Star Wars has become the next General Hospital.

[Aroura]

I and my two oldest sons saw it this past Thursday at 12:45 PM, and the theater was nearly packed for the daytime showing.  Other than a single scene (which, for the sake of spoilers, I'll describe later on), the film was a disappointment.  In Episode 6 (Return of the Jedi), the Empire had been soundly defeated, but in the next (#7), they had regrouped with hordes of troops and WMDs ("Weapons of Mass Destruction").  An episode later (this one), the Republic gets reduced to a dozen or so fighters on board a rusty, old ship.

What's up??  Is the Republic a bunch of incompetent boobs who can't govern?  Is that why no one shows-up to help them?  Geesh, they were in control of whole star systems with virtually unlimited resources and they couldn't get their act together?!

But, the "show" must go on, and parents like me will be pestered to keep watching (and, paying!)

I also found there to be a good amount of rubbish in this film, it certainly isn't my favorite. That being said, I enjoyed more than that Holdo scene you mentioned.

I'm also glad that we don't get too much politics on screen, that was some of the worst shit in the prequels.  What we get is enough. As Kevin says, you know in TFA that there are 3 factions. The New Republic, which is what took over and was ruling for the last 30 years since the defeat of the Empire.  then there is the First Order, which are like a terrorist splinter group that isn't fond of the democracy that is the New Republic.  Then there is the Resistance, which takes the First Order as a serious threat, while the New Republic doesn't seem to.
That's all in the movies, and enough explanation to go on with.

If you are actually curious about the details of the politics, like exactly how the First Order rose from the ashes of the Empire, why no one in the New Republic except for Leia and a handful of her closest allies seem to take them as a serious threat, and why the New Republic is a failing government in the first place, there are whole books about it.  Which is just where that kind of background detail belongs, imo, not in the movies.

I've read 2 of them, and can answer your questions if you really care?  I mean, if you are just upset that 100% of all information isn't in the movies, then I can't help you.

A quick breakdown for anyone who is interested:
The New Republic began, after defeating the Empire, as a fractured group, into a left and right sides.  Sound familiar?
The left wants to keep the Republic as democratized as possible with all worlds having representatives and equal say.
This results in a lot of wheel spinning and not much getting done, though, as rarely can enough representatives agree on anything to actually DO something.
The right wants to centralize power in the senate, and many in the right idealize the old Empire as a good idea, just with a bad leader. Many even collect war artifacts from the Empire.
The far, far right start to maneuver to destabilize the Republic further, while building up weapons and armies in secret, with the idea of stepping in once the Republic falls into chaos.
Leia, as a very well respected and powerful senator, discovers their plots, and plans to find proof, bring it to the senate, and stand up to the far right, basically stopping them from furthering their goals.
When they realize what a threat she is, one of their number reveals she has some serious dirt on Leia.
They reveal to the entire senate the Leia is Darth Vader's daughter, and that she has hidden this bit of info from everyone (basically, only Han, Luke and her know.  She never even told their son.)
This removes her as a legitimate threat, she is no longer trusted by the majority of senators, so she organizes the few who still do trust her into the Resistance, knowing that the far right wing group will continue to grow, and to hopefully prevent them from ever taking power.
The far left and right continue to grow, build their armies, and fight each other behind the scenes for another 10 years.

Here is about where we can insert The Force Awakens.

There you go.