Its not a real outright hate, because at the end of the day, I still have my memories and feelings of the original trilogy, and the stylistic, acting, and story decisions are so contrasting that its pretty easy to just to place the films in discontinuity. I can still sit down and watch ANH, ESB, or ROTJ on VHS and love them. A few bad movies can't make enjoy them any less, no more than badly done Sonic games will take away my enjoyment of those of the 16 bit era.

No, what I feel towards the prequels is more of a quiet disappointment and sadness at what they could have been. Call it the writer's mind at work, but I can't help but look at so many elements of those movies as so much lost potential. Yeah, any films that came out were bound to have some that dislike it, but part of me does lament that of all the stories of the Republic and Anakin Skywalker we could have had, that's what we got.

It also has me feeling some pity for Lucas, as I think had he stepped away and let others in as far as working on the films, then maybe he wouldn't be dealing with quite such a mixed reputation and divisive fanbase. His frustrating decisions regarding the original trilogy restoration aside, its quite unfortunate that such an imaginative thinker and a guy who loved film so much will have a legacy written with a "yeah, but..." for all his cinematic achievements.