I think there's an important detail here. From 1997 to 1999, the Special Edition was marketed to the public as the Special Edition. It's implicit that it's not the real edition. If memory serves, it wasn't until 2000 with that new VHS release that the SE's abandoned the SE label and were marketed simply as "the Star Wars trilogy". 2000 was the first time I remember there being an active anti-OUT policy coming from LFL. Prior to then, at least on paper, the originals were regarded as the real deal. I don't think it was until 2000 or 2001 that TV stations began showing the SE's.DominicCobb said:
Yeah, I like the idea of an SE, and I do like some of the changes, but an SE should only be that: a special edition. It should not be the only edition.
Assuming I'm right, a lot of people went theaters in 1997 to see what they regarded as an alternate cut of the movies. Interesting, maybe, but they weren't supposed to eventually become the only versions anybody would be able to buy.