PT My Rekindling Love for the Prequels

Over the summer I fell in love with the prequels again after falling into the seductive trap that is confirmation bias. Watching the movies and seeing all that I viewed was done well and all that I viewed as flaws allowed me to form an opinion of my own that opened my mind so much. I became very defensive of the films, and contributed to the exchanges of vitriol that these discussions can often devolve into. Almost immediately though, I also began to see how people who didn't like the prequels could feel that the movies and subsequent universe they saw as children being butchered (in their eyes) by unnecessary exposition, out-of-place CGI, and simply faulty filmmaking. I felt sympathy for them, because they can't enjoy Star Wars like Saga fans can, and I can't really enjoy the prequels as much knowing that there are some legitimate flaws with them, and it sucks so much because Star Wars is Star Wars, and Star Wars, being Star Wars, is awesome because it's Star Wars.

But I'm off on a tangent and I didn't even address the main point of this! I made this thread because I was walking home from school with one of my friends, (and since I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I loved Star Wars in public, I casually teased her about Star Trek being better, as she brought up Star Wars first), and I realized that the prequels are just as liked as the originals; the age group is just different. It really is a generational gap, I believe, and I know most of you must have already known this because you're older and wiser and stuff like that, but for someone whose views on the prequels have oscillated between love and hate and ambivalence, hearing my friend tell me about the intricacies of Anakin's fall and redemption, (from his vindictive slaughter of the Sandpeople for his mother's passing, to the insecurity and fear that arose from his belief that he should be an indelible being that can even stop death, to his fulfilling the damning prophecy by bringing balance to the Force), in such a passionate manner in REAL life was really edifying. I realized that the people hating online really are just a vocal minority, and that they don't represent EVERY Star Wars fan, despite them often claiming they do. I don't know, it was just amazing to actually experience that feeling of not being wrong because of a movie you liked.

Maybe I'm just making a big deal out of nothing, but I've realized that perhaps my views on the movies weren't incorrect, that something wasn't wrong with "my taste" because I liked these films. It was just an amazing experience, and I felt as though I had to make a thread about it to explain the relief I felt. Prequel fans exist, and they don't only exist online in close knit communities!

 

Right on! The prequels were great. Just a fundamentally different trilogy to the original trilogy.

 

You're right to believe that it's not the majority of people who hate the prequels and there's nothing wrong in liking them, or disliking them as well. I know some people who don't like Star Wars at all, even the OT and some of them are my friends or relatives.

Many people, as you and I, have left themselves be surrounded by all the negativity: I was also starting to believe that the PT was just bad and felt somehow a little bit ashamed for liking them before discovering this forum and see that there are still a lot of people who like the prequels. Maybe it's because I was caring a little bit too much for what people were thinking about them since they were my introduction to the Star Wars saga when I was a teenager.

I've rewatched recently Episodes I & II after not having watched any of the Star Wars movies for years and I ended up liking them even more than the first time I've watched them years ago, confirming that if people dislike the prequels it's not linked to age or to a generational gap since I'm in my twenties now. I rather think that the mixed reception of the prequels by fans is due to the fact that many were expecting the same characters and the same story to be told as in the OT, since it has been nearly 20 years between the releases of both trilogies and many have grown up with only the OT for almost 2 decades.

You can read my thoughts and views about the first two prequels here, I'll soon watch Episode III: http://boards.theforce.net/threads/...after-many-years-thoughts-and-views.50033269/

 

Awesome post. Im in my early 40's and love all 6 films, ot and pt, but my love for the ot isnt through nostalgia as it seems to be with a great number of people. Anh is my real favorite but i think esb is way too overated. I love the pt equal to the ot as i think there are things in them better than the ot. Is the pt generally better than the ot? Probally not, i dont know but i watch them far more and get more out of them, they are far more layered and complex as movies than the ot, different. No rehash of the ot but original stories, presenting new themes and plot points. I personally think the pt was too smart for alot of people who just pointed at jar jar and cgi as an excuse to slam them. These movies were not your typical summer blockbusters but smart, entertaining movies. Love ,em. The real big shame is how all the hate has filtered down to the younger generation bought up on anti pt youtube videos and sniping mainstream media, its everywhere. Parents even passing down all their hate for the films to their kids, pathetic. I just hope one day these films and their director get the recognition they deserve.(sadly disney-jj-k.kennedy have failed in this).

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The prequels were bold. I would argue they are (at least conceptually) among a small band of modern moviemaking masterpieces. That large quantities of people failed to connect with them at the time of their releases (for whatever reasons) is no insult to them. If anything, it can be viewed as a compliment. Look at the amount of people that loved 'Avatar'... or 'Frozen'. For me, they encapsulate perfectly why Lucas should be viewed as one of the leading visionary and revolutionary filmmakers / storytellers of our time.

I've always maintained that future generations who arrive without prejudice will be the ones who give the definitive verdict on the PT... but audiences are constantly changing along with fashions and trends. That's the beauty. The worst thing for 'Disney Lucasfilm' to do would be to bury these movies and deny future generations as much opportunity as possible to properly appraise them once all the hype and hysteria has finally died down. I have personally seen people introduced people to saga, starting with Episode 1 through to 6 - and the PT films in retrospect are often regarded more highly as films by those people than the OT.

