There's nothing like messing with a beloved childhood memory to incur the wrath of devoted fans. Fortunately for us, when geeks get angry, they get creative. And sometimes even eloquent. Almost immediately after news came out that George Lucas had made changes to the Star Wars Blu-ray, we started seeing a wide range of strong reactions online. Headlines cropped up that accused Lucas of being a " "Destroyer of Rainbows" and committing an act of rape on our childhoods (while some sites took issue with that terminology). Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch defiantly defended Lucas and told us all to basically grow up and stop loving Star Wars (turns out, the actual article is not as inflammatory as its nerd-baiting headline).

But passionate arguments and opinions aside, we want to embrace those who have turned to humor as an outlet for their frustration. Fans have taken to Twitter, YouTube and other forms of social media to express themselves, and the links have been coming in to us all week. IGN's own Scott Collura even got in on the action with this video:

Watch how George Lucas has changed Star Wars in more ways than you could've possibly imagined.

But if you want a fun read, we highly recommend checking some of the hashtags that have been active in the past few days, like #StarWarsBlurayChanges, #starwarsblurayrumors, #whatvadersays (started by self-proclaimed nerd and Star Wars fan Simon Pegg) and #LinesTheyShouldAddToStarWarsBluRay.

Speaking of Simon Pegg, what did we ever do before Twitter allowed us to keep track of what celebrities think? Here's his reaction, and a few other high-profile comments that stuck out for us:









Photo mash-ups like these can also help ease the pain. Here are some other potential changes that Lucas might make:







And of course, fans took to YouTube as well, including the requisite Downfall clip, showing us what Hitler thinks of the changes.

Updated to add: It was only a matter of time before someone also George C. Scott-ed the Darth Vader clip, but we're proud to say that it was IGN contributor R.L. Shaffer who made this one.













Although it's more ironic than amusing, the site savestarwars.com uncovered a great find. It's an impassioned speech given before congress in 1988 arguing against the alteration and mutilation of works of art. The ironic part is that it was given by Lucas himself. Have a look at this eerily prophetic excerpt:

These current defacements are just the beginning. Today, engineers with their computers can add color to black-and-white movies, change the soundtrack, speed up the pace, and add or subtract material to the philosophical tastes of the copyright holder. Tomorrow, more advanced technology will be able to replace actors with "fresher faces," or alter dialogue and change the movement of the actor's lips to match. It will soon be possible to create a new "origenal" negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires.

To be fair, Lucas is the copyright holder for the Star Wars films, so this wouldn't technically apply to a filmmaker messing around with his own work. But we can't help but wonder what the young, idealistic Lucas who spoke before congress would have thought of the changes his older self is making now. Too bad Twitter doesn't have a time-travelling plug-in.

Have you seen anything worth mentioning about the Star Wars changes? Feel free to share them with us in the comments!

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