This is the biggest problem with trying to engage in discussion on any of this. I feel like at this point, we are more different than we are similar, despite all being Star Wars fans. As the scope of the stories told has grown, the fan base has grown and the meaning of "Star Wars fan" has expanded. It's like talking about food. Just saying "We are fans of food" almost means nothing. It's such a general topic that we'd be hard pressed to find two people with exactly identical tastes that agree on everything.
For myself, I'm an OT fanboy. Nothing comes close to those original three in my opinion. But I also recognize that they are special to me because they are so rare. I don't hold that as the standard to be considered "real Star Wars". If I did, I'd just be in for a lifetime of constant disappointment. I also don't have to love everything to enjoy it. If I can get some enjoyment out of it, then it was worth my time. But not everyone is like that. And on the flip side, there are some people who grew up with the PT and don't really connect with the OT. They think RotS is the best Star Wars movie ever made. And that's totally fine.
We can debate about the details and go back and forth on specifics, but at some point it's just different interests and different tastes. Sometimes trying to explain something you liked is like trying to explain why a joke is funny. You either found it funny or you didn't. If you didn't find it funny the first time, explaining it is not really going to help. In the same way someone can explain how the logic of a joke doesn't work, but if it made you laugh, then that won't really matter.
I think if someone enjoys something that's cool, if they don't, that's cool too. And both sides can say what they like or don't like in a respectful manner to add to the discussion. And we can have fun debating some of the details, but I'm not really trying to change peoples minds on if something is good or bad anymore. The only problem is when someone thinks that something shouldn't exist because they personally don't like it. Or they want to turn the creators into villains or bad people because they didn't like their work. It's just toxic and adds nothing but negativity.
