The George Lucas Hate

Okay, initially, this made me taste my own bile. Why? Because I'm an old school fan, just like you are. Then a funny thing happened, and the realization dawned on me that I'm actually probably an older schooler fanner than you are, and THAT is why I'm okay with YET ANOTHER CHANGE TO STAR WARS.

"Funny Thing" you ask? Not really, since STAR WARS HAS CONTINUED TO BE A WORK IN PROGRESS SINCE THE 1978 RE-RELEASE.

Indeed, the 1979 television debut of the theatrical presentation had even more alterations beyond "Episode IV: A New Hope" be it the casual Cantina alien or TIE-Fighter. We didn't mind it so much back then,in fact we were fascinated. Each new iteration of the saga, be it World Television Premiere, Laser Disc, or THX Remastered gave fans something new to savor. The diabolical flip-side is that it was also something for Lucasfilm Ltd.'s marketing department to consider as well.

As a matter of fact, the Star Wars franchise "nuked the fridge" (over-used) when George Lucas himself wiped his hands of Shadows of the Empire. There is no excuse for holding either the original trilogy, or the prequel trilogy for some kind of philosophical ransom in light of the fact that good ol' GL would be willing to let the yuppie marketing reps take the reigns. And really, you'll no doubt be able to recall how by the time Shadows surfaced, common Star Wars fandom had already acknowledged that the Ewoks were teddy bear bullshit. Wicket R. Warrick prancing around holding Princess Liea's hand is total nonsense after her being subjected to Jabba's will, the icing on the preposterous Star Wars merchandising machine's cake.

So, the let down? As long as you insist that we're watching "The God Father" the let down will never end. But I have a different view, one that incorporates the same continuous understanding of the mind-set that lead to the mid ninties Star Wars Revivial in the first place. That is the belief that Star Wars is great, even if its story is extremely silly and perhaps not too well executed. That the film is also a continuous work in progress, an aspect that at one time we all cherished, but now is perhaps a little too played out for it's own good. It is also an understanding that the audience for Star Wars is aging, and that kids today don't play with action figures and grow out of Star Wars by the time they are eight or nine, and that being forty years old and not able to enjoy a kids film is no crime until you decide to make an issue of it. At this stage in the game, the vulgar "George Lucas raped my childhood" crowd needs to take a closer look at itself and figure out what's really important.

Going after pop culture with religious zeal is never cool.