{"id":76450,"date":"2010-08-12T20:05:19","date_gmt":"2010-08-13T03:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lookingcloser.org\/?p=76450"},"modified":"2012-10-04T17:57:32","modified_gmt":"2012-10-04T23:57:32","slug":"want-to-get-sad-read-gary-kurtzs-view-on-how-star-wars-lost-its-magic-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2010\/08\/want-to-get-sad-read-gary-kurtzs-view-on-how-star-wars-lost-its-magic-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to get sad? Read Gary Kurtz on How Star Wars Lost Its Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3284\/2607647318_d856f7495d_o.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>What if there had been no second Death Star?<\/p>\n<p>What if Han Solo had died heroically?<\/p>\n<p>What if Luke had walked away like Caine in <em>Kung Fu<\/em>?<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s strange to be reading <a href=\"http:\/\/latimesblogs.latimes.com\/herocomplex\/2010\/08\/star-wars-was-born-a-long-time-ago-but-not-all-that-far-far-away-in-1972-filmmakers-george-lucas-and-gary-kurtz-wer.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">these words<\/a> 27 years after Return of the Jedi opened. But they ring true.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI could see where things were headed,\u201d Kurtz said. \u201cThe toy business began to drive the [Lucasfilm] empire. It\u2019s a shame. They make three times as much on toys as they do on films. It\u2019s natural to make decisions that protect the toy business, but that\u2019s not the best thing for making quality films.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cThe first film and \u2018Empire\u2019 were about story and character, but I could see that George\u2019s priorities were changing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What if there had been no second Death Star? What if Han Solo had died heroically? What if Luke had walked away like Caine in Kung Fu?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1556,1092,345],"class_list":["post-76450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-gary-kurtz","tag-merchandising","tag-star-wars"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Want to get sad? Read Gary Kurtz on How Star Wars Lost Its Magic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What if there had been no second Death Star? What if Han Solo had died heroically? What if Luke had walked away like Caine in Kung Fu? 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