'Star Wars' fans...

don't take it too personally 2011/09/05 By Umapagan Ampikaipakan Darth Vader gets an extra line in the Blu-ray version of Return of the Jedi and fans are baying for George Lucas blood. OF all our idiosyncrasies, eccentricities, whims and fancies, there is nothing quite as curious as our tendency towards fandom. Our ability to develop a strong interest in something -- be it a sport, an art form, even a person -- and then gradually transform it into an obsession, into something overwhelming, into something all-embracing. The word "fan" may carry with it a more casual connotation than its root, but its essence is nevertheless one and the same, implying a single-minded zeal, indicating an excessive enthusiasm. We love the things we love and without exception. So much so that we become overly protective of them. We dismiss the Lord of the Rings movies as being nothing more than pale supplements to the literature. We talk about the Jordan years of basketball as something forever lost to the past. We mourn those bygone days of pop music by going on and on about how "they just don't make 'em like they used to". We hold on unreasonably to the past. We consider the source material to be gospel. Ironclad. Untouchable. Of all the fans of all the things to come out of the last three decades, the ones who feel the most unfairly treated are undoubtedly those who spend their days and nights obsessing over who shot first, Han Solo or Greedo. Sure Star Trek fans have their grievances. But what they've had to put up with -- be it Enterprise or that new J.J. Abrams reboot -- is nothing compared with the plight of the Star Wars fans. Star Wars fans have had a long and lingering love-hate relationship with George Lucas. They are forever grateful for the world that he envisioned and brought to life but have recently become disillusioned with the constant changes he keeps inflicting upon their beloved films. Their anger towards him began back in 1997 when he re-edited and re-released "special edition" versions of the original trilogy and then escalated to new heights when they felt hard done by the new trilogy of films that, for a good many reasons, failed to meet their expectations. Last week, when it was confirmed that the new high-definition Blu-ray versions of the films would contain yet even more alterations, including an additional line of dialogue for Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi, the Internet went into a frenzy. Fans were crying bloody murder. They were both upset and confused. Why couldn't George Lucas just leave well enough alone? It wasn't broke so why does he keep trying to fix it? It was an outrage that led to some interesting questions. Why were fans so angry? For the most part, it was a feeling that stemmed from a sense of loss. They had taken these movies, these pastiches of

mythological arcs and pulp adventure motifs and idealised and idolised them to the extent that they were an inextricable part of their childhoods. And, therefore, to subject them to such infidelities, to reinterpret them in such a way, would be an affront to what is, to many, the most quantifiable and joyous memory of their youth. The fans felt betrayed because Lucas wasn't just altering his films, he was altering all that they knew and loved about their childhoods. Which in turn gave rise to the more important question of just who Star Wars belongs to? Does it belong to Lucas or does it belong to the fans? What happens to art once it leaves the purview of its creator and is let loose upon the public? To say that Lucas has essentially betrayed his fans because he no longer has a claim on his creation, or even because his fans somehow remain truer to his work than he is, is quite the arrogant argument. Just because a work of art is experienced communally, it doesn't mean it should be created in the same way. Just because the version in the artist's head is not the version you had in yours, it doesn't mean he has lost his way. It may turn out better. It may turn out worse. But as mere consumers of art and literature, we have no control over the final product, and that uncertainty over its future is unfortunately what we have to put up with. Because Star Wars is Lucas' to do with as he pleases. And he, for one, has always believed that it was the director's prerogative to go back and reinvent a movie. Why? Because Lucas is, and always will be, the very embodiment of the artist. He exemplifies every characteristic. In that to him, everything is a work in progress and nothing is ever complete. His constant tweaking of these films, however disagreeable it is to us, however unnecessary it may seem, is merely one man's quest for perfection. http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/17dio/Article/#ixzz1XAdt9Tor