JadedSkywalker said:
Do younger fans take what he says in those audio commentaries at face value and believe him. I’m trying to be charitable, but how isn’t it a lie.
It is just that. More false claims direct from Lucas’ mouth. Or yet more unreliable narration from him, at best.
Nobody who had actually read the early scripts, or sources like the 2014 comic book, and The Secret History of Star Wars book, could watch that Moviefone video featuring Lucas’ lies and then claim “So Vader was always gonna be Luke’s father” or similar.
In general, some fans have unfortunately always refused to acknowledge the known evidence about early era of Star Wars, and likely find it easier to simply believe, or unquestioningly accept, whatever George or Lucasfilm says at face value, instead. And this was all well before the current “post-truth” world we now find ourselves in.
Mocata said:
People repeat things like that so that their story is consistent, to deceive themselves and sound convincing, like someone in court. Then when other people repeat the same misinformation it seems more likely to be true as the story gets passed around. If you’ve heard it more than once it’s more likely to be correct, right? Same old human nature / memory function combo. Just look at how people talk when they argue over the Disney vs the George version of the saga, since he’s the one true creator.
100% this. Rinse and repeat until the misinformation becomes a comfortable “truth”.
I have a lot more respect for Spielberg openly admitting he “should not have messed with the archive of my own work” when talking about the change he made to his own films in the past. No lies, rewrites of history, or disproved excuses necessary:
‘Steven Spielberg blasts revising old films for modern audiences, reveals regret about ‘E.T.’’ - at the New York Post:
Steven Spielberg has slammed the revision of old films in a bid to make them more appealing to modern audiences.
The legendary director admitted that he regrets editing scenes, specifically one from his hit 1982 film “E.T.” that showed government agents armed with guns.
The scene ultimately didn’t make it into the 2002 re-release of the film and instead had the guns replaced with walkie talkies.
“That was a mistake. That was a mistake,” he said at the Time 100 Summit Tuesday, adding, “I never should have done that because ‘E.T.’ was a product of its era.”
“No film should be revised based on the lenses we now are, either voluntarily or being forced to peer through.”
“‘E.T.’ was a film that I was sensitive to the fact that the federal agents were approaching kids with firearms exposed and I thought I would change the guns into walkie talkies. Years went by and I changed my own views,” the Oscar-winning director added.
Spielberg echoed a similar sentiment in 2011, and this week double down and urged others not to repeat his mistakes.
“I should never have messed with the archive of my own work, and I don’t recommend anybody really do that,” he said.
“All our movies are a kind of measuring – a signpost of where we were when we made them, what the world was like, and what the world was receiving when we got those stories out there. So I really regret having that out there.”
The director was then asked if he believes the same thinking should be applied to other art forms, specifically films adapted from books such as Roald Dahl’s “Charlie & The Chocolate Factory” that had some offensive words taken out for the film’s script.
“Nobody should ever attempt to take the chocolate out of Willy Wonka! Ever! And they shouldn’t take the chocolate or the vanilla, or any other flavor out of anything that has been written,” he said in response.
“For me, it is sacrosanct. It’s our history, it’s our cultural heritage. I do not believe in censorship in that way.”
A Hollywood Masterclass with Steven Spielberg | 2023 TIME100 Summit: at the TIME YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCB6NTM9ST4&t=188s (at 3 minutes and 8 seconds into the 18 minute video)
Spielberg regrets simply even making changes to his ET film later on in life, despite both versions of the film being available in the same high quality format at the time. In contrast to George, who has chosen to actively suppress earlier cuts of his films, and instead go with four further releases featuring continued alterations spanning some 22 years. (1997 to 2019).
Time for a little democracy, to take a leaf out of his friend and and colleague Spielberg’s book, preserve and showcase these films as they originally were, and in the highest possible quality possible. And George can still have his 2919 Special Edition cut as his “official” or “canon” version, or whatever.
“Let go, George. Use the Force!”
