Sunday, May 08, 2005

Bye Bye, Jar Jar!

President Bush recently signed the Family Entertainment Copyright Act, which provides legal protections for those wishing to edit commercially released movies to remove material they don't like.

At first my reaction was "typical pandering to the religious right". But on reflection it seems like a pretty good idea.

First, it's a whole lot better than me being forced to watch (totally boring) movies without any violence, adult themes and language or any of the other stuff that tells us about real people and life's real challenges. "Each to his own" is the path to liberty. So go ahead and chop movies to pieces if you like, as long as you leave me alone to watch the version I want.

Second, it's a joy to see the movie studios take it between the eyes on copyright law for change.

Finally, the co-incidence of this event with the impending release of the final (or should that be third?) Star Wars movie, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith got me thinking about the possibilities for rectifying the greatest creative blunder in the history of cinema. I just can't wait for someone to release a version of Episode I: The Phantom Menace, without the ridiculous Jar Jar Binks!

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