If there were some films or other forms of entertainment which George Lucas enjoyed as a child, then he should have worked to capture those same elements in a high-quality way in his new films. His fond memories do not give him any excuse to purposely aim for the same mistakes and crap he witnessed as a child. An artist should always try for the highest level of excellence possible at all times. Sure, nobody can make something perfect, but that doesn't mean we can't at least care enough about what we're making to aim for real truths and feelings.
The same thing goes for a lot of the newer special effects out there. People are purposely making them bad or noticeable for the sake of being bad or noticeable and it makes no sense to me at all. The special effects in the original Star Wars or Empire Strikes back, while not technically perfect, were subtle and actually heightened the dramatic impact of the films' stories. In the most current films though, we see something very different from that. At times it seems like nothing is precisely executed anymore; everything is wildly overdone and sloppy instead.
Perhaps the worst part of this attitude is when it lifts up children as an excuse to make this crap, as if children can only enjoy something of low quality. It's insulting to any adult who enjoys the original Star Wars or something else (like Harry Potter). I mean, sure, everyone knows that children do not have the same level of sensibilities when compared with adults, and thus they can often be seen enjoying junk that someone with more complicated tastes would easily reject, but this enjoyment never, in any way, negates the possibility of higher quality content. In other words, children are good at grasping the simple things with wonder and awe, and that's great, but at the same time there can be complexities reinforcing that simplicity which adults can also enjoy. Incompetence or sloppy greed should not be allowed to hide behind children, ever.
People need to stop rewarding artists who turn the nature of art completely upside down. Don't pay good money to watch INTENTIONAL crap simply because it has the origin of Darth Vader in it. Art should always seek the highest ways to impact those who experience it in my view. (The only exception I have to this rule is perhaps with films that use cheese or inferior effects to achieve a humorous effect (either intentionally or unintentionally). A good laugh is never a waste of time after all.)
