what was the point of the 7 movies that preceded this?

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The Lucas Hexalogy makes sense, the Disney Trilogy does not.

TLJ retroactively ended their relevance. Yes yes I know TFA started it but a good episode 8 could have saved it.

If you think there's actually a point to anything Star Wars, you're a delusional child.

I've loved Star Wars all my life, I have fucking Star Wars toys on my shelves RIGHT NOW (I'm 41, FYI) and I'm mature enough to admit it's just "fun with space ships" and battles and laser swords and special effects and amazing art design and alien worlds and PEW PEW PEW, with the occasional satisfying dramatic moment like what you find in Empire Strikes Back... and only Empire Strikes Back.

For me, the art design is pretty much #1, which is why I collect so much Star Wars stuff.

In terms of "point" and "relevance to reality," it's pretty much empty. That's the point. It's escapism.

FYI: No I did not like The Last Jedi, but it had its moments.

Not everything has to live up to your expectations. If everything happened that you thought was going to happen in The Last Jedi, then what is the point of even seeing it.

Yeah I see all those people cheering in the streets of Coruscant, Mos Eisley, Theed, and Bespin, at the end of Return of the Jedi, and little do they know that in a few decades, all of their cheering will have been for nothing.

It's the narrative mess (next to the lack of originality and design imagination) that finally renders the sequels Fan Fiction by undoing most of the accomplishments of the original trilogy, including the character arcs. Let's disregard the abysmal world building and just focus on the characters:

- Han in the OT became more selfless by risking his life for a higher cause and new friends (even making the way free for Luke and Leia). Frack you, we just reboot him as kewl celebrity General-goes-back-to-Smuggler (it's so helpful for smuggling when everybody knows your face). Family? Nah, unlike in the OT he runs away when his son and wife need him, to do his merry smuggler thing. Enter Adult Diaper Hans!

- Fuck you too Luke, he let's the Jedi order be destroyed again by a young emo-Skywalker turned by a dark lord. Does he clean up and redeem Kylo like his previous Vader-arc suggested? Nah, he cowardly hides on an island (to die) and lets the Empire rise again "in the meanwhile" bc the Jedi are bad. Fuck you, he also wants to kill the emo-kid in his sleep, together with the whole Jedi order - the mess must be cleaned up by a glorious Sue. Jake Skywalker everybody!

- Fuck you too Leia, you are now a dumb-as-shit military leader who sends her estranged husband into a pointless suicide mission to their hateful, fanantical emo-son. Fuck them all, who needs family (including Chewie) when you can cheer and hug the Sue in the wrongest moments possible. I'm Carry Poppins y'all.

Let the present die. Kill it!

Guys... This was inevitable as Star Wars is a soap opera/filmed series...

Like Marvel, Throne Games and East Enders... With such serialised story telling "meaning" is not possible, as the progress in story will turn victory to tragedy, tragedy to farce and inevitably things turn to the absurd if the story is to change at all... Or they'll just repeat the same tropes over and over again... Death Star to Jedi, Jedi to Princess, midichorian to etc...

For meaning to exist there needs to be some kind of an ending, however ambigious or open ended, otherwise what we are left with is another false climax and another opportunity to subvert or skew what has past...

Solo's past sexuality can be changed, Rey's efforts made heroic or misguided, timely or unfortunate, all depending on what future sequels and prequels hold... Everyone's origins are fluid and open to interpretation... The nature of the force itself is fair game, as it can be reinterprated at will...

It's a TV, long-form, flexible way of story telling... It's not the cinema sensibility that gave you the first Star Wars movie, regardless of it's B-movie premise...

It's not even as well defined and finite as a BBC mini series... Get used to it if you don't want to be crushed everytime a 'Star Wars story' is told in a way that changes your beloved movies of the past... It's the nature of TV/comicbook culture take over of cinema as the mainstream American form of storytelling...

Cinema had a good run from early 20th century to it's apex in the middle of last century, dominating the culture, but that time has past and now people and the culture have moved on... Star Wars is no exception to this, despite that it is still shown on the big screen rather than exclusively streamed like a Bates Motel or Fargo type series...

It's ok... People can still experience the Opera and Classical music concerts, people can still attend plays and theatre... There is 100 years of standalone movies to enjoy... It is possible to move on...