TFA (and TLJ) were under no obligation to bow reverently at the altar of the PT. Putting aside the obvious fact that that’s ridiculous and they can do whatever they want, the ST is set 50-60 years after the PT, so it’s only natural the we don’t see many elements of it. I mean, look at the OT. If one were to watch the PT and then the OT without any knowledge or comprehension of the production timelines, it’d look like the OT was completely abandoning and disregarding a lot from the PT.

I don’t understand how ‘not referencing’ is equal to ‘disrespecting’ (especially since both TFA and TLJ *do reference the PT).