Thank you for articulating so well why TLJ was an utter dumpster fire, as you so eloquently put it.
Disney has poisoned the Star Wars well. It will take drastic steps to fix this.
They should begin by removing Kathleen Kennedy from having anything to do with the Star Wars IP. No equivocations, no excuses about lapses in judgement, just remove her entirely from the team(s) working on Star Wars completely.
Next, restore a competent writing team and director. Rian Johnson needs to be ejected immediately. Disney's prior stated plan to have him helm three additional Star Wars films needs to be ejected. Aside from any possible directing talent he may (dubiously) have, his dismissive and insulting reactions to legitimate fan complaints should disqualify him completely from any connection to Star Wars.
I am also a lifelong Star Wars fan. The original trilogy helped shape me as a kid, and despite many saying its just a space opera, I felt it had a deeply spiritual message.
Episode 1 broke my heart with how terrible it was, and how much opportunity was lost in telling what could have been an engaging, compelling story. The Last Jedi did the same.
Solo is the first motion picture Star Wars release I did not see in the theater, and won't. It suffered (potentially unjustifiably per your article) from the damage inflicted by TLJ. I hate to say this, but if only from a business standpoint alone, I hope the senior leadership team at Disney will do a hard rethink, and change the direction they have chosen. We expect better from Star Wars than preachy SJW rhetoric and crapping on 40+ years of knowing beloved characters, technology, and story.
I really enjoyed The Force Awakens as a reboot and bridge between old and new fans. Rogue One did its job of explaining how the Death Star could possibly be destroyed. So they were off to a fine start.
Then they lost their damn minds with TLJ!
Abrams respected Star Wars and its fans. Clearly Johnson did not. Luckily Abrams is back for IX.
Solo was written by Jonathan Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan (who wrote my favorite Empire Strikes Back) so you know they love and respect Star Wars.
I really think you are missing out by not seeing Solo on the big screen. I promise it is infinitely better than TLJ.
Agreed on The Force Awakens. That was a genuinely enjoyable film.
My main criticism on that one was Rey's immediate and unexplainable proficiency with a light saber, engaging & defeating Kylo Ren, who had significantly more time (years?) to train and prepare. Aside from that, the film was reasonably well paced, used practical effects wherever possible, and "felt" like a Star Wars film. Again, there were definitely some missed opportunities, but that's just my point of view.
I'm partially enthused that Abrams is back for Episode IX, as he did a competent job for Episode VII. That said, as long as Kathleen Kennedy (the primary driving force apparently behind all the political SJW nonsense injected into recent Star Wars) is still in charge of Star Wars, I am dubious at best. Star Wars no longer gets an unrestricted free pass, as the property has squandered much of its abundant good will.
Will consider your words about Solo. It is a shame to undeservedly punish a good film for the ills of its brethren, and the financial message to Disney has apparently been received loud & clear so a further boycott of Solo may be unnecessary. Will have to cogitate on this a bit.