You’ll be hard pressed to find a bigger fan or supporter of George Lucas than myself. If it wasn’t for George and his creative genius that is Star Wars, sites like mine and countless others across the globe probably wouldn’t exist or at the very least not with the same passion that serves as the backbone for our writing. Star Wars insisted that passion. It gave birth to my creativity and my sense of wonder and adventure. For those reasons alone I will always be grateful to George Lucas. However, I came across a Vanity Fair article that had a video of Lucas’s interview with Charlie Rose. The nearly hour-long interview was interesting and slightly disappointing, if not off-putting.
In his interview, Lucas talks about his selling of the franchise to the Walt Disney Company and referred to them as “white slavers”. Now, he smiled and laughed about it as if he was joking but that term bothered me. It paints an ugly picture. He then went on to criticize the newest film, The Force Awakens. TFA is the first of several Star Wars related films to be produced by Disney and the first without Lucas’ involvement. He called it retro and basically called it a copy of A New Hope. Yes, there are elements of the original in TFA. It doesn’t take a Jedi (or a Sith) to see how one mirrors the other. But there is enough separation between the two that makes TFA stand on its own merits. Lucas sadly almost comes across as bitter.
The relationship between Lucas and the fans has always been very strong. He is often revered as a God or to coin a phrase from C-3PO, the Maker. However, over the last decade or so that relationship has been tested. That test came before the prequels though. It all started with the Special Editions of the original trilogy. In 1997, the original trilogy was rereleased as part of the 20th anniversary of Star Wars. These were remastered with improved sound and graphics. Seeing them again on the big screen made fans like myself very excited. That excitement gets detoured a bit when the enhancements that Lucas had made with certain scenes, actually took away from the charm that made them classic scenes and none more so than the Cantina scene between Han Solo and Greedo. We all know the scene and we all know the debate. Such changes to the original trilogy continued through Empireand Jedi.
I will always defend a creators right to make changes to his/her work. Sometimes though you must know or recognize when enough is enough and stop oneself from ruining a good thing. There’s an old saying, ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.’ Lucas’s overuse of CGI with the special editions goes into full-blown light speed with the prequels. While the prequels have the familiar sounds and names and faces, they lacked authenticity. There was something missing. That magic from a long time ago was gone. Replaced by bad acting, bad dialogue and bad CGI. Lucas had lost his touch and was too stubborn to admit it.
Now fast forward to the present. The Force Awakens is primed to become the biggest movie of all time. It is critically hailed as one of the best of the franchise and certainly leaps and bounds better than the prequels. Director J.J. Abrams has brought back that magic we remember and sorely missed. Lucas has often referred to Disney’s involvement in Star Wars and his lack of involvement as a divorce. And as anyone who has gone through such a thing, it can be very tough seeing your ex move on without you and seemingly doing better. But it’s hard to feel completely bad for him when he made about four billion when he sold the rights to Star Wars. All divorces should have such a settlement. Perhaps it’s the success of this latest entry that has brought out some hurt feelings, fear of being forgotten and sellers remorse.
In the end George Lucas, don’t come across as bitter. You’re better than that. Be proud of the film legacy you have passed on. You have built something that has transcended the film industry and pop culture as a whole. And don’t worry; Disney knows a thing or two about creating magic. Heed Yoda’s warning… fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. The path to the Dark Side they are.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
