Lose Control

Star Wars Collection, Brian Hathcock, 2007

When I was a child in the early 90s, Star Wars seemed to have faded from view. It was actually Muppet Babies that introduced me to it, though I had no idea at the time what it was they were parodying. It wasn't until one of my uncles who grew up with Star Wars got hold of a widescreen VHS of A New Hope that my brother and I were properly presented with the phenomenon. A year or two later the Special Editions were in cinemas and I recall a children's programme looking at the digital insertion of Jabba the Hutt into Episode IV. At the time I thought this was a good thing, bringing it closer to what was intended but couldn't be technologically achieved in 1976. If what we got was a compromised realisation of Lucas' vision then how could we not welcome improvement? But the changes kept coming, and not just the little visual and audio retouches that go unnoticed. Fans of a certain calibre are acutely aware of all the alterations that Lucas has made over the years, and they will certainly be aware of the incongruous modification to Return of the Jedi that will be imposed with the forthcoming Blu-Ray® release.

Yo Te Querer Infinito

Having just finished watching the latter 2/3s of the original Star Wars trilogy, I can rest for another month or two until the urge to watch them rises again.

Most guys saw A New Hope as late-"tweenagers" or at the onset of puberty, and I guarantee they all remember seeing Princess Leia. She [the character, not the actress] stands as the first crush of many young men... as well as many confused young ladies, and that's why Leia is a prevalent pop-culture image. She is forever immortalised in the hearts of millions of guys.

I have a preference for opinionated girls with whom I can argue/debate, which is probably a subconscious emulation of the Han/Leia dynamic.

As for Carrie Fisher, resembling Leia has resulted in a somewhat negative 29 years. When how she looked between the ages of 19 and 25 is forever burned into several million DVDs, there's no way she can ever look like she has aged well.

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I Fall Into the Wide Screen

Am I the only person who puts on Return of the Jedi before they go to bed, just to see Leia's braided hair in the last half hour, and uses VLC's snapshot function like I'm armed with a dozen rolls of film? There's a bit around chapter 37 on the ROTJ DVD where Han gets angry with C3PO, and Carrie Fisher smiles at something happening off to the left of the Camera.

I'll probably get sued for uploading such a high-res screenshot

There's something captivating about that smile. You know you've gone over the edge when you wish you were involved with Leia; hanging around a playpark holding hands, being decidedly cheerier than I am now. I've been refraining from watching Battle Royale as it sent me off the deep end in January.

You'll be glad to know I stopped my constant listening to The Black Hit of Space and WXJL Tonight by the Human Leage on Monday evening. Hell, I might even go to college this week, rather than my planned wander round the cemetary. Now excuse me whilst I dream of Leia...

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