See CO, you say you don't concern yourself with the critics of the classic trilogy when it first came out, but now here you are acting like your criticism of the prequels is somehow much more insightful. And you are basing this on your perception that the prequels are merely a fad with some of your younger relatives?
Star Wars is a fantastic story and is made up of some wonderful movies, but it's not a religion. There was a period of time after ROTJ where Star Wars faded. Even with the mighty power of the classic trilogy on it's own, there were almost 10 years where nothing new aside from the occasional EU book was produced. The action figure line had all but vanished.
If the success of the prequels were so dependant on the previous success of the classic trilogy then how do you explain that gap of relative inactivity in the Star Wars fanbase?
I could make a decent case that the SE's and the Prequels made the drawing power of Star Wars even more potent than it was before, hence why Star Wars is such a common brand in use today (in the realm of books, comics, video games).
The critics who slammed the classic trilogy thought they were pretty smart people too. I just don't understand why you think that your criticism of the prequels is any more insightful than these professional critics from back in the day.