May 18, 2005 was one of the best days of my life–sixth grade me waited in line with my mother and sister for hours to see Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith at its midnight release.

Even now, nearly 12 years and many writing classes later, I’m not sure that I can adequately describe the level of excitement I felt to see that film. My first viewing of A New Hope somewhere around first or second grade had changed my life–I told teachers and anyone else who would listen that I wanted to grow up and go to UCLA like George Lucas did, so that I could be the next him, so that I could write and direct movies like Star Wars. Lightsabers and podracing and the Force enthralled me. The prequels had just begun to be released right at the time I was discovering the mythology that Lucas had built, and were the perfect kind of movie for the boy that I was: filled with engaging, exciting set pieces, epic battles, and, most of all, lightsabers.

In the years to come I would obviously grow more aware of the criticisms heaped upon Lucas’s prequels. But even as I heard and acknowledged many critiques, something part of me always thought back to the sixth grader standing in line on May 18, excited to be out late on a school night, anticipating the film with an eagerness with which I have anticipated very few things in my life. I didn’t care then about the messiness of the plots, or the bad-to-awful deliveries of some of the most wooden dialog ever written. What I was keenly aware of was that I was waiting in line to witness the end of a particular era: the era in which Star Wars movies were being made. This was part of what convinced my mom to take me to the film–there simply wouldn’t be any more for us to go to, so of course we had to see it.

Now we know that the era closed by Episode III’s release was merely the era of George Lucas’s Star Wars. With the sale to Disney, a whole new era has begun, ushered in with J.J. Abrams’s Episode VII, and continued just last month with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

And just like with Lucas’s prequels, equal doses of praise and critique have been leveled at both of these new films.

Personally, I have tried to read few reviews of either film, particularly Rogue One. I liked the movie quite a bit. I had a lot of fun watching it, and thought it was a neat story, told in a way that I enjoyed being a part of. The film has some issues–I can easily admit to that. But in all honesty, I don’t care about those problems nearly as much as I care about the feeling of excitement that I still got with each new trailer for the film, each new image. Not even the worst part of the film can detract from the feeling I got sitting in the theater and realizing: I am 24 years old, sitting in a movie theater, getting to see another Star Wars movie on the big screen.

I love the Star Wars universe a lot. I’ve spent countless hours immersed in the novels, video games, comics, and of course films, that comprise it. And even though most of those media are no longer considered canonical, the pleasure and joy that they provided me is something that can never be taken away. Some may have been upset at the deletion of some of their favorite stories from having actually “occurred” within the fiction of the universe, but if anything all it did for me was get me more excited for the stories that so many others are now going to be able to tell.

A close friend asked me recently if I would have still liked Rogue One if it hadn’t been a Star Wars film. Honestly, I’m not sure. But I don’t really care, either. Maybe it makes me a bad, irresponsible film/communication student, but I can admit to tossing objectivity out the window when it comes to this franchise.

Maybe one day there will be a Star Wars film that is so clearly bad that it totally shatters the illusion for me (some would say those movies have already been made, i.e. the prequels, but I disagree; there are still moments in the prequels that are truly, truly phenomenal). In the meantime, I’m just going to enjoy that I’m getting to see new Star Wars movies being made. Others will strongly disagree, but I think that it’s just pure fun to see this universe portrayed on the big screen again–and I’m going to savor that feeling for as long as I can.

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