I am a fan. I am die-hard fan. I know the original Star Wars movie pretty much off by heart and can speak the dialogue with the actors as they utter it onscreen.
And then, um, the “second trilogy” which was a prequel (confused yet?) happened, and splatted royally to the point that a lot of people who love this fandom basically pretend that these movies never happened in a very meta Jedi mind trick (“these are not the Star Wars movies you are looking for…”) So we all kind of endured that, and then for a little while there was a hint of redemption (in the first two movies of the final trilogy) followed by what should have been a culminating movie but one which also, in its own way, splatted.
So yes, I am a fan. I actually saw all of those movies, in the theatre, on first release. I haven’t seen the spinoff series (Mandalorian, Andor, etc) simply because they’re pay to play behind a paywall on a streaming service and I can’t afford to pay multiple streaming services on a monthly basis because they individually each have a single series or two that I want to see so I miss out on a lot. But I was there, fifteen years old and starry eyed, when Star Wars FIRST HAPPENED. And that gives me standing.
I have THOUGHTS. They’re on my Patreon. If you can pay $13 or more a month (multiplied by however many streaming services you want to follow…) you might consider tossing $1 or $2 into the Patreon on a monthly basis, for things like this. My cats, whom you would be keeping in kibble by doing so, will be grateful for your support.
And May the Fourth be with you… always.