It’s not like George never said himself there weren’t deeper meanings or even the people that worked with him doing the same.
Oh wait … they did!
“The interesting thing about Star Wars—and I didn’t ever really push this very far, because it’s not really that important—but there’s a lot going on there that most people haven’t come to grips with yet. But when they do, they will find it’s a much more intricately made clock than most people would imagine.” - George Lucas
“One of the reasons Star Wars is still so popular is because you can read lots of things into it. A lot of things are there and George did tell me that it was his onion so to speak. That’s George Lucas’s onion. I was with him in his writing room, he wasn’t actually writing. While I was there but I was in his writing room I did talk to him about Indiana Jones movie for that book. And I was trying to read stuff into Indiana Jones and George just stopped and said no there’s nothing going on underneath the surface of Indiana Jones but he said Star Wars on the other hand is like an onion. You can peel away one layer there’s another layer and another layer and he said that was all intended. So he did intend for the six films to be interrelated and for there to be deeper meanings.” - Jonathan Rinzler
Factual evidence right here supports there being more going on than being “toyetic family movies”. Can’t they be both? They’re kids movies with deeper layers going on when you peel the movies back one layer at a time.
He is definitely in the company of Bergman, Varda, Coppola, or even Van Trier. He’s an auteur just as these filmmakers are. He just designed them more for kids versus adults as the ones you listed make/made films for. That’s the only difference separating him between most auteurs. He made films for young people as he saw how important it is to pass on what you know to generations.
The Plinkett reviews are arguably lies. No main protagonist in The Phantom Menace? Oh it’s actually just like A New Hope where Leia is except in this case Padme. The stories are equally told through the eyes of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan just as the original film was told through C-3PO and R2-D2. All according to George. George said “I may have gone too far in a few places”. Oh yes he did but when they were editing and trying to make the ending battle work. George surrounded himself with “yes men”. Jonathan Rinzler just laughed when asked about that. I could go on and on about the false claims they spill over and over and that people cite as truth over the actual facts to the contrary.
Or you know being passionate enough about a subject to want to try sharing the truth instead of what is repeated time and time again? We all need something to feel passionate about that gives us joy. Find what you love and you’ll never be bored again.
People can like whatever they want and choose to view them however they want but if they took another step they may just find a more rewarding experience. Maybe not. However at least they’d have more understanding of George as a filmmaker and person.