Humby said:

I think it's why many people refuse to accept the faults of the PT. They are so invested in the Saga, and if they accept that the prequels aren't great, it will tarnish the entire GFFA. Denial essentially, because they don't have the ability to enjoy the individual stories/films for what they are.

I agree with this and I blame Lucas for constantly talking about the 'Saga' that he has warped everyone's minds that the movies have to be watched this way or you can't enjoy them another way.

I grew up at a time (77-83) when the movies stood on their own, and before the days of VHS/DVD/Bluray, you watched the movies on HBO one at a time. Star Wars in 1983, ESB in 1986, and ROTJ in 1988, so I never really thought of them as the Star Wars Trilogy when watching them.

Each movie stood on its own merits and even though they connected into a bigger story, you really didn't watch them that way back then. Its just impractical to watch these movies back to back to back in marathon form all the time, and that is the only way they work the way Lucas is talking about. The OOT movies worked great as a trilogy, yet you could watch any of the 3 individually and get just as much enjoyment.