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
#i can’t speak for any of the little kids in my life#but i do remember that when the phantom menace came out#i was nine years old and i thought jar jar binks was the absolute fucking PINNACLE of humor – holy shit did you see his tongue get zapped?#FUCKING BALLER MAN i can watch that four more times#and same @ the podracing scene tbh it never got old to watch that slimy trashfire alien lose to a kidlet#i remember – and it’s a v. v. clear memory i was in the passenger seat we were in line at the drive-thru at sonic#weird al yankovic was singing bye bye mr anakin guy from the stereo#and my ickle young little heart absolutely straight-up refused to believe that anakin skywalker and darth vader were the same person#that moment of utter BETRAYAL is v. clear to me#ANYWAY#the point is: i don’t understand people who bash the prequels#like i understand there’s room for nuance but your salty-ass opinion would have bounced right off the shine of 9yr-old me’s delight#and oh MAN how COOL would it have been to be a child and watch TFA and have REY as your jedi protagonist? *____* (via @kaikamahine)