Star Wars was the first fictional universe that I ever fell deeply into. It opened up a door to all other fictional universes, but no other fiction ever imprinted so deeply on me.
As a kid I absorbed everything Star Wars. The original trilogy were essentially a holy canon, and below them were all the books, comics, games, action figures, and everything else that was created out of them.
Even when I was a kid, and increasingly with age there are parts of the Star Wars EU I recognize as bad. I realized it was okay to not like certain parts of the universe, and even to head canon away or fudge events when thinking about Star Wars. My own personal enjoyment comes from focusing on what I like; I’m enjoying the way the universe opens my imagination rather than being slavish to what a legal owner of an imaginary universe declares. I also don’t subscribe to the strange notion that a “better fan” likes more of a fictional universe’s content by volume. If you’ve never encountered such an argument about Star Wars or another fictional universe, I assure you it gets made. It is silly. A person can like one movie from the whole original trilogy as the only piece of Star Wars media and still be a deep fan, they are just very niche in what they like.
This brings me to my real topic: The Disney era, the mass negativity, the infighting. It’s, frankly, exhausting.
I rarely dwell on extended wholesale negativity regarding Star Wars. To be clear, I really, really don’t like the sequel trilogy or its effect on the universe. This is one of the very few times I even bring those feelings up, because to me as a Star Wars fan I’d rather spend the time and energy talking about what I like about the universe than endlessly commiserating with other dejected fans or getting into debates with fans who like what I don’t like.
There’s no wrong way to appreciate a fictional universe, but there is a wrong way to engage as a fan. That wrong way is nonstop criticism and argument while never highlighting what you like. If you’re a fan, show other people what made you a fan. It has a better chance at elevating your tastes in the group consciousness compared to just making critiques that have likely already been made to death.
I prefer the old EU to most of the new Disney stuff, that’s no secret, but I can still appreciate something made by Disney without betraying some imaginary tribe of the fandom I’m supposed to belong to. Even as simple as concept art that I like which ended up in a movie or show I disliked, my first reaction is always to appreciate how good the art is, and let it grab my imagination.
The old EU has been officially ended. That’s sad for a fan like me. However there is over 30 years of backlog in that EU and even an obsessed fan like me hasn’t seen all of it. There’s a lot of Star Wars to go through, not even counting the bright spots I find in the modern canon.
That’s it really. Just, if you like a fictional universe, show people what you liked and give that a chance to grow. As a fan, I like talking about liking Star Wars, not talking about how I hate Star Wars.
I think you should enjoy what you enjoy, OP. If it makes you happy you should try to get what you can from it.
I was a lot like young you when I was younger, I really liked Star wars and it was part of my personality. I read plenty of EU books and enjoyed them. When Disney took over, I had some hope, but I wasn’t a child anymore.
When they seemed to put out dumpster fire after dumpster fire, I decided that they only way to avoid being just another corporate sucker was to simply take my money elsewhere. Stop caring about the series entirely. And it honestly made me way happier, because I personally hate the idea of contributing monetarily to most of the things that I think are terrible, universe rending ideas more than I hate losing what I love. And I feel that removing that part of myself helped me to mature to other things (not saying that’s true of everyone).
I will still probably go back and read some of the old EU books again. I will go back and play KOTOR 2 again. But I don’t think I can ever enjoy a Disney era star wars piece of content and that’s fine, because I usually choose not to even speak about them at all or view them if possible, to avoid giving money for it, since it’s the only way for your voice to be heard.
You should enjoy what you enjoy, OP. But I think a lot of people see it as corporate enshittification of the entire franchise and the only way to win is not to pay/play.
P.S. I agree I am tired of seeing people shit on it endlessly, only because it proves that they can’t let go of something they now hate and move on. They’re angry that Disney took away a part of themselves but not angry enough to change their ways. It’s disappointing but a lot of people are like that.