This started with a conversation with @soraleia and I wanted to actually add to it. In retrospect there is probably a lot of missing context that I think should be added in just for the record so here goes.
I'm really, really worried about the hype around The Force Awakens and I think the fans will be the downfall of the franchise.
We've already seen some of the damage that the fandom has caused and the movie isn't even out yet. First it was the bitchfest around Kylo Ren's lightsabre and now we have one fan theory after another popping up hoping to guess what the movie is all about. Not only is Kylo Ren's lightsabre not going to change but a lot of fans are going to be really disappointed that their favorite theory isn't true (I'm willing to guess the three I've heard of are NOT true at all) and we're already hearing tons of whining and moaning. We, the fandom need to chill the fuck out. We've been down this road before with the prequel trilogy. It really bothers me how many people shit on those movies, shit on George Lucas when all the while they're the ones acting shitty. Of course you didn't like the prequel trilogy, your expectations were too damn high to begin with. The next movie will be fine I'm sure but I seriously doubt it will measure up to expectations. How could it?
I do want to see Episode VII, I really do but I'm not expecting Episode V. At best I'm expecting Episode III and probably another Episode I both of which were fine films, they really were. They just didn't re-capture our imaginations the same way the classic trilogy did. How could they? We're all a lot older, a lot wiser and we expect more from our movies. George Lucas, cognizant of the time differential between the classic and prequel trilogies decided to make the new movies for a new audience. He didn't make those movies for us, why should he? He wanted to create a whole new generation of Star Wars fans to carry on the fandom into the next generation and beyond. George followed the same formula in the prequel trilogy that he followed with the classic trilogy. Focus on the overall story over character development, rely heavily on special effects and use action sequences as a story telling device. It worked before, why not do it again? Younger audiences fell in love with the new movies while their parents screamed and bitched and whined and cried that they didn't get the movies they wanted.
The problem with asking for a Star Wars movie not made by George Lucas is you're going to get a Star Wars movie not made by George Lucas. The Star Wars we want isn't the same as the Star Wars he made. Why would it be? We've changed, we've grown, we expect more so why ask for the same thing again? It makes no sense and yet for twenty years that's all the fandom has done. We keep demanding new movies that are as good as Episode V or better but can that ever happen again? No, but J.J. Abrams is trying it and I'm really scared he's going to fail. Sure the classic cast is mostly still alive and well but they've changed, they've moved on and the characters they're going to give us aren't the ones we fell in love with. I'm really worried that Harrison, Mark and Carrie are going to get lambasted for not playing Han, Luke and Leia "well enough" and may even get booed off the set like another actor we all know and hate *coughHaydenChristiansoncough* all for the crime of not meeting our expectations.
The problem with the prequel trilogy isn't George, Hayden or Jar-Jar. The problem is the fandom. Unless we want to be disappointed all over again we need to take a good long, hard look in the mirror. We grew up and it's time to start acting like it.