but the prequels have brought out a level of hatred that, to me personaly, has seriously hurt the saga.
I don't necessarily agree. Again, there were plenty of people in 1998 who liked star wars and didn't like every star wars movie. If I remember right, that infamous "50 reasons why ROTJ sucks" magazine article was written around then. Again, the idea that the prequels really fractured Star Wars fandom is a product of you not really paying attention or having access to other aspects of fandom before the internet. Star Wars fandom was ALWAYS this fractured. What the prequels (and the availability of the internet) did is bring that division closer to your home. It also doesn't help that on a site like this, such a division is one of THE focal points of discussion, especially in this forum. So you're going to get a tunnelvision thing going on, it's going to seem a lot more considerably fractured and more important than it really is.
To use a quote from a movie you hate
"your focus determines your reality." what you focus on is altering your perception. That's essentially all I'm saying. you don't seem to be taking into account a "larger view" that includes more than just boards like this, and history of fans and fan writings and reactions BEFORE 1998. It's what allows you to say Star Wars, before the prequels, was never mocked by the fans
as if just stating it made it true. It SEEMED true to you, but it's not. Never has been. I don't necessarily agree. Again, there were plenty of people in 1998 who liked star wars and didn't like every star wars movie. If I remember right, that infamous "50 reasons why ROTJ sucks" magazine article was written around then. Again, the idea that the prequels really fractured Star Wars fandom is a product of you not really paying attention or having access to other aspects of fandom before the internet. Star Wars fandom was ALWAYS this fractured. What the prequels (and the availability of the internet) did is bring that division closer to your home. It also doesn't help that on a site like this, such a division is one of THE focal points of discussion, especially in this forum. So you're going to get a tunnelvision thing going on, it's going to seem a lot more considerably fractured and more important than it really is.
To use a quote from a movie you hate
"your focus determines your reality." what you focus on is altering your perception. That's essentially all I'm saying. you don't seem to be taking into account a "larger view" that includes more than just boards like this, and history of fans and fan writings and reactions BEFORE 1998. It's what allows you to say Star Wars, before the prequels, was never mocked by the fans This isn't a Star Wars only phenomena, either. It happens across the board to almost EVERY intellectual property with geek appeal. The notes we're hitting here aren't all that unique, Star Wars' incredible box office and home video sales regardless.