Gaffer Tape said:Nope. Gotta agree with Vaderisnothayden on this one. Nearly all of us here consider the OOT to be Star Wars canon over the '04 editions, myself included. That's why most of us are here.
And while I've been a fan of EU and oftentimes consider some parts canonical, and it's obvious that Lucas the company considers it, it's even more obvious that Lucas the man does not. He's made several statements saying he ignores EU works and has no idea what happens in them. Even that wouldn't be so damning except for the fact that the prequels outright contradict elements of EU that the company considers to be canon.
Granted, we get our jollies off on holding opposing views from Lucas, but it's extremely funny that the company is pulled in two different directions. I agree with Vaderisnothayden that the books are given such high status solely to boost sales. I whole-heartedly believe that. It's a little bit contradictory for Vaderisnothayden to follow Lucas's opinion on this when he doesn't in any other situation, but I certainly believe the fact that George shits on EU validates Vaderisnothayden's opinion.
Minor correction: the prequels contradicted elements from the EU. Because Lucas was the one behind the contradictions, the overall canon scrambled to accommodate his wishes. It now acknowledges and/or reconciles any contradictions he managed to spew out. Really, if it was anyone other than Lucas, this wouldn't have happened. While the PT screwed with the EU in several large ways (mainly the dating of the Clone Wars and the way the Sith Order works), the new Clone Wars series is a continuity clusterfuck of absolutely unprecedented proportions. Seriously, for your own amusement, try looking at a Clone Wars timeline for the pre-series EU and one for the series itself, noting the events that have to happen, and try to reconcile the dates for each as much as possible. GL might have actually come up with a situation that cannot be fixed. It's that bad. Things like this almost never happen when Lucas stays out of it, and never on this scale.
But yes, I understand that Lucasfilm and Lucas himself have differing views on the canon: Lucasfilm's view is structured, extensive database that will hopefully get a public release at some point, and Lucas' view is a shrug and a "whatever". It sucks, I know. Really, though, the only actual use I see in any canon policy is for fan debates and public prjects like the Star Wars Timeline Gold (check it out if you haven't already; the amount of work and dedication is unbelievable). Most people take public projects at face value, but when people start debating about things, then everybody whips out their own personal canons like so many engorged members*. Then, when someone points out the actual, public policy of Lucasfilm, people start whining that Lucas only accepts the movies and the whole discussion goes to Hell rather quickly.
The way I see it, Lucasfilm is a company, and as such is effectively immortal (and considering the franchise it has going for it, only the end of civilization itself could make the "effectively" qualifier come into play). Lucas, however, is a man. An old man. He will die. Very soon, too, if he keeps eating like I think he does. What about the EU works that come out after he dies? Would he have liked one of them so much he would have made it canon? He did that with Aayla Secura, the Outrider, and a bunch of vehicle designs, so it would be intellectually dishonest to simply discount the possibility. But we won't know. We'll never know. Lucasfilm, however, will always be there to issue such rulings. I think that, again, for debating purposes, Lucasfilm's policy is, in the long term, more sound. Just my opinion. My beef isn't with those who think that only the movies are canon instead of including the EU. My beef is with those who pick and choose certain versions of the movies and maybe certain parts of the EU as part of their personal canons and then proclaim it as indisputable truth, like Vaderhasanoverlylongusername has done on more than one occasion and will most likely continue to do. That grinds my gears, and so I post in response. While the last line of my previous post may sound like I feel otherwise, I have nothing against OOT purists. This is about one user, not the whole movement.
*Not that there's anything wrong with personal canons. I have one myself. I just don't flaunt it around as established fact.