Why Digital Peter Cushing isn’t “Disrespectful”

I came online today to find Facebook had Peter Cushing trending. That meant only one thing in my mind… Rogue One.

I’ve read two articles; one from UK newspaper ‘The Guardian’ and the other being The Huffington Post. The Guardian’s headline was “Peter Cushing is dead. Rogue One’s resurrection is a digital indignity” whilst the Huff Post went with “Digitally Reviving Peter Cushing For Rogue One Is Disrespectful”.

As I was reading both articles, and doing my best to be open minded about their opinions to at the very least understand their point of view, the more I started to realise that they really were writing an article for the sake of it. It was journalistic click bait.

There is no mistake that having Tarkin in Rogue One was essential. The Death Star was his baby, and having him absent would have been hugely noticeable.

So why not recast him?

Well, personally for a film that takes place minutes before A New Hope, I think that would have somewhat upset the continuity and flow of the story. Maybe it’s because whilst Tarkin is a great character, Peter Cushing in his likeness and presence had such an impact on us the first time we watched Star Wars, that trying to recreate that feeling he gave us was also a key part to those scenes. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing, and as time moves on more and more people will be watching less and less of Peter Cushing’s performances in his other works. Younger generations don’t want to watch older films from previous generations. Star Wars is probably one of the very few movies that will be able to last, and at some point, may be the only Peter Cushing performance that younger generations watch. So maybe bringing Cushing to a younger generation will also be a great thing.

But let’s also remember, it’s not like this was done without permission. Cushing’s estate gave approval for his likeness to be used, and probably got a nice sum of money into his estate for his living relatives.

Whilst not everyone loved the quality of the CGI work in bringing Tarkin to our screens, ( I personally thought it was remarkable) we should all agree that it was a HUGE advancement in the technology. And that, is what George Lucas was all about. Lucas pushed technology above and beyond it’s limits to give us ILM and Pixar. So that we can watch the impossible come to life before our eyes. The CGI in Rogue One was a risk. But a risk that will ultimately pay off. Maybe in 10 years I can have a VR experience where i’m jamming with Jimi Hendrix.

Read the Huffington Post Article Here

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