Preserving the cultural past

In the introduction to the "George Lucas: Unreliable Narrator & Time Traveling Revisionist," oojason writes, "Many of the new generation(s) of fans are seemingly oblivious that the original theatrical versions actually exist - and also seemingly quite unaware and uninformed about Lucas’ alterations to the history of Star Wars. Therefore, they are generally accepting of George’s revised statements; taking them as true and accurate accounts - when in reality… many are anything but."

This stood out to me because, as student of history, I concern myself with the preservation of memory when it comes to the historical past. But is it just as important to preserve the cultural past? Why is it such a bad thing if new fans don't know the "original" Star Wars?