Thoughts on Hollywood political correctness, from Bill Whittle.
17 thoughts on “Han Shot First”
Even though Han shot first, Guido had his blaster pointed at him and was threatening his life. What does it say about Lucas when he doesn’t think that is enough reason for Han to shoot and still be the god guy?
And why does he name the alien mobster Guido?
I prefer the theory that Lucas hates the movies and his fans now because he’s sick of everything except the money, and does this sort of thing just for spite.
I kind of like that theory. Fortunately my nephew has outgrown Star Wars Legos, so there’s a pretty good chance that Lucas will never get another dime of my money.
In the movies it’s always been the good guy who acts in self defense, the bad guy always goes for the draw first but is slower, the good guy always kills for sound moral reasons, while the bad guy kills for pleasure, evil or greed, smiling as he guns down his victims. We’re led to identify with the goodie, and not the baddie, goodies are supposedly intrinsically good, the baddies intrinsically bad. That’s the movies, from when they were first made, that’s the books, from when they were first written. Whittle seems to be ignoring that that’s how fiction has always been done in an effort to manufacture a rationalization as to why his ideology is the good one that other ideology the bad one.
Why is shooting in self defense (Greedo had the drop on Han and had spent several lines of dialog telegraphing his intention to kill him) evil or bad? Evil or bad would have been Han dying because he thought shooting Greedo from under the table would be “unsporting”. Lucas is just being an ass because (as Annoying Old Guy suggests) he just doesn’t like the franchise. He hates that he can no longer claim to be the maverick film maker he once was.
“He’s dead and I’m alive and that’s the way I wanted it to be.” Good enough for Heinlein, good enough for me.
Wodun: not sure if you’re serious or not, but it was Greedo, not Guido.
I always thought his name was guido which would fit just fine with Lucas use of racial stereotypes in the series.
Watched the first new movie in the theater the rest on tv not dvd and havn’t felt the desire to watch them more than once.
Guido was the killer-pimp in Risky Business.
Han knew Greedo was a threat and acted on his gut instincts. That is what that scene said to me. It established that Han had super-keen instincts that helped him come out ahead. Having Greedo shoot first and miss a point-blank shot ruins that.
The same actor played Cypher in The Matrix
In the vernacular of the Police, once Greedo pointed his blaster at Han he had demonstrated the Ability and th eIntent to threaten his life. Greedo was “Bought and Paid For.”
Whittle seems to be ignoring that that’s how fiction has always been done in an effort to manufacture a rationalization as to why his ideology is the good one that other ideology the bad one.
Andrew, watch the video again. We do not have to guess at Lucas’s thoughts on the scene because we are given his quotes.
When a gun is pointed at you, you have two choices. Either leave your life in their hands to take or leave as they see fit or shoot them. There is no time to react to a trigger pull. There is no time for discussion. By pointing the weapon at you they have told you that they believe they have the right to kill you if you do not do everything they ask or to kill you without asking anything at all.
Back to the point. The issue here isn’t how the scene unfolds either before or after the edit. Either is a plausible scenario. By plausible I note that Greedo missed when he shot at Han as some might in similar situations. What is important is why the change was made. Most people understand (I would hope) gun fights in the movies are pure fantasy. What becomes obvious here is that Lucas does not know that or does not care.
The question is, how and when will he alter and ruin this scene.
While that scene is a classic and just about everyone loves it as it is, from what I’ve read that wasn’t how the scene was written. They were supposed to fight. However, on the day the scene was shot, Harrison Ford had the flu and felt miserable. He was unable to do the action required for the fight so he shot the guy instead.
Han did what I’d do. Shoot first, throw the bar keep some silver later, it worked for Han, because it’s a class move.
I didn’t see Ben Kenobi pay anyone to clean up that arm laying next to the bar!
He didn’t have to — watching someone block a blaster bolt and disarm a guy with a weapon and skill not seen in a generation is its own reward.
Even though Han shot first, Guido had his blaster pointed at him and was threatening his life. What does it say about Lucas when he doesn’t think that is enough reason for Han to shoot and still be the god guy?
And why does he name the alien mobster Guido?
I prefer the theory that Lucas hates the movies and his fans now because he’s sick of everything except the money, and does this sort of thing just for spite.
I kind of like that theory. Fortunately my nephew has outgrown Star Wars Legos, so there’s a pretty good chance that Lucas will never get another dime of my money.
In the movies it’s always been the good guy who acts in self defense, the bad guy always goes for the draw first but is slower, the good guy always kills for sound moral reasons, while the bad guy kills for pleasure, evil or greed, smiling as he guns down his victims. We’re led to identify with the goodie, and not the baddie, goodies are supposedly intrinsically good, the baddies intrinsically bad. That’s the movies, from when they were first made, that’s the books, from when they were first written. Whittle seems to be ignoring that that’s how fiction has always been done in an effort to manufacture a rationalization as to why his ideology is the good one that other ideology the bad one.
Why is shooting in self defense (Greedo had the drop on Han and had spent several lines of dialog telegraphing his intention to kill him) evil or bad? Evil or bad would have been Han dying because he thought shooting Greedo from under the table would be “unsporting”. Lucas is just being an ass because (as Annoying Old Guy suggests) he just doesn’t like the franchise. He hates that he can no longer claim to be the maverick film maker he once was.
“He’s dead and I’m alive and that’s the way I wanted it to be.” Good enough for Heinlein, good enough for me.
Wodun: not sure if you’re serious or not, but it was Greedo, not Guido.
I always thought his name was guido which would fit just fine with Lucas use of racial stereotypes in the series.
Watched the first new movie in the theater the rest on tv not dvd and havn’t felt the desire to watch them more than once.
Guido was the killer-pimp in Risky Business.
Han knew Greedo was a threat and acted on his gut instincts. That is what that scene said to me. It established that Han had super-keen instincts that helped him come out ahead. Having Greedo shoot first and miss a point-blank shot ruins that.
The same actor played Cypher in The Matrix
In the vernacular of the Police, once Greedo pointed his blaster at Han he had demonstrated the Ability and th eIntent to threaten his life. Greedo was “Bought and Paid For.”
Whittle seems to be ignoring that that’s how fiction has always been done in an effort to manufacture a rationalization as to why his ideology is the good one that other ideology the bad one.
Andrew, watch the video again. We do not have to guess at Lucas’s thoughts on the scene because we are given his quotes.
When a gun is pointed at you, you have two choices. Either leave your life in their hands to take or leave as they see fit or shoot them. There is no time to react to a trigger pull. There is no time for discussion. By pointing the weapon at you they have told you that they believe they have the right to kill you if you do not do everything they ask or to kill you without asking anything at all.
Back to the point. The issue here isn’t how the scene unfolds either before or after the edit. Either is a plausible scenario. By plausible I note that Greedo missed when he shot at Han as some might in similar situations. What is important is why the change was made. Most people understand (I would hope) gun fights in the movies are pure fantasy. What becomes obvious here is that Lucas does not know that or does not care.
The question is, how and when will he alter and ruin this scene.
While that scene is a classic and just about everyone loves it as it is, from what I’ve read that wasn’t how the scene was written. They were supposed to fight. However, on the day the scene was shot, Harrison Ford had the flu and felt miserable. He was unable to do the action required for the fight so he shot the guy instead.
Han did what I’d do. Shoot first, throw the bar keep some silver later, it worked for Han, because it’s a class move.
I didn’t see Ben Kenobi pay anyone to clean up that arm laying next to the bar!
He didn’t have to — watching someone block a blaster bolt and disarm a guy with a weapon and skill not seen in a generation is its own reward.
I don’t recall Ponda Baba shooting at all.