I see it all in the press, especially when he speaks about Crystal Skull.
It's kind of a pointless vocabulary debate but perhaps it also speaks to him as a creator. And these days- not to start a debate, I respect not all agree- I think of Lucas as the weakest link in Indy's creative chain.
But so, according to Wiki a MacGuffin is a plot device that- really- doesn't mean anything important and only serves to push the plot along.
Seems like the correct definition given that Hitchcock made the term known and his examples (jewels for a theif, secret papers for spies) are pretty generic and irrelevant to the engine that movies the story forward.
But if that definition is correct then:
a- is Lucas correct that things like the ARK, THE GRAIL, THE SKULL, THE ROCKS are Macguffins? I mean, in Crusade, when Brody- I think- says something like, 'the quest for the grail is the quest for the divine in all of us' and in Raiders, Indy starts off as a guy who does not believe in 'a lot of superstitious hocus pocus' but in the end- thru the Ark- he comes to believe. To me, these treasures are really more integrated in to the subtext of the story and thus, make the movies richer. These treasures are much more than jewels and secret papers,yes?
b- Perhaps Lucas really does not even get the subtext of the movies he produces and that is why his contributions seem- to me- so poor. I read a great article with Koepp- screenwriter of Skull- where it was clear he felt Lucas' contributions to the writing process were useless at best and damaging to the story at worst.
c- Lastly, if indeed the Macguffin is generic and pointless- as per the definition- then why does Lucas use this as the reason it's so hard to come up with one each time? And to that point, is it really? I mean, it just doesn't seem that hard. The books do it all the time, the games do it all the time. And sure, Lucas came up with the Ark (was that him or Kauffman) and the Grail...those were homeruns. But it's not like the rocks and the skull were inspired...so he's either disappointed in those choices and doesn't want to mess up again by picking a silly- to me- treasure, or he feels those treasures were just as inspired.
Ah well- not to bash Lucas. He's done a lot for geeks like me and I love Indy. But every time I hear him talk about MacGuffins, I get confused.
Spidey 'good-day'
It's kind of a pointless vocabulary debate but perhaps it also speaks to him as a creator. And these days- not to start a debate, I respect not all agree- I think of Lucas as the weakest link in Indy's creative chain.
But so, according to Wiki a MacGuffin is a plot device that- really- doesn't mean anything important and only serves to push the plot along.
Seems like the correct definition given that Hitchcock made the term known and his examples (jewels for a theif, secret papers for spies) are pretty generic and irrelevant to the engine that movies the story forward.
But if that definition is correct then:
a- is Lucas correct that things like the ARK, THE GRAIL, THE SKULL, THE ROCKS are Macguffins? I mean, in Crusade, when Brody- I think- says something like, 'the quest for the grail is the quest for the divine in all of us' and in Raiders, Indy starts off as a guy who does not believe in 'a lot of superstitious hocus pocus' but in the end- thru the Ark- he comes to believe. To me, these treasures are really more integrated in to the subtext of the story and thus, make the movies richer. These treasures are much more than jewels and secret papers,yes?
b- Perhaps Lucas really does not even get the subtext of the movies he produces and that is why his contributions seem- to me- so poor. I read a great article with Koepp- screenwriter of Skull- where it was clear he felt Lucas' contributions to the writing process were useless at best and damaging to the story at worst.
c- Lastly, if indeed the Macguffin is generic and pointless- as per the definition- then why does Lucas use this as the reason it's so hard to come up with one each time? And to that point, is it really? I mean, it just doesn't seem that hard. The books do it all the time, the games do it all the time. And sure, Lucas came up with the Ark (was that him or Kauffman) and the Grail...those were homeruns. But it's not like the rocks and the skull were inspired...so he's either disappointed in those choices and doesn't want to mess up again by picking a silly- to me- treasure, or he feels those treasures were just as inspired.
Ah well- not to bash Lucas. He's done a lot for geeks like me and I love Indy. But every time I hear him talk about MacGuffins, I get confused.
Spidey 'good-day'