Why do we care so much?

And almost every one one of those references is about the OT. If anything PT-specific is mentioned, it usually has something to do with how disappointing those films were. Any SE references are about the stupidity of either Greedo shooting first or Hayden Christiansen in the end of RotJ. The 'saga' view of the films just doesn't apply for most non-fanatics.

For instance, when Hillary Clinton called Dick Cheney 'Darth Vader', I'm pretty sure she didn't mean he was a tragic hero...

 

The initial question raised has a very simple answer and that is the Star Wars series speaks to and touches people more than your average film does, both in terms of entertainment value and in terms of personal philosophy. They are superbly made films, with the original considered a classic not only of American cinema history, but of cinema history in general, and one that, unlike Citizne Kane, Godfather or Gone with the Wind, has grown into a franchise with a depth and reach that can envolope the viewer with far more consequence than the aforementioned films. And really its not all that unique--Trekkies have a similarly historically-important franchise that not only is quite entertaining for fans of that type of subject matter, but also is quite complex and far-reaching in its development such that it envelops the fans in a far more far-reaching manner than fans of, say, Spider-man. In a lot of ways the Star Wars devotion is not that unique--recently a co-worker related a story about how a fan of a local rival sports team boasted about a recent victory at a bar, was met by a fan of the other local rivalry and was engaged in a fight wherein the victim was literally slammed repeatedly into the ground of the tavern by his scrotum until it tore and the victim's raw vas deferens were hanging exposed--such barbaric (and presumably drunken) violent allegiance may be perplexing but it goes to show that people are intensely loyal to any manner of entertainment with far-reaching influence in their lives. And thankfully I have not heard of any scrotum-tearing scuffles amongst OT-PT fans.

In short, people care because the Star Wars films are intensely entertaining and because their far reach in pop culture also means a far reach in the private lives of its fans. In my experience, OT fans are the more intensely loyal which would correspond to the level of cultural influence and hence personal influence that those films enacted upon their viewers. Spider-man has touched its devotees and influenced pop-culture to a degree as well, to give an example, but not to a fraction of the level that Star Wars has in its mania and almost cult-like devotion that sprung from the summer of 1977. For whatever reasons, it was a mainstream hit that spoke to a mass audience in a profound way in both its entertainment value and personal philosophy, and everything since May of 1977 has been building on that. The prequels/SE/Saga divided fans and in some ways competed against that pre-existing loyalty, so you have the rivalries and impassioned debates, both fighting for dominance as the prevalent Star Wars meme, I guess the same manner that fans of the Mets and Yankee's do in New York. Hopefully it will never get to the level of drunken scotum-tearing the way sports has.

 

I dunno. After reading that story, I think I'll refrain from defending TPM in public. Imagine: One minute you're extolling Liam Neeson's performance; five minutes later, you're groaning like Anakin on that Coruscant operating table (and I'd guarantee your new voice wouldn't have Jones' pitch.)

Forget that! I wouldn't put my scrotum on the line for Yahweh Himself, let alone Lucas.

 

I know man, we live in a sick world. I love Scrubs.

Ya know, the replies on this board really shows me that Star Wars fans are a very intellectual group, who care alot about the material and debate and discuss about very complicated issues. I think the Prequels added, among other things,(whether you cared for the films or not) discussion about corruption and politics. I can honestly say that I really enjoy this. Keep it up guys. This actually feels like a legitimate discussion not just, "You suck N00B!!! ROFTLYHEUW23=/GHQWELOP!"

I completely agree with this statement and was a very intelligent response.

We live in an age where a person, whether it be a professional critic or just a regular joe, can actually enjoy a film, but still say they thought it was bad movie. Now, I beleive Star Wars, any of the films, whether you like them or not, represent, (along with The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Jurassic Park, Star Trek, etc), why movies were made. Just like any art form, they were created with creative minds and had plenty of artistic merit, but at the same time were vastly entertaining. And I think it's a little sad how cynical people can become over a film. Now I might get critisism here, but a most recent example this year was Spider-Man 3. I personally enjoyed this film the most of the trilogy, and so did alot of casual viewers(I myself a big fan though).

Most people liked the movie, alot even loved it. Hardly anyone could disagree that they enjoyed it and were entertained, but as time went on, small critisisms that were perfectly justified as to why they thought it was the weakest of the three films suddenly transitioned into utter hatred for the movie. The one I heard the most, even more than Venom's look, was Peter's dancing. As if they somehow thought that dark Peter Parker would be truly evil and do unspeakable things. The reality of the character, is that even when he was a jerk with that symbiote on him, he was still a huge nerd. I was amused and had fun with the cheesy dancing scenes. Now I understand that some people might've been annoyed by that, but they started grounding the entire failure of the movie on that one montage. It was the same characters, with arguably more character development(especially with Harry)more humor, more action(including more vertigo ariel fights, expected from a Spider-Man movie) and it was darker and delt with a theme that most comic book movies wouldn't dare try to accomplish. Now, apparently, atleast on the internet, it's cool to hate Sp

 

Stephen Colbert frequently mentions Star Wars, including Battle Droids, recently. Also theres a line in Superbad(love it) where one of the cops quotes Yoda and then says to McLovin, "Yoda? Ya know, from Attack of the Clones?"

The PT's gettin there.