Random thought on this subject:
I deal with and converse with many many people all day everyday. All ages, all types. Finding out that the person I’m talking with is a Star Wars fan is rarely a surprise and it comes up in conversations fairly often.
However, I NEVER come across anybody who knows what I’m talking about when I bring up the OUT/SE issue. And even after explaining my stance most don’t seem to care AT ALL. At most they find it interesting that I’m so passionate about this subject. Usually they just find my stance on it “eccentric” like the rest of my interests.I really don’t think there’s much public interest in a restored OT. Harmy’s editions have rallied the faithful, but I think it’s easy to forget how outnumbered we are. Even people who grew up with the originals (and even people who were adults in 1977) are all too willing to believe that the latest thing offered is the best and renders the other versions “outdated”.
Your average person isn’t interested in “cultural history” or “good movies”.Having said all that, I think fan-made restorations are the only way we will ever get the OUT and I’m just so damned happy that people with the time and skills are creating versions I can watch and love.
I guess it depends what crowd you’re in. A lot of people I talk to know of the changes at least to some degree. For instance most people if I ask ‘who shot first?’ most will say Han. Me and my stepdad make fun of Vader’s ‘Nooooo’ all the time while at the same time he loves that McDiarmid was added to Empire. So I guess it really depends on what crowd you’re in. Just because some areas are populated with people who don’t care doesn’t mean it’s the same everywhere.