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Post #611986

Author
Tyrphanax
Parent topic
When/Why did you become an OT purist?
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/611986/action/topic#611986
Date created
2-Dec-2012, 12:11 AM

I actually grew up with the Special Editions, and only the Special Editions.

I saw the original Star Was at least once growing up sometime in the mid/late 90's. The once thing I remember from it was that first entrance of Darth Vader.

Sometime after that, my brother and I got the standard screen SE Trilogy boxed set for Christmas or a birthday... anyway, that's what we grew up with. We watched them all the time. I remember telling my older cousin who I thought was really cool that I owned the Special Editions (at the time I had no real grasp that there were differences, even though there was the little documentary on the VHS before the movie that told about them) and he thought it was awesome and I felt super cool.

The first time I really grasped that there were changes was when I was at a friend's house and we were watching Return of the Jedi, and at the end, the wrong song came on! And where were Coruscant and Tatooine and Cloud City?! What was going on! I remember remarking about it, but still not fully understanding what was going on.

I didn't think about it at all for years after that. I just watched my SE. To me, it was all there was. I had no idea there were different versions of films or anything, especially not Star Wars. Eventually I became aware of grumblings about the changes and whatnot, but didn't really pay it any mind. Han Shot First and all that. I never paid attention.

Eventually Tobar got to talking to me about the whole situation, and I was resistant at first. I mean, I had Star Wars, what was wrong with it? I just didn't really understand, and I wouldn't for awhile still. Tobar introduced me to this site, and I started coming around now and then. Lurking. Disappearing for awhile. Coming back. Eventually he got me into the fan edit scene with Ady's ANH:R and it was awesome! So much stuff was fixed that I never noticed, and that got me thinking; I checked out his Theatrical ESB release when it dropped, thinking it would be more like a novelty or a teaser for ESB:R, and there was just something about it that I liked... curious...

Eventually I checked out Harmy's original DEED and then it all clicked. The movie was so much better like that, with all the Special Edition stuff stripped out. I dunno what it was, but it flowed better now, it was like a faucet you've always had that was slow and then one day you accidentally drop something on it and it jars something loose and it runs like Niagara; it was like a different movie, and one that was so much better. IT was focused on story, not on flashy CGI distractions, distractions I had never noticed were distracting me until they weren't there. My eyes were opened.

I was hooked then.

After that, I started to learn more about the history of the changes; the hypocrisy of Lucas and his stance on film alteration, the replacement of the OT with the SE, the travesty that the changes were, the willful destruction and suppression of not only cinematic history, but cultural history as well. That was when I became a purist, and I haven't looked back since!