I do think people don’t give the prequels enough credit. They’ve given me a lot of material to work with in writing academic papers for my film major, and while the crux of film studies and theory is over-scrutinization and analysis of what is essentially entertainment, there is a lot of stuff in the prequels that I’ve found has been significant and/or subversive to film form, production, and storytelling. Not in the context of Star Wars for original trilogy fanboys ofc, just in the context of film history. Obviously only in the last 20 years, and much quieter than the original’s immediate cultural phenomenon status.

They may not have the objective strength as quality films alone, but there’s diegetic ambition and symptomatic relevance in these films that shouldn’t be overlooked because Hayden doesn’t like sand and Jar Jar Binks issa bombad.

I’m not even saying that the changes to the industry brought on by the prequels were good, either. But for better or for worse, they are significant films. It is probably more worth it to read about and study them as opposed to watch them for entertainment purposes, but even then, there is value in how the prequels continue play a role in the development of future generations; kids who don’t know too much better and do enjoy them.