2020 On the Ninth Day of the New Year...

...the theme I gave my post: NINE Movies in the Skywalker Saga

First Day of Christmas Post: ONE Ambitious Idea
Second Day of Christmas Post: Sea TURTLE Vacation
Third Day of Christmas Post: THREE in one God
Fourth Day of Christmas Post: FOUR Instagram Accounts
Fifth Day of Christmas Post: FIVE Days at Disney World
Sixth Day of Christmas Post: SIX Players on the Ice

Seventh Day of New Year Post: SEVEN More Things About Disney
Eighth Day of New Year Post: MAIDens of a Disney Nature

SPOILER WARNING-I don't plan to spoil anything, and to be fair my two week curtesy window is quickly closing. However, I am putting this in just in case I do on accident.

A long time ago in a living room far, far down the road...

As a kid, only the living room television had cable. I loved finding the TV Guide in the Sunday paper to see what big movies would air that week. If Star Wars was going to be on, I was going to be watching. (Quick Note: there was a time one could just say Star Wars and it was understood she meant A New Hope. There are so many movies now it has to be specified, but for the purpose of this post just know that if I say Star Wars when referring to a movie I mean A New Hope.) I would ask my mom and dad if I could watch Star Wars since it usually occupied the TV for 2 + hours when you added commercials.

One day my mom peeked in the living room and saw me completely enthralled in the adventures of this motley crew of characters and their Space Western and said, "You know there are two more of these movies right?" NO I DID NOT! What?! What did she mean? I could spend more time in a galaxy far, far away? How do we make this happen? We headed to Blockbuster immediately. We returned home and I asked if I could watch them in the living room (the only VCR we had at the time). Two things happened that day: I realized how empty my life was before seeing Empire Strikes Back (which is far superior to either Star Wars or Return of the Jedi), and I quit the Luke camp and became a Han Solo girl for the rest of my life.

(Yes, I know this GIF is from Return and not Empire.)

Over the next few decades my relationship with Star Wars (all the films) was an interesting one. No one else I knew had really seen them or even seemed interested in them. It was almost like it wasn't cool to like Star Wars. Then the best thing happened! They were rereleased with new effects. I could not believe it! Now, EVERYONE I knew had the opportunity to see how amazing these movies were.

Whomp. Whomp. The rereleases took something from the originals that left them a little less magical. It was okay though because George Lucas was going to film prequels! Holy cow! That will show'em. Expanding the story was a great idea...

I think we all know how the prequels went (heads up-there are some bad words in this):

Fast forward a few more decades and Disney purchased the whole franchise. Wow! They did great things with the Marvel property. Surely, everything Star Wars based that comes from them will be superb.

As much as I love Star Wars, I will admit that not everything Star Wars related is golden. The fandom contains so many opinions it can make your head spin. Please understand that everything that follows are my feelings which means you are allowed to disagree. You are also allowed to think me foolish for what I think if your thoughts are different. As Kid President says, "It is okay to disagree. It is not okay to be mean," so if you don't like one of my opinions please be kind.

• I hate that it is common knowledge that Vader is Luke's father. Nothing compares to the shock and dropped jaw of discovering that nugget of truth while watching Empire Strikes Back. So intense. So awesome.
• If you are going to allow your children to watch the films, PLEASE show them in release order and not chronologically. Please. I beg you.
• My favorite piece of Yoda wisdom is actually, "Luminous beings are we. Not this crude matter." and not "Do or do not. There is no try."
• I would love to own the original release versions of the original trilogy.
• Leia rules. Always has. Always will.
• The prequels should not exist. Period.
• After Empire Strikes Back, Rogue One is the best Star Wars movie. 
• The Last Jedi would be number three after the two above.
• Solo: A Star Wars Movie is meh. No one is Han except Harrison Ford, and no I didn't need the backstory of how Han and Chewie met. What I would have LOVED is a series of their smuggling adventures. Show me how the relationship between them grows based on the challenges they face. Donald Glover aside, that movie just does not do it for me.
• Love the pun that The Emperor used a "Snoke screen" to hide his true intentions.
• The Mandalorian? ABSOLUTELY ROCKS!

And finally, for those of you wondering how I feel about the final installment of the Skywalker Saga...

But seriously, it is fine. I do not think it is the most epic ending of all time. It is a very safe ending. I am disappointed that some of the more interesting directions The Last Jedi went were rerouted or fell flat in Rise of Skywalker. I like the continued exploration of the duality in the Dark and Light sides of the Force, but I think it could have been pushed further. I am content with this as the ending. The story is done. Honestly, nothing will ever compare to being back in my living room as a kid glued to the original trilogy. However, I completely understand why people who have invested so many years into the stories and characters may have shed tears when watching those two suns set for the last time.

Even though I may not run to watch every single film over and over again, it doesn't change how much I love the Skywalker Saga and the stories and worlds that exist because of it.