Once upon a time, I watched the movie “Howl’s Moving Castle,” and I loved it.
Then I read the book Howl’s Moving Castle, and I loved it, too.
The two stories are completely different, and here is how I figured it: they have the same base story but went different ways with it and resulted in two excellent final products.
When I watched “Batman: The Animated Series,” I fell in love with Harley Quinn because she was fun. (She is my favorite DC character.)
When I read the official Conner/Palmiotti Harley Quinn comic books, I chose to treat it like one of those alternate universes DC likes to throw around all the time. Earth #12345. Harley is not exactly the same, she’s grittier, but that’s fine. I can like this alternate Harley because she’s still fun.
And when I watched the live action “Suicide Squad” movie, I treated it like another alternate universe. Earth #23456. And that let me enjoy it and root for my girl, even though she was different from both the cartoon and the comics.
I use the same treatment for Star Wars and honestly don’t know why more people don’t.
The original trilogy is canon. Obvy.
The prequels, I treat like a story deviation. An alternate universe. They don’t make sense to me, and I didn’t feel like that Anakin would have turned into Vader. (Do I insist that other people agree with me on that point? No. I’m not a dick. You can love the prequels if you want to.)
For the sequel trilogy, I accept it into my personal preferred canon because I connected to it on a deep emotional level. Others did not connect to it, and that’s okay. We don’t have to like the same things.
I don’t smush my preferences in anyone’s face, but sometimes I do wish more people took this kind of approach -- just accept the stuff you like and toss the rest. No one can stop you. And it’s a lot less pressure-raising than trying to make others agree with you.
It’s entertainment. It doesn’t have to be life or death.