When TPM came out, I was most certainly a Lucas die-hard. I forced myself to like it at the time, by selectively ignoring all the bad parts and surrounding myself with like-minded positive reviews. There isn't a specific time or event that caused me to completely switch sides, more of a graduel giving up in trying to defend the undefendable Phantom Menace. Looking back, it's funny to see the Lucas fanboys saying exactly the same things I was saying 5 years ago and realizing how desperate they are to justify themselves. At the same time (coming back to the 'Star Wars belongs to George Lucas' point) it can be unbelievably annoying.
When TPM came out, I was most certainly a Lucas die-hard. I forced myself to like it at the time, by selectively ignoring all the bad parts and surrounding myself with like-minded positive reviews. There isn't a specific time or event that caused me to completely switch sides, more of a graduel giving up in trying to defend the undefendable Phantom Menace. Looking back, it's funny to see the Lucas fanboys saying exactly the same things I was saying 5 years ago and realizing how desperate they are to justify themselves. At the same time (coming back to the 'Star Wars belongs to George Lucas' point) it can be unbelievably annoying.