Heh, yeah, I'm complaining about a lack of nuance in a movie series that features broad caricatures like Chewbacca and Jabba the Hutt, so yes, I fail for fanboyism. :)
That being said, the main reason that one stuck in my craw is that I noticed how annoyingly transparent the Emperor's manipulations were in Return of the Jedi, even when I was in grade school, but then again, I was a weird little kid (when I watched Scooby Doo at that age, I was the only little kid who was vaguely disturbed by the idea that the Mystery Machine gang seemed to be homeless).