Whew! Disney+ has launched and the only place with more content than its app is our website. Wow okay that was corny, I’m sorry, but something about Disney brings out the safe, anodyne jokes.
Really, though, we’ve got quite a lot of good things to read about how to watch it, if The Mandalorian is any good, and explaining what’s up with the new 4K HDR versions of the original Star Wars trilogy. You know, the ones that include yet another unasked-for edit from George Lucas, specifically of the most controversial edit he ever made on a special edition. Yes, George Lucas changed Han Solo’s scene with Greedo in Star Wars: A New Hope, Disney confirmed.
Technically, it seems as though both shoot in the same frame in this edit, though it happens after Greedo says “Maclunkey,” which is a word that doesn’t get translated on screen in subtitle because it probably means something too filthy to be displayed in a rated-PG movie. It also handily is pronounced “My clunky,” which is precisely how I like to imagine Lucas refers to the pacing of his edits.
I am about to give you the hottest of my takes, sealed away since the ‘90s in my own personal Disney Vault. Here goes nothing: Han shot first, but leave Lucas’ edits in. Never change it back to the original version, never release an edition that doesn’t have Greedo shooting first or — at minimum — simultaneously with Han.
Hear me out on this.
First of all, let me speak to my fellow old people, those of us who saw Star Wars in the theater or on VHS as it was first edited, before the Special Editions changed everything. Let’s tell each other a real truth: although you thought of Han Solo as a gruff rapscallion with a heart of gold, you emphasized the “heart of gold” part in your mind. It wasn’t until you heard about the edit that you thought about the possibility that Han Solo is a murderer. He straight up killed a dude who was probably going to shoot him but Han didn’t know that for sure.
Han shot first in the original movie, but it was a small moment of character introduction that didn’t have a hundredth of the impact of Han Shot First, the movement of outraged fans making internet memes before there were places to easily spread memes.
When George Lucas changed that scene, he didn’t make Han Solo suddenly nicer and safer, he made Han Solo more dangerous and scary. He literally Streisand-effected the moment of Han’s first shot when he tried to edit it away. Nobody paid attention to that moment of potential murder and what it meant for Han’s character until Lucas tried to erase it.
That idea is part of the culture of Star Wars now. There are generations of people who see the movie and only learn later that Han Shot First. It is a piece of apocrypha that is ironically the most canonized part of Han’s character now.
It’s sort of obvious to me from all the many tweaks Lucas has made to that scene over the years that Han Shot First annoys the hell out of him. Maybe it’s his desire to have his auteur’s vision define the canon of Star Wars instead of fans. Maybe he really doesn’t think of Han as that bad of a guy and really wants us to see him that way too.
But in changing the scene, Lucas has only continued to call attention to the meme. I think it’s part of Star Wars now. Han Shot First is outside the frame in our narrative but it’s also right there in the movie itself, revealed in the ever-more awkward cuts.
I don’t ever want there to be an edition where Han actually shoots first again, because that moment of meta-textual awareness when you see him shooting second or when somebody tells you for the first time that Han Shot First is important. It de-mythologizes the grand myth of Star Wars, turns it into just a thing that people made up and then kept tweaking. It helps you recognize that it could have been made other ways. It makes you think about story and character building in a way you might not otherwise.
One of the reasons I love Star Wars fandom — and really, any fandom — is that we chose to make this our myth. Knowing that the myth itself involves choices we can disagree about keeps that myth from becoming religion. It keeps the myth vibrant and alive. Most of all, staying aware of those choices makes that myth ours.
(Don’t talk to me about Blade Runner cuts though. There’s only one true one and I won’t accept any discussion about it.)
Disney+ launches
+ Here’s all the news in one spot:Disney+: news and updates on Walt Disney’s streaming service
+ How to stream Disney+
You may think this is a simple answer and in some ways it is, but in other ways there are so many, many little details that might matter.
+ Disney+ experiencing ‘unable to connect’ errors on launch day
Some time ago this newsletter featured an essay expressing hope that Disney would nail the technical side of its streaming service thanks to the high stakes and the bona fides of BAMtech, the streaming company Disney bought. Oh well, there’s always day two through two thousand to get it right.
