Thursday, September 1, 2011

George Lucas, I love you.



So, I think people should stop giving George Lucas so much shit.
Look. I get the “fear of change” thing. I can understand the mentality behind a traditionalist mind. But make no mistake, Star Wars isn’t yours.

Recently, news hit the (fan?) internet about the soon to be released Star Wars Blu Ray set. With it, comes a high definition transfer of course, but there a lot of new tidbits like a fully-CG Yoda to replace the puppet in Episode I. Personally, I felt like this was a major feather in GL’s cap as far as changes go, and I think many people would agree on that. But there are other updates including a new Obi-Wan dragon call in Episode IV, and Darth Vader yelling “NOOO!” in Episode VI. Well, needless to say…

Fans. Lost. Their. Minds.

Well, I’m here to say it: George Lucas, I love you.

The fact of the matter is that GL is the rightful owner of these stories. And he should be! It belongs to the man that thought it up, found the way to fund it, scouted out the best talent, directed it, and kept it alive for 40+ years.
You don’t have to dig where Star Wars is now. You don’t have to dig the changes. But you also don’t have to buy the Blu Ray.

Consider this: Lucas isn’t unlike most artists who might go back to a canvass and change this or that. His masterpiece is a lot bigger than most, but he’s got the tools, talent, and money to add some more flavor to his wildly imaginative and deep universe.

Fans should be a bit more thankful of the effort GL puts into these updates. He’s doing more than just shelling out the minimum cost for a high def transfer but essentially the same movie experience. We’ve seen these movies a million times. Getting a slightly newer experience adds to the novelty of these things.
I’ll close by making one last point. I have a 3 year old. He’s only seen the DVD transfer of the series. (Yes, we started with Episode IV. I’m not above doing things in the “right order”) Do you think he’s ever going to care if Han shot first according to some guy that saw it in the theater 40 years ago? Do you think he’s really missing that giant ugly black dot on the Emperor’s hood in “Jedi”? NO!

Relax, folks. And maybe think about revolutionizing the way we imagine the universe outside of our own with your own mind for a change.

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