George Lucas is a very rich and powerful man. He doesn't need Star Wars to make another penny to be well off. He's also made clear that no amount of petitions will make a difference, and frankly 50,000 or even 100,000 signatures is nothing compared to the millions of fans who don't care or even know there is a difference. A boycott is neither practical or realistic. Flooding mailboxes and annoying people with demands or threats will only raise their ire and fundamentally cast ourselves in a negative light, and open to ridicule and dismissal. Certainly if someone made demands or threats to me, I would promptly ignore them.

But we have to do something.

Besides being rich and powerful, George considers himself an artist. "We realize there's a lot of debate out there," says Jim Ward. "But this is not a democracy. We love our fans, but this is about art and filmmaking. [George] has decided that the sole version he wants available is this one."

An artist who was hurt when some of his fans thought his later more personal work was inferior to work he did as younger man in collaboration with others. An artist who is rich and powerful enough, and now arrogant enough to defy his nay-sayers and critics and forge ahead alone.

But he is still an artist, and art benefits everyone. It is the very meaning of culture. George the artist must be reminded that art in all its forms or variations benefits everyone in its continued existence. We don't bury our art history or replace it with something new, we treasure our history. We study it and learn from its natural growth, its changes from ere to era.

My point is that we don't make demands. I'm a patron of the arts, and a patron of George's for many years, as I'm sure everyone else here is. We established a relationship early on by paying for work that we enjoyed. George has moved on now and so he should. But regardless of whether we enjoy his current work or not, the work from the past must not be forgotten. It must be cherished and valued. That is what we must do. Not beg or plead. Never that. We must remind him of the value of of historical art. The original Star Wars trilogy is that art. It has touched so many, myself included. So that is what we should remember.

We have to convince him that there is artistic and creative value in preserving the originals for everyone now, and for future generations to see and learn from. I think that is something that everyone, including George might agree with.

I won't purchase the release in Sept'04, but I remain hopeful for the future after that.