I think it became embarrassing once the prequels were done. From what I remember – although I admit that this may be entirely anecdotal – Star Wars was viewed as a bloated joke by the general populace. That changed during the buildup to TFA.
And definitely after TFA the bad taste of the prequels is nothing but a memory. If Episodes VIII and IX are on par (or hopefully better) than TFA Star Wars will be back to being the best saga in cinematic history instead of just the biggest one.