Wow, this guy is ticked

Something occurred to me last night?

Okay, so you have Lucas. He started off, more or less, as an average guy, really no different then you and me. Then he made these movies that we all fell in love with and he ?rose to power? through these good works. Then he decided to start making changes. They were small, at first, and most were too loyal to him and the movies to say anything. Anyway, he promised that all he wanted to do was improve on a good thing and who doesn?t want that? But the changes became bigger and, some of them, not so good. Some people began to say, ?hey, maybe you should just leave it alone.? These people, who simply wanted to preserve what mad the movies special, were branded as ?not-true-fans? and even ?traitors? and were subsequently attacked by those who were still ?loyal?. Meanwhile, Lucas has essentially sold his soul in order to complete his ?new, perfect vision?

Now, correct me if I?m wrong, but isn?t that the basic plot of ?Revenge of the Sith??

I realize that the story wasn't always about Vader as the central character.
My opinion is that the Prequels greatly enhance the original story, rather than detract from it. I guess I don't really see the difference based on what your saying here between this and story of Vader's fall as told through the prequels. In the end, Luke is responsible for the forgiveness and redemption of Vader with or without the prequels, right? It's just that WITH the prequels, we finally understand the 'hows' and 'whys' of how Vader became the baddest **** in the galaxy-they HUMANIZE him--and to me, that makes the character of Vader that much more relatable & interesting. They deepen and enrich the original story and I, for one, find them fascinating.

I'm not aware of any mass campaign by Lucasfilm to recall and destroy every pre-'97 VHS or Laserdisc copy of The Trilogy that exists in libraries and/or video stores, not to mention every privately owned copy out there. With this week's dvd release, it has become even more readily (and now officially) available.
As far as changing our memories are concerned, just think about this for a sec: Just as the films themselves are HIS, our memories of them are whats OURS, and NO amount of George Lucas's tinkering could ever take those memories away from us. Like we've talked about before: you can choose which versions YOU love the best, and treasure those. They're all still out there for you to do so.

Of course they have a right to do so, just as I have a right to disagree with them about which version is the only "real" or "true" version. That's what great debates are made of, right? Just for the record, I consider the Star Wars Saga to be 'Holy', too!
I just don't agree with which edition/portion is to be considered "Holy" and which one isn't.

I vaguely remember hearing George himself saying something to that effect -- on the ROTS DVD, perhaps -- how he had worked so hard to be independent and not be part of the big capitalistic machine, and yet here he is, part of the big capitalistic machine.

Art does tend to imitate life.

See, now I always thought the humanization of Vader was very powerful. It brings into stark daylight the fact that people we call "evil" -- think Hitler, Mussolini, Hussein -- people that we take comfort in labeling as "them", something else, something we could never be, are just like us. Heck, they could be us. That's the one thing that's stuck with me so much about ROTS -- I'm convinced that were I in Anakin's boots, given what he was aware of and the options he thought he had, I would have done exactly the same thing. It actually scares me a bit. But I also hope that, given that epiphany, I'll be a little more aware of that dark side that exists within every living thing and be less likely to find myself walking irrevocably down it, as Anakin did.

Exactly. Example: Serial killers. They are often not born the monsters they become later in life--they can come into the world as innocent children just like any other child. Something happens along the way and they snap, becoming the unrecognizable, horrific visages that their own friends and family never saw coming.
The prequels highlight the potential in Vader (as is the potential in all of us) to do tremendous good in life, and the tragedy and loss that is caused when all that potential gets warped and/or is squandered. (i.e. Maurice Clarett).
Luke's tale is about what can happen when that same potential is nurtured and put to good use. It's about love and forgiveness triumphing over hate and bitterness. Lucas has said that Vader and Luke's stories are meant to mirror each other. Vader's choices lead him down a dark path. Luke's choices lead him towards the path of light. The father and son are flip sides of the same coin, but there is a very thin line that seperates the two.
Vader could have made Luke's choice, and Luke could easily have made Vader's choice.
Symmetry. Poetry.

Works for me, as long as the end result is the same.

Good stories don't focus on just one character. I think what the prequels did (that folks like Andy can't stand) is humanize Anakin/Vader from uber-nasty icon of evil to just a broken-down man who destroyed everything he loved for the sake of "power" I agree that the major theme of the prequels is Anakin's wasted potential...and the classic trilogy is about Luke showing Anakin the error of his ways, and that there IS still a chance to make some measure of amends. Anakin/Vader is still a (not THE) key character of the story, even though the second half of this drama is told from the POV of the son's life journey.