You're so invested in creating the perception that you are smarter than others because you've done a little research into where things came from. Hey, I understand. I do the same thing with "What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" and Superfolks. The difference, however, is that I read Superfolks long before WEHttMoT ever appeared. You're approaching this from the opposite direction, despite being part of the massive throng of kids who were raised on SW and its spawn you wish desperately to prove you're more enlightened than all the other sheep.

I was very familiar with Star Trek, the Flash Gordon Serials, Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan, all the Sinbad movies, Metropolis and King of the Rocket Men before seeing SW. Didn't stop me from enjoying it immensely at the time, and doesn't stop me from recognizing SW (the original theatrical version, at least) as a masterful piece of visionary filmmaking now.

So in order to create the perception I'm "smarter than you" and "more enlightened," I claimed to see a few movies and read a dozen book series over the course of thirty years?

You have low standards for smart.

And who said I had stopped enjoying SW? And why are you assuming my having such a view is negative? You're reading way too much into what I said. If nothing else I feel a stronger connection to the film. And to Lucas, he created a love letter to sci-fi and fantasy, to swashbuckling adventure and movies, serials,and books. Every freakin' minute of SW is dripping with it.

My perception of the film has evolved, as I have become more familiar with these sources Lucas borrowed from, yours hasn't. That's cool. Why would you feel inferior because of someone else's interpretation of a movie changing thirty years after first seeing it anyway?

And seriously, if you haven't read them already, you should read Frank Herbert's Dune series at least up to God Emperor Dune, and the whole Lensmen series, Asimov's Foundation, the first three at least. They're great and you'll see the stuff in there, it's awesome.

When someone says SW is "NOTHING BUT the sum of other stories' parts," yeah, I suppose I should interpret that as a good thing.

If you can give so much weight to your interpretation of one sentence fragment out of context and no weight whatsoever to everything else I've posted on this topic in the last few days, trying to explain in greater detail what I meant, then you're obviously more interested in picking a fight than having a discussion.

How much validity do you give to a politician walking back his initial comments?

No more validity than a politician making erroneous claims for his own benefit.

Well, there you have it. Either way.

The original material that "inspired" Star Wars and it's interpretation long after it's initial release, is a valid and interesting topic for discussion. Why did you feel compelled to shut it down?

There is a nice piece on Star Wars comic art over at CBR ...

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=35846

Why did you feel compelled to get your ass beat again, three days later?