybe he was just born with an innate appreciation for the absurd. I hope he never outgrows that. 😉)
Reading this has given me clear skin, reduced stress, slowed aging, extended my life, etc