Would You Edit Casablanca?

All of the Star Wars movies will be released on Blu-Ray disc Friday. I do not own a Blu-Ray player so I won’t be buying them. However, millions of others will. And many of those same millions are upset about changes George Lucas has made to the films.

My Science Fiction Show podcast mates discussed these changes this week in Episode 015. Among them: the addition of the word “No” as Darth Vader tosses Emporer Palpatine into the pit at the end of Return of the Jedi. No Vader dialogue existed before. The music and the cinematography carried the moment. However, for almost 30 years, that is the official record for that moment. Now, it’s changed or, for the millions who will buy it, at least fractionally so.

This sort of edit isn’t unprecedented (especially for Lucas). And it’s not unprecedented in other mediums. Books are edited for rerelease (Michael Moorcock changed the format of the Elric books and edited some of the content from the first release forward). Music is cleaned up and reproduced (there’s a version of Robert Palmer’s “Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor Doctor)” where drums are enhanced. It made the song better. There are other examples.

But would you make Humphrey Bogart say, “Play it again, Sam,” in Casablanca? He never actually said the line. However, a great majority of people believe he said that line. So, why not just add it into the film through audio magic and assuage the masses? On that note, certainly there’s some CG of Atlanta burning that could spruce up Gone With The Wind or a bit to make The Wizard of Oz gleam again. A 3-D Rebel Without a Cause anyone?

Some hold that films like Casablanca, Star Wars, Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz and others should be untouchable. There should be a law that protects them from being edited out of their original state. Congress or someone should stand up to the film owners who want to make a fast buck off adding new material to an old film. But who judges if Gymkata is a better film that Karate Kid and how? Box Office Receipts? A “Blue Ribbon Panel”? The masses?

I disagree. While I object to some the changes Mr. Lucas made to Return of the Jedi (some vehemntly), I support his right to do it over and over again. It reminds me of my service in the military. People burned the flag as an expression of free speech. I may not have agreed with that, but I supported the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution allows flag burning as a means of free speech. So, as the owner, Mr. Lucas should be able to mark up his movies however he chooses.

Call it what you like: an improvement; another cycle of cash flow generation for Lucasfilm Ltd. Either way, the changes are made and we have to live with “Noooooooooo!” As more media goes digital, and it becomes easier to change, it will be changed. That’s how new revenue streams are created, art (or whatever someone might call it) be damned.

So, where do you stand on changing work like this?

( Come listen to this episode of the Science Fiction Show for much more (contains some harsh language) and tell us what you think or let me know in the comments below. And if you’re really feeling strong about Darth’s new words, check out the tshirt we have for you).

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