Abandoning a Great Work?
A Final Version?
Images from Star Wars: A New Hope included under fair use for purposes of education and commentary.
“Art is never finished, only abandoned.” — Leonardo da Vinci
Who shot first? We’ll get to that in a minute. I think there is a larger point to be made about the scene between Han and Greedo. With creating any work, and especially in creating a great work, how does one decide that it is done, or at least, when to let it be?
Tinkering at the edges is understandable. How many computer games or software programs have released umpteen patches or updates — little tweaks, fixing bugs here and there? How many books have been revised or updated subsequently in some way or another in later editions?
How about redefining a central character decades later?
It’s the purview of all artists to make, unmake, or remake a character in their own stories, but as a fan, Han is so clearly and consistently established in the first movie that it’s hard for me to process the shift in his debut scenes. It may seem a small change, but it changes his character at the core.
It’s like someone taking the sugar out of your favorite dessert or removing the teeth from that mean old junkyard dog. Hard to reconcile version one and version two.
I think about my own writing and the main characters in the land of Ardalencor. While the characters may evolve over time, I can’t imagine rewriting how they are first presented in such a profound way.
If you’re a writer, game designer, worldbuilder, or DM presiding over a long-running campaign, have you ever retconned any of your central characters? I’d be curious to hear your thoughts and what led you to change your mind.
WHO SHOT FIRST?
“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious,” advises Obi-Wan as he and Luke glimpse Mos Eisley spaceport.
At this point in the story, Luke is the naïve dreamer wishing for a larger world. Obi-Wan is the principled teacher. Han lives beyond polite society, beyond the law. Above all else, he is a survivor living by his wits.
“Even I get boarded sometimes. Do you think I had a choice?”
“You can tell that to Jabba. He may only take your ship.”
“Over my dead body.”
In Han’s reality, there’s the quick and the dead. He’s a wild west gunfighter in the saloon. He wants to preserve his life and his ship.
The revisions to this scene weaken his character and remove the decisive badassery.
Earlier in the cantina when Luke is confronted by the two criminals, he and Obi-Wan try to deescalate the situation. Obi-Wan uses violence only as a last resort. Han should be different, dangerous in his own way, and thereby a worthy guide to the larger galaxy for the teacher and the student.
DEVIL MAY CARE
Han’s irritable, belligerent. As we later learn, he wants to resist the Death Star’s tractor beam — fearing to be swallowed whole by this monstrosity; and he charges several Imperial troops, putting them to flight while inside the belly of the beast.
In the brief conversation with Greedo, he appears relaxed as his leg is on the table, all the while he is calculating and controlling the situation. Waiting for his opportunity.
After Greedo meets his end, Han calmly gets up, flips a coin, and delivers a great parting line to the barkeep.
Allowing Greedo to shoot first is confounding. A pin in the balloon.
What do you think — original version versus the remakes? Would you revise the scene in a different way?
Totally agree: Han shooting first is totally aligned with his character. A re-release with Han reactively defending himself does a disservice to this much-touted rogue being the “stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerve hurter” that he is (although, it is debatable whether Han is scruffy-looking or not 😉).
Now let’s widen the lens. We see Han Solo in many of the dozen or so movies set in the Star Wars Universe. In Episodes 4-6 we see a bit of an arc - from a narcissistic liar to a selfless devotee (to Luke, Leila, and the rebellion).
In the movie, “Solo,” we see a much different character than we see in the core trilogy, and we learn what turns a clever (but naive) young man into an intergalactic pirate. In the films set after the core trilogy we see a further evolution of Solo, this time into a father who is willing to lay down his life for his son.
To me, this very wide, multi-film arc makes complete sense, with the one inconsistency being “Greeto shot first.” Just goes to show how one incongruent moment in a story can stain an otherwise flawless character.
Yep - totally agree. I also think the addition of Luke screaming when he falls down the shaft in the remastered Empire Strikes Back is a similar problem - Luke chose to step off of that perch and fall to his potential demise rather than joining Vader. It was an idealistic and principled decision, showing his commitment to what he deemed was good and right. To add him screaming when he falls there completely negates the strength of his choice. It irritates me every time I see it!