That is a great analysis. Very well balanced. I noticed the
   ageism in the film as I watched it: and Disney has always
   launched a bit of ageism against the stereotype of "rebellious
   teens". They make mostly kids' movies and the kids look at their
   older siblings as rather strange creatures. Disney exploits that
   and has done so for a long time. Yet, like the author stated,
   it's not really *that* awful compared some of the reactions of
   the viewership who are more than happy to take the basic movie
   archetypes / stereotypes and expand them WAY TOO FAR, exposing
   latent ageism to full bloom. I also agree that Disney did a far
   more respectful job than the prequels. I only saw two of the
   three prequels (the 1st and 3rd - I skipped the one with the
   congress). I didn't like how Anakin's character was treated
   young, and really wasn't a fan of how the emergence of Darth
   Vader was portrayed as "teenage angst gone wild".... but then
   again, Star Wars in general IS well known for dealing in
   archetypes that are so pronounced, they're STEREOTYPES...
   sometimes of the worst degree. You can identify nationalities
   and such they're so blatant. But, again, that's standard fare
   for the star wars universe, who was inspired by Joseph
   Campbell's Power of Myth and archetypes and George did an
   amazing job weaving a relateable tale out of the monomyth using
   many familiar themes. In the end, I am in total agreement with
   the author. The fans are at issue moreso than the film, feeling
   free to mock youth tremendously rather than seeing the character
   for the unbalanced sociopath that he is. Had he not taken off
   the mask, those comments would not have been made. The mask came
   off and the ageism of the audience started to come out.