This is an open letter to George Lucas about the ongoing changes to the original Star Wars Trilogy, culminating in today's release of the films on Blu-ray.
Dear Mr. Lucas:
Remember that time you fell into a nest of gundarks?
On second thought, you probably remember it as the fan outcry over Jar Jar Binks. There were people who hated that character with the kind of fervor that's usually reserved for child molesters (and of course, people who talk at the theater).
I admit that I was one of those people. I hated Jar Jar Binks, and I fixated on that hatred every time I watched The Phantom Menace. I almost let it ruin the movie for me. And then, one day… I just got over it. I realized that I didn't hate Jar Jar Binks because he was inherently terrible. (He's really not.) I hated him because his antics weren't compatible with what I wanted the new Star Wars movie to be.
For most of the movie lovers in the world, that's a bitter pill to swallow. The more we love any movie as a whole, the more we wish that we could change the details that we don't love. But, our wishful thinking amounts to very little, beyond vehement debates on the Internet. Very few people have the power to make the changes they imagine… and you, Mr. Lucas, are one of those few people.
Believe it or not, I don't begrudge you that power. In fact, I envy you. I'm sure it was gratifying to see the changes you envisioned for Star Wars become a reality, and be able to share that vision with others. It was neat for the fans too, because we got to see how Star Wars might have been different with modern technology, and with complete knowledge of how the prequels would play out.
In short, I view the altered versions of the Star Wars Trilogy as a fascinating technical exercise and a creative experiment. I'm not here to tell you that they shouldn't exist. I'm here to tell you that they shouldn't replace the original versions. And, I'm here to warn you that they never completely will.
You did your work too well, Mr. Lucas. You began your story by telling us that it happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... and then you captured us so deeply with it that Luke, Han, and Leia began to feel real to us, even if we knew they weren't. Their story began to feel like it had really happened, even if we knew it hadn't. That's the magic of storytelling—that fiction can, by connecting with us, become truthful to us.
That's part of the reason that I finally accepted Jar Jar Binks. I realized that I can't change The Phantom Menace. It's in the past, which no one has the power to change. We can only envision how it might have been different, and – if we're lucky – share that vision with others. That's what you've done with the altered versions of the original Star Wars films. You've shown us how it might have been.
The problems have come because you didn't stop there. You also tried to replace the original versions with the altered versions by controlling their availability on DVD and Blu-ray. The original versions were not available on DVD until two years after the altered versions, and are included only as a low-quality "extra" (with sub-standard sound and picture quality). Now the altered versions are being released on Blu-ray – with even more changes – while the original versions aren't available at all, and may never be.
The case for releasing the original versions on Blu-ray has nothing to do with whether the changes themselves are good or bad. That issue will never be settled, because the fan community will never agree on which of the changes were improvements. Each can be seen as good, or bad... "from a certain point of view."
Therefore, I have no illusions of convincing you that the Star Wars Trilogy was better before you changed it. (Obviously, you don't agree, or you wouldn't keep making changes.) I also have no illusions of convincing you to get rid of the changes I don't like, because my opinions are no more valid than any other fan's.
If I'm trying to convince you of anything, it's this: I'm trying to convince you that the original versions of the Star Wars Trilogy should be released, with care and pride, on Blu-ray... right alongside their altered cousins. I say that for two reasons.
The first reason is tied to the idea that Star Wars has become a "truthful fiction" to many of its fans. It feels like something that really happened, although we know that's not the case. When you suppress the original versions in favor of the altered ones, you are effectively telling us that the altered versions are the way it "really" happened. We can't accept that without contradicting human nature.
Every human comes to understand that the past cannot be changed. That limitation is a fundamental part of the human experience. We all remember some event that we wish we could change… and we all know that we can't. We also know that, if anyone says it happened differently, they're lying to us. When we hear such a lie, we feel appropriately indignant in response.
That's why, among all the changes that you made, "Han shot first" became a rallying cry. We knew it was the "truth" that Han shot first because we experienced it like we were there. When the altered version claimed that Greedo shot first, we knew that was a "lie." Changes like this one, combined with your attempt to supplant the original versions of the film, have made the altered versions feel like a kind of revisionist history.
Most people would agree that revisionist history, in real life, is a bad thing. But, you might ask... what harm can it do in fiction? The harm it does is in reminding us, as we watch the film, that it’s just a piece of fiction. Every change, as we notice it, chips away at the feeling that we're watching something "truthful."
Mr. Lucas, I believe that you're changing the films because you want them to be better. I even agree that a few of the changes are improvements. But, I cannot watch an altered version of a film I love without being distracted by the changes. Thus, no matter how fascinated I am to see an altered version of Star Wars, it will never give me the magical feeling that I enjoy when I'm watching the original.
It should be clear that, for me – and for people like me, who grew up with Star Wars – the altered versions will never be acceptable. That's why they'll never completely replace the originals. Those of us who love the original versions will continue to enjoy them, and share them, for as long as we can. But, we won't be around forever. And, I have to wonder if you're counting on that—waiting for us to give up or die, so that future generations will only know the versions that you changed.
Therefore, it's for future generations that I make my second argument: The original version of the Star Wars Trilogy should be released on Blu-ray, with care and pride, because it's an artifact of the time in which it was made, and a piece of cinematic history. As such, it should be restored, preserved, and carried forward – as technology moves forward – so that every generation can see it in the standard medium of the day... whether that's DVD, Blu-ray, or one of the media that haven't been invented yet.
The Visual Effects Society declared, in 2007, that Star Wars had a bigger impact on visual effects than any film, before or since. The work done to bring it to life was groundbreaking, and the results were spellbinding. Of course, the end results weren't perfect... but nothing is. What matters is that they were good enough to change the world of film forever. Adding modern effects to the original Star Wars films (especially with computer animation) is an egregious contamination of the original work.
Visibility is the other problem with adding modern effects to classic films. Those modern effects distort the look and feel of the Star Wars Trilogy, because their mismatched quality is obvious to both trained and untrained eyes. That's why it doesn't matter if the additions themselves are structurally "good" or "bad." Simply by being visible changes, they diminish the films.
The original version of Star Wars is so much more than the sum of its parts. Every time you decide to add some new ones, you increase the sum of the parts... but you decrease the whole. As I said, you're welcome to make the changes anyway. No fan has a greater right than yours to decide which changes would be good or bad. The only claim we can make is that the original versions, by virtue of their primacy, are truest.
By forcing the altered versions of the Star Wars Trilogy onto the public, you're not "raping my childhood," as many have accused you of doing. You're not even ruining Star Wars. You're just letting the magic out of it, so that it sags and deflates like a balloon after a birthday.
Some are quick to mention that you breathed the magic into Star Wars in the first place. In their opinion, that gives you the right to do whatever you want with it... and I suppose that's true. It's your balloon and it's your birthday, so you have a right to paste amendments onto it, like Post-It Notes, until it sinks under the weight.
But we, as fans, have a right to hold onto the original, and to celebrate it as the classic that it is. After all, you gave it to us—a long time ago. (And you can't have it back!) That's why you have an obligation to release the original Star Wars Trilogy, with care and pride, on Blu-ray... and every future medium.
Sincerely,
David "Shelverman" Grimes
September 16, 2011
