George Lucas is ruining childhoods.
But that isn’t news at all. And I don’t mean mine, I mean kids who somehow get enthralled in the universe of Star Wars, and decide to watch the films in numerical order.
DO NOT DO THAT, CHILD.
Sit that child down, teach them that when it comes to Star Wars, you count 4, 5, 6. That’s it. There’s no 1, 2 or 3. But this is old school warnings, everyone knows that you should avoid the Star Wars films that do not feature even a cameo of Alec Guinness, and why is that? Simple – he gave them the class and weight they needed to be taken seriously. He apparently hated the films, but we cannot ignore the fact that he was in the good ones. But this re-release has me fuming over another issue. Something different to the pathological hate and disgust that the Trade Federation and Jar Jar evoke. This…
George Lucas is literally making money off nothing.
He’s making a very tidy profit out of a very shady, or at least lazy, production. Every few years he’s tweaking the films in terms of effects, content or media format, and viola! Brand new box sets, embossed with shiny Vader faces on the shelves of our stores. And then, the most horrible thing of all happens: people buy them.
I’m not sure if these people have a legitimate hole in their lives when it comes to Star Wars, they might. They may have a legitimate hole in their collection the size and shape of a film they already own, but on a format other than the new one. They also may have a legitimate hole in their brain regarding common sense and buying something they already have. I know which theory I’m ascribing to.
This is frustrating. He’s an average film-maker who made some great films early on, and is now riding the gravy train. I do not wish to deny him this, it’s a fair way of making a living. (I guess) I do wish to deny him the ability to re-release the same old thing, but with a tiny bit of zazz added on top. Most importantly I wish to deny him a market for said product – that’s probably the biggest problem. Sure, I can’t stop him releasing his new editions, but I wish that the consumer world would recognise what’s happening, and what they are doing.
They don’t, and this upsets me more than any ebonic-slurring CGI creature ever will. Please, I need to be alone.
Just me, my tears and Alec Guinness’ ghost.
-n
Thoughts In The Key Of N 