I wish there was a way to order the original Star Wars trilogy to my own personal specifications. Episode IV was on tonight and as always, I found myself cringing at the part where Han has been edited out of shooting first. Granted, I rather like Han Solo as a practical, Wild West-type gunslinger who knows when to shoot scum-of-the-earth bounty hunters rather than get himself killed, but I think I could get behind the whole self-defense thing if it didn't look so damn stupid.

And then there's that whole editing the end of Return of the Jedi so Anakin looks like Hayden Christensen. Unlike most people I know, I actually don't mind the new end sequence---or even the new end sequence music---but replacing the Sebastian Shaw face only forces me to recall the dark times of Star Wars. And considering how much effort I've expended trying to expunge the prequels from my awareness, that seems a cruel way to end an Ewok party.

So, George Lucas, is it too much to ask that your audience be allowed to pick and choose the pieces of the three different editions you've released? Because I've been doing it myself, and in addition to being a little hard to explain, shifting back and forth between DVD and VHS just so I don't have to watch those aggravating bits is exhausting.

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