And I'm telling you, YES, they did. You just didn't notice it. I'm with you, man, I didn't notice it at the time, either. It took until way later, when I dug around the library, read some old stuff on microfilm, on the old PINE newsreaders back in 95-96, reading old magazine articles in the library database, and when google bought deja-news and made the history of usenet completely searchable, looked through that too. And what I'm telling you is that this sort of split, this rift, this anger has ALWAYS been there. it seems new to you because you just recently started focusing on that rift. but it's not new. Fans have mocked it. People who DID like the films were angered by later ones. The only substantial thing that's been changed by the Prequels is WHERE that rift runs now.

Before the SE's, the rift occurred between ESB and ROTJ, and to a lesser extent, between Star Wars and ESB. People saying "Star Wars to me is just Star Wars." hell, the first recorded instance of someone saying "A New Hope? Garbage revisionism. Give me Star Wars and throw away the rest" happened around 83 (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the sentiment) But there was a definite chunk of fandom that liked Star Wars, and seriously disliked one, if not both of the sequels, and mocked and argued and went rounds and fought just as much and as vehemently as geeks on the net do now.

After the SE's, the rift moved, obviously, to the Originals vs SE's. And then after the Prequels, the rift became PT vs OT. But it's the same rift, and the same sides on both sides, yelling the same stuff they've been yelling at each other since 1983. The Prequels and the SE's didn't do anything but change where that focus was placed.

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Hey, that is a pretty good comparison, and you're right, cause most people I know either loved all 3 OT movies, or didn't like SW, so I guess I knew no one in the middle. The funny thing is, I find myself in the original/ESB crowd now. I see a huge drop in quality from ESB to ROTJ, and it kills me that the trilogy I grew up with to me has only two classics instead of three.

Now in saying that, I can still watch Jedi, for the last hour, especially the Emperor scenes and the space battle still make it great, but not a classic. It is funny cause I think Jedi, gets a little too much flack cause it is compared to SW & ESB, and ROTS gets too much credit cause it gets compared to an inferior TPM & AOTC.

Where does this leave us now, who knows. But you made good points, so I respect your opinion.