JMS on Star Wars DVDs and more

[SadGeezer]

Here’s a pretty interesting post from JMS (of B5/Jeremiah fame)

>So my purely abstract question to you is – do the fans or consumers of a
>story (in any media) ever really have a right to complain about stuff like
>this?

Unfortunately, this is a whole bunch of questions in one…and the answer to just about all of them is yes-and-no.

Do fans have a right to complain? Absolutely. I get buckets of it…some of it quite well founded, some of it arguable, but I only tend to argue on points of fact and logic, NOT taste…because you can’t argue taste. If somebody just doesn’t like a book or show of mine, that’s their right. Lots of folks like anime…it just leaves me cold for reasons I probably could never qualify.
Different strokes and like that.

The larger question is, once something enters the public consciousness, who “owns” it, and what comes of changing it?

Ultimately, the creator of a given work owns it, in some cases outright legally, in other cases morally and ethically. WB *owns* B5…but it’s *my* show. Fans of a given form can purchase that work, can give their opinions and reactions to it, but they do not *own* it any more than the audience in a symphony owns Ode to Joy.

Then there is the side-issue of what happens when you cange something after it enters the collective consciousness. In the B5 situation, I re-did The Gathering…some people liked the new version better than the original, some preferred the first one. (In most cases, it was what people saw the first time. Somebody once said, “Patriotism is at its core the love of the food you ate as a child.”)

It’s your right as a creator to make those changes…and the right of the audience to pink you if they don’t work…though again “work” is subejctive. I think the re-edited Gathering works better…your mileage may vary, as it should.

In the case of Star Wars…it’s George Lucas’ baby. He owns it, morally, ethically and to a large extent legally. He can re-edit it to his heart’s content, that’s his right. Some will like it better, some worse, but that’s just the way it goes.

Subjectively, I prefer the original Star Wars over the re-done one because there’s something about the pacing in the special edition that feels…slower to me, less dynamic, less involving. But is it *really* that way, or is it that way only in comparison to the way it *used to be* and the way part of my brain *expects it to be*?

George says this is the film the way he wanted it to be, but couldn’t do it originally, and for me that’s the end of the discussion. It’s his baby, and he has to be happy with it. I may or may not like its latest haircut, but then it ain’t my kid.

jms

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(all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don’t send me story ideas)

I think he makes some pretty good points. I’m very interested to hear what you all think of this subject, and the new Star Wars DVDs 😛 (Which include Gunguns in Ep6!)

[Sidhecafe]

I think sure as an artist Lucas has the right to re-writes/editing his creation…. but I’m also disapointed that I’m not going to be able to get the original theatrical releases on DVD…..that’s my biggest complaint….
however….and here’s where my real 2 cents comes in…..Lucas had a great story idea. Maybe he couldn’t do it the way he had originally wanted, so he’s editing with the technology and money he has available to him now, fine.

But, —and let me first qualify that I LOVE Star Wars, the original 3 and I have enjoyed the new ones as well (whole different thread there), I kick butt at Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, I love the story line the characters…..

But Lucas’ greatest movie was THX 1138. SW doesn’t measure up to it in the light of film as art form. SW are B movies, really. I love them, but I love them with all their flaws.
Lucas can’t really make the movies any better, he just doesn’t have the creativity to REALLY have any significant impact on the core of why they are so great – which is the story line and the actors that brought it to life….esp. Sir Alec, Harrison and Carrie et. al. not to mention the original special effects, jumping into hyper drive and let’s face it, The millenium Falcon is probably the greatest ship to grace the big screen ever.

Lucas is a hack, he’ll release the original theatrical releases on DVD 5 years from now and make a bunch more money off of us….

[nursewhen]

That’s just reminded me of a hilarious fan film Dr When showed me yesterday. Star Wars Recruitment drive. It’s brilliant!
(you need it to be full screen)

http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/content/recruitment

[Flamegrape]

I think all of GL’s changes were good. However, I’m of the opinion that the original cut of Star Wars is a remarkable historical document. It would be nice to see it in it’s original form.

[Tiefling]

I too think that almost all the changes George made to the original Star Wars trilogy were good. At least they finally removed the red mat from behind that tie fighter in “A New Hope”.

But they could have used the song that they originally wanted to use in ROTJ. Even though it was very disco-esque, “Lapti Nek” is just…well…better than the new song they put in.

As for the new movies however…nnrrr…they just went overboard with the CGI shit…

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