Fans who wanted a pre-SE version of the OT available on DVD were thrilled to get their wish when Lucasfilm made the surprise announcement yesterday. Let it not be said that Lucasfilm doesn't try hard to make people happy. From a business standpoint, they figured they couldn't lose with fans in my age group, completists, and the curious. I'm well aware pirated versions of pre-SE versions have been selling on eBay and other sources for years, so I'm sure Lucasfilm was well aware of it too. I suppose they're beating the pirates at their own game.

Nevertheless, I'm not exactly celebrating. For one thing, I think it will make the whole canon wars thing even worse. Which version is canon? Which version will be in 3D? In future DVD sets? In any new medium? Should there be multiple versions of every release of the OT available? There are already changes between the 1997 version and the 2004 DVD version. Because if you issue the original OT "just this once," there's going to be that section of fandom that will keep insisting they keep issuing it every time Lucasfilm wants to release the OT.

Okay, so fans complain about that stuff anyway. My other concern is Lucasfilm giving in to a very vocal corner of fandom that hasn't always been very nice to say it mildly. Part of the reason why I haven't been particularly gung-ho about advocating this version of the OT be released, especially over the past few years, is that an awful lot of the voices in favor of it have been so shrill. I've seen people call GL evil, greedy, selfish, and so forth because the answer they've had before was "no." Not everybody in favor of an original OT release has been that way but enough were to make me rather unsympathetic to their cause. Selling official "Han Shot First" shirts on top of that is just feeding into that sort of negativity. Some of the posts I've seen on other sites "celebrating" the announcement are of course bashing the SEs and the prequels. There's someone who even made "Screw You Hayden Christensen" icons to cheer on this "victory." Darth Media of course goes running to quote the few fanboys who claim to speak for everyone, but seldom speak for fans like me. And the demands and the complaints aren't going to stop.

What about fans who at least have been civil or those of us who have generally been supportive of Lucas's creative decisions? When does Lucasfilm pay any attention to us or at least show us some appreciation? In any case, if you choose to make changes to your work, you ought to have the courage to stand behind those changes, even if some people complain about them. Or you shouldn't make those changes at all.

I'm not saying Lucasfilm has no right to release these DVDs. Of course it does. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy this DVD set; it's your money and if it makes you happy, far be it from me to rain on your parade. Personally, I'm a fan of the saga for its story and characters and not so much for nostalgia. The 2004 DVDs are the version that fit best within the entire saga to date. As far as I'm concerned, SW isn't what it was in 1977 and that's okay by me.