The TRUTH!

CANON
According to Ali:

The universe revised and edited as necessary for sanity.

So how many of you have realized that I am a royal idiot? Hmmm? Well, here's the whole story. (Please disregard whatever Edallia may tell you.)

I wrote "The Truth!" during a temper tantrum brought on by the pompous sputterings of fans at DragonCon who feel compelled to defer to "George Lucas' Creative Vision" as the basis for Canon definition. It was my mantra, my masterpiece, my ultimate triumph. I sent it to Edallia and Jag for approval.

When Jag wrote back, I was quite impressed with his response. I decided that it needed to be posted as Canon. I asked his permission, he agreed, and then I didn't get around to it for a shameful amount of time.

When I rediscovered the response, I was determined not only to post the new Canons, but to develop a new format--cleaner, spiffier.... something just for Jag. And then it became something new for Edallia... and, well, myself, of course.

I think that we'll all agree that the new headings work better, but in the process of fiddling little changes, I managed to save over THE ONLY EXISTING COPY of the Truth file.

I've had it! I am sick to death of fans kowtowing at the shrine of George Lucas! The fact that he felt compelled to Mary Jane the story that wandered his way does NOT mean that he has the foggiest idea about the universe at large. Star Wars, I am pleased to say, has gone beyond him.

How many times have we been told that we must be INVITED to play in the Star Wars universe? Who doesn't know the extensive lengths that LUCASFILM, LTD. will go to in the pursuit of trademark and copyright sanctity?

Purely hypthetically, we will suppose that at some point in time, a company decides to merchandise a branded product. . . say, a science fiction movie. They contract with various entities... toy manufacturers, fast food chains........... authors.............. to provide a merchandisable product.

Don't forget, this brand has long been licensed. That means that every design must be approved before the brand, perhaps a stylized logo of the name, is placed on it.

Then, once the product has met all the specifications the franchise owner requires, the licensee is paid a sum of money. Under our capitalistic system, the original company now owns the provided product or creative work and has certified that it is, in fact, an actual element of the franchise.

To me, whenever George Lucas, in his position as head of Lucas Licensing, give the go-ahead to create merchandising, then pays for the resulting work, he has entered into a good-faith agreement both with the creator and the consumers (us fans).

He has certified that the creator has provided a product that does reflect the "realities" of the original product--the Star Wars Universe. We know that we're not buying cheesy rip-offs that Moe down the street, or some Star Trek fan working in a sweaty basement, created simply to lead us astray.

To me, the second he pays for the work, it becomes Canon. It's up to him (and his company) to approve the content prior to the payment. (And any Star Wars author will tell you that they do.)

When Lucas blatantly ignores previous products when contracting himself to create the new movies, he is in violation of that agreement the company has with us. The original idea, the first three films, belong to the brand now, just as much as the Rogues do (imagine the lawsuit if Sir Aaron or Saint Mike wrote an original work featuring Tycho or Wes!).

And that, in essence, is why I believe that Canon is defined by the entire Expanded Universe, and why "anomolies" like Bail Antilles or the Kenobi/Lars relationship ought to be seen as WRONG, not the product of a superior, Lucasine intellegence.