Actually, Lucas had nothing to do with it. They asked Rick McCallum (The producer/Lucas's bitch) and he said sure.
At any rate, I don't see why people put Star Wars on such an untouchable pedestal. Most people know Star Wars as a great science fiction movie that spawned two sequels and, so far, one prequel, as well as a successful toy line, a few novels, and a few comics.
Culturally, Star Wars has been a great influence on people around my age. We collected the toys and made the lightsaber sounds. We watched the movies over and over when they came out on video. The Star Wars trilogy held a special place in our hearts.
When 1997 rolled around, Star Wars was something that rested in the back of our cultural psyche, and we were all pleased to learn that the movies were going to be rereleased with special added footage. Not only that, but there was also another movie in the works. A Star Wars movie. Wow. So, everyone goes to see the movies in the theaters again, and everyone has a jolly old time, getting nostalgic, digging out their old toys, and feeling like kids again. Over the next two years, fans wait eagerly for the new movie. Web sites pop up, and rumors are everywhere. Nobody can wait to see a grand epic adventure unfold before their eyes. Nobody can wait to see amazing fight scenes, over the top space battles, and heroic lightsaber duels. Imagine, a movie about the glory days of the Jedi. People flying and fighting, lightsabers clashing. We all had such high expectations of such an amazing movie. This was to be more than a movie. This was going to be an event!
At midnight on May 19, 1999, thousands upon thousands of fans piled into the theaters and cheered when they saw the words:
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
Then something happened. The movie wasn't a grand epic. It was a much smaller story about an alien invasion, a little boy, and a young queen. Where were the amazing battles? The grand duel? The Jedi fighting bad Jedi? Why don't I feel like a kid again?
The problem is not the movies. The problem is the audience. We grew up. We watched the original trilogy and felt like children because we were children when we first saw it. When we first saw the new one, we had grown. We became older, more cynical, and more adult.
Star Wars didn't change. It always had its corny aspects. Most people chose to ignore them. How many of you have sat through the Star Wars Holiday Special, or listened to Christmas in the Stars? How many of you are familiar with the Disco version of the Star Wars theme? How many of you recall begging your parents to let you stay up and watch the Ewok movies? How many of you watched the Droids/Ewoks cartoons on a regular basis? How many of you complained every time Kevin J. Anderson employed a new superweapon in one of his books? How many of you know what a Hoojib is? I'm gussing not many. All these tidbits have come and gone. All of them have been ignored by the masses. Why? Becausee they're tacky, corny, cheesy, stupid, and pointless. If anything cheapened Star Wars, it was those.
Looking back at history, it's not hard to realize that Star Wars never really changed at all. We did.
In closing, I'm relieved that 'N Sync that 'N Sync will most likely not appear in it, but I wouldn't mind if they did, because, ultimately, it all boils down to the simple fact that it's just a Star Wars movie.
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It's the Bono Action Figure!