+ The Mandalorian’s first episode shows that Star Wars can work on the small screen
I am here for this: putting more Western into the Space Western. Chaim Gartenberg reviews:
The heavily Western mood does suggest that Disney is learning from its blockbuster Marvel franchise, which has seen massive success by dropping the MCU formula and characters into different genres. Much like how Captain America: The Winter Soldier is designed in the vein of classic spy films or the Ant-Man films are modeled after superheroic heists, The Mandalorian wears its influences proudly.
+ Disney+ doesn’t have to sell anyone on streaming
Good analysis from Julia Alexander. There is no other company in the world that can simply say “if you want these movies -- and you know which movies I’m talking about -- subscribe to our service.”
+ How to get a year of free Disney+ from Verizon
You know that moment when you learn that there are multiple levels of infinity in math and you struggle to wrap your head around it and at some point you think you have it but it slips away? Whoever is in charge of Verizon’s naming scheme is Galaxy Braining that situation:
First, you have to subscribe to one of Verizon’s Unlimited plans, including Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited, Above Unlimited, Get More Unlimited, Do More Unlimited, Play More Unlimited, or Start Unlimited.
+ Disney will tolerate password sharing on Disney+ — for now
In context, this makes perfect sense and seems reasonable. But imagine Emperor Palpatine saying it in another context.
Disney has tools at its disposal if password sharing gets out of hand or becomes an obstacle that stunts Disney+’s growth. “We have created some technology that’s in the backend that we will use to understand behavior,” Paull said. “And when we see behavior that doesn’t make sense, we have mechanisms that we’ve put in place that will deal with it.”
Reviews
+ Snap Spectacles 3 review: reaching new depths
It seems clear from Casey Newton’s review (watch the video!) that Snap doesn’t have illusions of making this edition a mass market success. It’s embracing the nice nature and focusing on better content creation. That is, I think, actually very smart for this kind of product:
The marquee feature on Spectacles 3 is a new kind of Snapchat filter that takes advantage of the glasses’ depth perception to create a new category of 3D effects. There are 10 of these depth perception effects available at launch — adding disco lights that bend as they hit your body; big red hearts that pop as you move through them, and so on.
+ Disappointing:Master & Dynamic’s MH40 Wireless look and feel like $300, but don’t sound like it
+ The best smartwatch to buy for your iPhone
+ The best smartwatch to buy if you have an Android phone
More from The Verge
+ Impeachment podcasts are about more than Trump
Ashley Carman gets into the biggest trend in podcasting. I found this part fascinating:
Although, on the surface, it might seem like putting all this effort into an RSS feed for a show with an expiration date is unproductive, WNYC says the effort won’t go to waste, even if people stop listening to the impeachment show once the proceedings end. The feeds can be reinvented or used in the future to promote shows, according to WNYC spokesperson Brisa Robinson. Thinking about RSS feeds as promotional tools is “standard practice,” she says, even for shows the team knows will be short-run series.
+ This new HyperJuice 100W GaN charger could be the charger of your dreams
I think this has a better than even chance of successfully launching, given Hyper’s history. And if it does, it has a better than even chance of being the charger in my bag. My only hesitation is that I prefer chargers that don’t take up more than their fair share of space on the power strip.
+ The problem with Google’s health care ambitions is that no one knows where they end
You could summarize most of this by saying Google is building a search engine for health care providers, aka following its long-held corporate mission “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” But it seems the Ascension deal also includes some far-reaching research, particularly using AI and machine learning. This is where we get to the second part of Google’s mission statement — making information useful — and it’s here that the company’s ambitions seem limitless.
+ E-bikes are coming back to San Francisco after Lyft resolves issues with battery fires
I’m glad the bikes were pulled, I’m gladder they’re coming back, but I’d be gladdest if San Francisco (and every city really) was more aggressive at creating more and safer bike lanes. The city’s main artery — Market St — is about to go bus and taxi-only, at least. It’s a start.
+ Twitch Studio, the company’s streaming software for new users, is now in open beta
After a couple months of big-name streamers bailing on the platform, this is a nice piece of good news.
+ Minecraft Earth is now available in early access in the US
Done right, this could have more staying power than Pokémon Go, even though it may not get the same big cultural moment.
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/13/20962261/maclunky-han-shot-first-george-lucas-edit-star-wars
2019-11-13 12:00:00Z
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