This isn't really the case though
You can find examples of people who have never seen Star Wars noting the CG nature of Tarkin in the 5 or 6 threads about this film on the forum. That's not even counting twitter/facebook.
Granted, these people are probably a minority of viewers, but that doesn't somehow prove that people are being judgmental based on pre-existing knowledge of Cushing's death, either.
I'm not trying to suggest this as the
sole reason anyone can tell it's CGI but I realize the way I worded it was a little too
definitively for the point I wanted to make. I have edited it.
Obviously not every single person is going to be fooled by the special effects and you don't necessarily
need prior knowledge of Cushing to see it, but I do suggest that it plays a large part in the reaction of many existing fans and enthusiasts.
I'm not really trying to be nitpicky here. But if the Empire knew the Rebels were trying to get schematics to the Death Star, wouldn't that prompt the Empire to also inspect the plans to see if their was a flaw? I'm willing to write that off to Imperial arrogance though.
Also, it's kind of funny that the Empire themselves nuked the original copy of the Death Star plans.
Tarkin was in charge of the Death Star and he was shown to be arrogant. His plan was to find the Rebel base and blow their shit up and he believed there wasn't anything they could do about it in the amount of time they had. As we know, only a few more seconds and he would have been right. I dont think he expected them to beat him to the punch.
Commander: We've analyzed their attack, sir, and
there is a danger. Should I have your ship standing by?
Governor Tarkin: Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think
you overestimate their chances.
It was known and Tarkin said fuck it.
Also, the above dialogue indicates that the Rebel's trench run is what lead them in the right direction to discovering the flaw. Maybe they already were going through the plans. There's a moon's-worth of plans to go over. It's going to take a while when you don't know what you're looking for.
The rebels found it in like an hour
Galen's message pointed them in the right direction. The Empire had no idea where to look or even that there was something to look for in the first place, right? Not until the X-wings started down their trench and they started wondering what the hell they were even doing.