First things first: Congratulations to Christopher Baldwin of Brunswick, who won a pair of passes to a listening party of Wilco’s new album, “The Whole Love,” on Sept. 26.

GO partnered with Bull Moose Music in a contest announced in this column last week, and the response was immense. Apparently, there are a lot of die-hard Wilco fans in Maine.

A representative from Bull Moose will be contacting Christopher soon to give him the low-down on the time and place of the listening party. (We don’t have the passes here; they will be provided by Bull Moose.)

Now, on to this week’s topic: An open letter to George Lucas, the creator of “Star Wars.”

George, George, George — how far you have fallen. You were once the idol for generations, the man who created one of the most beloved (and successful) film franchises of all time. We bought the toys, we read the books, we dressed as Darth Vader and Han Solo for Halloween. We formed fan clubs that grew into international conventions.

And we watched the movies — over and over and over again.

Everyone was happy — except you, George. You just couldn’t stop tinkering. Since the 1997 theatrical re-release, every re-issue of the original trilogy has included another “tweak”: Han shooting first in “A New Hope”; a young Anakin Skywalker replacing the older one at the end of “Return of the Jedi”; badly-rendered CGI creatures dropped into scenes randomly just because you could.

Now, with this week’s Blu-ray re-issues, you’ve gone and done it again. In one of the most climactic scenes of the series, Darth Vader doesn’t just save Luke Skywalker from the Emperor by throwing his master down a chasm. He now cries “nooooo!” while doing it. (You can watch it here: tinyurl.com/vaderisawuss).

Was there any doubt as to the conflicting thoughts in Vader’s mind? Was his silent heroism not enough? Did anyone actually say to you, “Why did Darth Vader save his son?”

Most directors probably feel the same as you: If they had only a little more time, a few more resources, they could have made a better movie. But the difference with most directors and yourself, George, is that they scratch that itch by issuing a director’s cut along with the original, or via extras tacked on the video release. They understand that, as flawed as they may be, the originals are beloved by the fans.

But not you. Your next project is to re-release the entire series again next year — in 3D.

It’s time to stop the madness, George. Stop screwing around with the original films, or at the very least, make the originals as widely available as “Star Wars” Version 5.0, or whatever you’re calling it.

We don’t want extra dialogue. We don’t need new characters. We don’t need to see Ben Kenobi’s lightsaber poking out from his midsection like a well, you get the point.

I can sense the good in you, George. Don’t give in to the dark side. It’s not too late.

Deputy Managing Editor Rod Harmon may be contacted at 791-6450 or at:

rharmon@pressherald.com