Its true you can just not watch Ep 1 and miss basically nothing in the saga except that Anakin built C3PO which isn't important. Being prequels the characters need little in the way of introductions. George Lucas in his ripe old age had tumors pressing on the cheesy centers of the brain which is apparent through all the prequels although none are half as bad as what he did to Indiana Jones. The internet acts as if Episode 1 is some kind of Rocky 5. Its not even close to that.
Ep 1 was the first day back from a long SW vacation. It established the world of the prequels which added a lot of novelty. It really did crush it in the sound track department and introduced the world to choreographed lightsaber fights. Breakthrough shit. The Podrace while admittedly a giant lucas film special effects commercial was the first piece of surround sound I remember hearing that made me look over my shoulder. Actually its the only piece of surround sound I remember being like that. I was a kid when I saw it. Went with my little brother and it was the first SW movie released during our lifetimes. To this day my brother and I will say in our best Watto voice "Mind tricks don't work on me... only money." Ha. Classic.
If you want to go snooping for plotholes none of these movies hold up particularly well. I thought it went without saying why normal people might not get along with Gungans. As for Rogue One, I've gathered that people prefer it to Awakens but I'm not sure why. I guess it was cool to see original series era aesthetic again. The Vader scene was the best part of the movie.