When I was younger, I avidly consumed space operas in both written form and television/movies. In my retirement, I've returned to some of those. Either I've become more sophisticated or they have not aged well. Or it could be both. One of my favorite authors was Robert A. Heinlein. Now I cannot understand how it was that I found anything interesting in his work; it just seems so sophomoric. Similarly, a portion of Isaac Asimov's work including the Foundation trilogy is definitely space opera, but Asimov's writing and plotting is so straightforward that it bores me. I have a similar feeling when viewing various entries in the Star Trek , Star Wars, or Babylon 5 franchises. I enjoyed most of them (An exception is that odd-numbered Star Trek movies were always dreadful and remain dreadful to this day.) when they first came out. For perspective, realize that Star Trek: The Original Series was first broadcast when I was still in elementary school. But today, I find it hard to believe that I once liked much of that stuff. There are exceptions: a few Start Trek episodes still pack a punch: "The City on the Edge of Forever" and "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" are both still worth watching. Others might be too but I'm not going to endure so many juvenile programs hoping for a couple more that have enduring value.
On the other hand, The Expanse (a fairly recently-published series of space operas available in both written and television miniseries forms) gives me something to talk about with my older grandson, and it is worth reading for that alone.
Bottom line: I used to enjoy space opera a lot, but it doesn't do all that much for me anymore.
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