The thing everyone has to remember is that Lucas was creating a kids movie. His target demographic was kids age 7-13. Its impossible to be objective as an adult and watch the pequals with the same child like filter we had when the originals came out. As bad, no as horribly atrocious, as the Star Wars Holiday special was, as an 8 yr old, I craved it! I couldnt wait to watch it once I knew it was coming out. Then roughly 30 years later when I got a copy of it and watched it again, I about lost my lunch it was so bad. But as an 8 yr old, I filtered out the crap, the bad acting, the fact Carrie was high on acid or drunk one, and enjoyed visiting with my favorite Star Wars heros in a different setting again. I remember my Dad making a comment several years ago about the bad acting in ANH. In my mind Im thinking, “Bad acting? You had some world class actors in that movie. How could it be bad?” But TOT is so ingrained in our minds and psyche, that its next to impossible to be objective when watching it. Fast forward to the prequals. As adults, in contrast, it is impossible to watch with the objectiveness of a childs mind. The one thing that came through for me, was the love in my heart for these movies. The prequals are like a red-headed step child that you grow to love, no matter how bad it is. I can remember as a kid listening to Obi-Wan tell Luke about his father and the clone wars, and my imagination running wild trying to create scenes of what the clone wars mightve looked like. Or a young Obi-Wan side by side with Anakin in his prime. The prequals gave us a glimpse of that, but through the muddied,cynical mind of an adult. Yeh, its not what we imagined as kids, but at least we have something as a referance, albeit kind of bad. I have not yet sensed a disturbance, but I do try my best to summon my inner 7, 10 and 13 yr old everytime I hear of something new from the Star Wars universe coming my way. The most recent thing being the discovery of TN1’s Silver Edition a week or so ago. Ive sat and watched it on my projector screen 2 or 3 times and everytime Im whisked away to that place a 7yr old me was the first time I saw it.
This is just an elaborate redressing of that old “Yeah, the acting in the PT kinda sucked, but it was just as bad in the OT, too.” canard, isn’t it?
No, not at all. I argued that the acting is good in the OT. Im merely pointing out that its tough to keep the same objective mindset we had as a child and carry it over into adulthood. We view things through different eyes as adults. I dont view a new Tonka dumptruck like I would if I was 6 years old. I still appreciate it cause Im a big kid, but not like I did when I was 6. The same is for SW. I love these movies and will always love them. But as an adult, Im going to see things that I mightve overlooked as a child, or a scene might not invoke the same emotional reaction as an adult that it wouldve as a child. And yes, Lucas modeled the OT after old 50’s and 60’s TV Sci-Fi adventure shows, hence the 7-13 age demograph (one could argue higher or lower). The difference is, walrus-man was a creature, not a human that had his arm cut off. Thats why he opted for Obi-Wan to disappear instead of fall on the floor in two pieces. The PT are just a product of the contemporary desensitization of violence in TV and the movies. Hence showing Anakin burning.
Trust me, Im not knocking SW, I love it! If anything, IM defending it from all the naysayers. I wonder how many here on the forums actually have nearly 40 yrs viewing experience of these films? If youre a child of the 80’s or 90’s, that can greatly influence how you perceive these films when compared to one another.
(After pondering your responses, Ill add this: George aimed this movie specifically at 12-14 yr olds, per a conversation with him at the time, but designed it to appeal to all ages.)