I'll never be your beast of burden.

Star Wars: A New Hope Uncut obviously raises interesting questions about ownership, fandom, and our desire to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. But it also raises questions about what we’re “allowed” to reimagine or revise and why. The leviathan that is Star Wars seems to remain unscathed by hundreds or thousands of people reimagining all or part of it, in the way that The Rolling Stones is unaffected by my walking down the street and whistling “Beast of Burden.” Perhaps the size (in terms of access and popularity) has a direct impact on what we’re allowed to revise or reimagine. I’m thinking of a parallel to dominant and marginalized groups and the privileges afforded to each. It’s more culturally acceptable for a marginalized group to assimilate into a dominant culture than it is for a member of a dominant group to embody cultural aspects of a marginalized group (i.e. cultural appropriation). In that way, fans reimagining Star Wars are assimilating into part of a dominant culture, so that seems much more acceptable than, say, George Lucas trolling fan pages and taking ideas from ordinary fans without crediting them (which reads as exploitative and underhanded).

My son, Henry, participating in fandom at a young age.
I made this costume without permission from Lucasfilm.