I'm a philosopher and a purist, but not die-hard purist. I recognize many of the crucial changes and disagree with almost all of them, but for some I recognize the need. In general, I now feel like the OT was a masterpiece based on 1) teamwork 2) coincidence. I don't think George ever knew what made them what they were. Like Speed 2 (I hope you didn't see it). They tried to lift the elements out of Speed 1 that made it work, but they lifted the wrong elements.
In brief, some of the mistakes that were made: replacing puppets, costumes, scenery, and models, replacing *ingenious* forms of communication with subtitles and cultural accents, replacing a character-development driven story with a plot-development driven story, filling Threepio's old role with Jar Jar (yeah, that didn't so much work as...not work...), having George monopolize the process by writing the script and directing, and replacing the microcosm with the macrocosm and so sacrificing depth in the experience.
And so on. I guess the details aren't that important, just want to show that I have reasons behind "it doesn't feel like star wars," I recognize those reasons, and I think they not only undermine the new trilogy, but start to erode the foundation of the old trilogy. Each of those reasons deserves it's own thread and discussion, but that's not what this is about.
I CAN, through rationalization and exposure, enjoy the new trilogy more and more. That's what I was doing. But what I was talking about in my first post is that doing so takes away from what I had in the old trilogy. I value more what I had before Episode I was around than what I can get with this expanded universe.
What am I going to do? I don't know. I'll likely continue to try to straddle both worlds, try to focus on the old trilogy but still develop an appreciation for whatever continuous story Georgie finally develops, because I can't help myself. It's Star Wars. But I will boycott this release, on the principle that we who loved the old trilogy made George what he is today (well, we were the vehicle through which his movies made him...). If he wants to forget about all that, I still want to remember. And if he has no interest in what was important to us, then I will not take an interest in what is important to him, whether it's as shallow as more money or as noble as completing a 25 year old vision. If he wants to throw out our treasure, it's ours now, and I at least will try to take care of it.
What that means is preserving what the OT used to mean to me and how it spoke to me by keeping it pure in my memory and sharing in it with all you kindred spirits.