Death of a Rodian Doofus
Feb. 28th, 2006 01:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sunnyskywalkerPoor Greedo and his lost dignity.
Greedo shooting first is perhaps GL's most controversial change to the Original trilogy. From what I've seen, many (including me) feel that this makes Han more of a doofus, since he prepares to shoot Greedo but then just waits until Greedo shoots first and misses, which seems like a rather suicidal tactic. Many (still including me) also feel that this makes Greedo more of a doofus, since if he misses at that range, the poor guy must be a worse shot than a stormtrooper. Making Greedo more of a doofus, and thus less threatening, makes the scene less tense (and Han less cool). There's also the fact that the new version is much more confusing to watch; my first reaction to it was, "Wait, what just happened?" If you aren't sure what happened, it's awfully hard to appreciate the character development.
But there's another, less frequently mentioned problem: I think GL's purpose in having Greedo shoot first was to make Han's killing him more sympathetic and more obviously self-defense, but I think Greedo shooting first makes Han look like more of a jerk. Instead of killing someone who seems like a real threat, Han kills a doofus.
Greedo is such a doofus after the change that it seems cruel to kill him at all. He missed at that range? Han should slap him and send him home to his mother--he obviously isn't old enough to play in the cantina with the big boys. Before, Greedo died because he was too overconfident and not observative or fast enough to beat Han. Now Greedo dies because he's pathetic. Is killing a pathetic loser really supposed to make us like Han more? At least when Greedo was semi-threatening, dying at Han's hand had some dignity to it. Now it's just embarrassing. It's even worse if Han really does shoot Greedo twice now, as I've heard he does. Overkill, much?
I'm almost afraid GL will get the bright idea to have Han stun Greedo in the super-special edition. That would make Han look like even more of a doofus (leaving an enemy alive to come back after him? Vader-style noooo!), and the audience would expect Greedo to come back and he never would, which would be annoying. But I doubt that will actually happen. At least, I hope not...
So, to sum up: let Han be nice (and cool) again, and let poor Greedo die with dignity!
Greedo shooting first is perhaps GL's most controversial change to the Original trilogy. From what I've seen, many (including me) feel that this makes Han more of a doofus, since he prepares to shoot Greedo but then just waits until Greedo shoots first and misses, which seems like a rather suicidal tactic. Many (still including me) also feel that this makes Greedo more of a doofus, since if he misses at that range, the poor guy must be a worse shot than a stormtrooper. Making Greedo more of a doofus, and thus less threatening, makes the scene less tense (and Han less cool). There's also the fact that the new version is much more confusing to watch; my first reaction to it was, "Wait, what just happened?" If you aren't sure what happened, it's awfully hard to appreciate the character development.
But there's another, less frequently mentioned problem: I think GL's purpose in having Greedo shoot first was to make Han's killing him more sympathetic and more obviously self-defense, but I think Greedo shooting first makes Han look like more of a jerk. Instead of killing someone who seems like a real threat, Han kills a doofus.
Greedo is such a doofus after the change that it seems cruel to kill him at all. He missed at that range? Han should slap him and send him home to his mother--he obviously isn't old enough to play in the cantina with the big boys. Before, Greedo died because he was too overconfident and not observative or fast enough to beat Han. Now Greedo dies because he's pathetic. Is killing a pathetic loser really supposed to make us like Han more? At least when Greedo was semi-threatening, dying at Han's hand had some dignity to it. Now it's just embarrassing. It's even worse if Han really does shoot Greedo twice now, as I've heard he does. Overkill, much?
I'm almost afraid GL will get the bright idea to have Han stun Greedo in the super-special edition. That would make Han look like even more of a doofus (leaving an enemy alive to come back after him? Vader-style noooo!), and the audience would expect Greedo to come back and he never would, which would be annoying. But I doubt that will actually happen. At least, I hope not...
So, to sum up: let Han be nice (and cool) again, and let poor Greedo die with dignity!