I first got introduced to Star Wars through they toy figures. I saw them in a shop and was fascinated by them. I convinced my grandmother to buy me one (Hoth stormtrooper, cool outfit) and I wanted to know about the story behind them. So, on the very same day, I was brought to ANH (which nobody in their right mind called ANH back then). That was in 81. In 82 I saw ANH and ESB in a double bill, which was cool. I saw ROTJ in 83. I loved those films and I spent the earlier 80s obsessed with Star Wars.
When the SE came out in 97, it for some reason it didn't fully sink in that my beloved films were being replaced, despite the "One Last Time" VHS campaign which indicated that the OOT VHS would no longer be available. I mean, I was aware they were being replaced, but the awareness didn't go very deep in me. Thus it didn't create the concern or outrage it should have. I still thought well of Georgie back then. I thus was in a mindset to be tolerant of his outrageous mutilations of the OT. I have trouble understanding my mindset of the time. But a significant factor was that I was very pleased to see the OT on the big screen again and proud to see that my old favorites were a success in the modern era. For old Star Wars fans it was kind of like a party celebrating what we loved, so much so that some us paid too little attention to the fact that what we loved was getting buried.
I remained optimistic for the PT, when I should really have been quaking with dread. When TPM came out I was disappointed by it, but not massively. I was ok with it. In some ways I liked it. I was still in a go-along-with-what-George-does-he's-the-great-guy-who-created-Star-Wars mentality. And I was a big fan of Liam Neeson, so that went in the movie's favor with me. That was in 99 of course. In 2002, I saw Attack of the Bloody Fucking Clones and I woke up. The film struck me as being completely devoid of anything worthwhile. This was when I realized Star Wars was fucked. After AOTC I didn't expect much from ROTS, but when Revenge of the Shit came along what I saw on the screen was worse than even what I had expected.
See how a cheerful post about how I got to know Star Wars turned into an account of my reaction to George's destruction of SW? That's the mark of what's been done to Star Wars. The history of Star Wars is a history of beautiful greatness falling down into tragic fuckup. Jeez George, why did you have to do that?