I was 16 when TPM came out. Having fallen in love with Star Wars because of the OT, the new movies were a struggle to get used to at first. But I recognise now that my sustained love for the saga has been down to what those later movies added to the picture as a whole. If the OT had remained unaccompanied since '83, my interest in the saga would still be there, I'm sure, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as fervent as it remains to this day. By comparison, the OT has much less meat on it's bones. Weirdly enough, the older I get, the more TPM becomes one of my favourite ever films. There's a lot that can be said for familiarity.

 

Yeah I love the SW saga in its entirety. I don't, or at least try not to view them as 2 trilogies but one saga. Which they are one saga. A lot that has been said in these previous posts mirror a lot of my own feelings and thoughts as well. I grew up during the run of the OT. When I was a kid during those days not everyone in the world loved the OT. I had to defend the OT as a kid on some occasions. Just as I used to defend the PT at times as well. But I am putting all the defending of any movie behind and just enjoy them. I do always have an appreciation for the generation that were brought into the SW fandom thru the PT. Because I can relate to that because that is how the OT was for me. I am very happy that the PT was made and it is now here for people to enjoy. It added so much to the existing saga that I can't help but to love it. The SW movies were one thing that appealed to me no matter what age I was.

It does bother me that some make it a difficult task for others to enjoy these films. Why does it bother me? Well I just think about how when all there was was the OT and I knew I hated it when others tore those films down. So I feel that the PT has that same effect for others. I do think that brighter days are ahead for the PT. I am starting to see a more positive light shinning on them in current times. And that will just get more brighter as more time passes on.

 

This is what I thought for some time as well. Now I'm glad to see that other people besides me can enjoy the saga as a whole, prequels included. Now I never feel ashamed of liking them.

I pity those who don't like them. More Star Wars for me, I guess.

 

For me it happened when I watched the entire saga during a Spike TV marathon. It was the very tail end of the holiday season, I had nothing going on, each movie was being shown two or three times, so I just kind of bummed around my house all weekend and watched the entire thing, from 3pm Friday afternoon until 3am Monday morning, tuning at various levels of focus throughout it. After all these years it was the first time I had watched all six movies in such close proximity, and not just one after the other, but each movie multiple times. By the time it was over I had developed such an immense appreciation for the entire scope of the story. It felt complete. I felt immersed and encapsulated in the worlds the PT created. The visuals, the music, the geography, everything about it. Which then obviously lead into the OT which seemed like the finishing touches on what the PT established, especially from a character perspective. Never before had I appreciated the duel between Vader and Obi-Wan then when I watched it immediately following the first three episodes. In A New Hope, it felt more like a return to Tattooine from the time spent on it during the PT as opposed to Tattooine being any kind of starting point. There were so many things that made it feel like such an epic journey from Episode I to Episode VI that I truly came away from that marathon with a totally newfound and rekindled appreciation for the the PT and the Star Wars saga as a whole.

 

There's nothing wrong with your tastes. As long as it's not harmful to either yourself or others (and the prequels most definitely are not) you should never feel like you're "wrong" for liking something, even if other people, even a majority of other people, don't like that thing. Their opinions and views and preferences have nothing to do with yours. I also think it's possible to like a thing despite acknowledging and accepting its flaws and shortcomings. It's necessary, actually; nothing is perfect, and that's okay. For instance, I think Return of the Jedi is less consistent and more uneven than either the original film or The Empire Strikes Back. Regardless of that, it's one of my top ten favorite movies ever, equally as much because I love it as because I think it's a genuinely great movie, in spite of its flaws. There are some who who only rate SW and TESB, and disregard RotJ along with the prequels. I'm not going to let their opinion affect mine or diminish my appreciation of and love for RotJ, but I also don't begrudge them their viewpoint. We all go into these movies with different expectations and preferences, and we all come out them with different reactions and appreciations.

I also don't think it's a generational thing. Or, rather, I don't think it's entirely generational. Yes, those who grew up along with the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars are probably more predisposed to like I-III than those who grew up as the original trilogy was being released, or in the years between the release of the OT and PT. However, I'm a part of the PT generation, and myself, my friends, and my brother and his friends (all-in-all ranging in age from 16-22) have differing opinions on the PT. Some of us love them, some of us hate them, some of us are a bit more mixed. But, there are also people who fall into the age range that most would assume OT fans to be in, and they're some of the most ardent supporters of the PT that you'll find. So, there's really no hard and fast rule when it comes to that.

People will like what they like and dislike what they dislike, and they'll do so for all manner of reasons. There's no right or wrong. The people who love the prequels love them for reasons that are just as valid as the reasons others have for not loving them. And really, fans who love the entire Saga are the lucky ones; they have six whole movies to love! But, fans who love only IV-VI might love those movies equally as much as others might love I-VI, and neither are better or worse fans than the other. At the end of the day, the fact that so many people from all walks of life even care enough to argue one side over the other (I've so far had the pleasure of witnessing three OT vs. PT debates in three separate classes over the course of my college career) speaks volumes as to how much Star Wars means to so many, and I think that's pretty cool.

Long story short: like what you like, and don't let anyone tell you different. We all love Star Wars, and that's all that matters.