To be blunt, if there’s one man in cinema that deserves the flaming he gets…its George Lucas. At least that’s my perspective. While I do somewhat pity the fact that his classical works have become somewhat overshadowed by his for more controversial contemporary cartoons, what in the end I’d mostly deem them, tampering with your masterpieces is just not good form. Particularly after you’ve been so scrutinized by no less than those that proclaimed to once adore you on your modern filmmaking, I’d think that a man with a certain amount of respect would stop tampering with his Mona Lisa’s. Apparently I’d regretfully be wrong…
There’s a certain breed of fan that’s become so passively obedient that it’s actually somewhat disturbing. You get the impression that George could defecate on a plate, film it for three hours, and they’d call it brilliantly innovative. Not to mention the certain amount of over-the-top defensive behavior you’ll encounter occasionally from the Lucas Gestapo upon even subtle criticisms of something like the Star Wars prequels is nothing short of pathetic. You’d think we just insulted their dad!
But I’ll give George one thing, he’s a master manipulator that rivals his own fictional characters. Palpatine would bow down to his marketing abilities! He's basically the become the Donald Trump of filmmaking, which is what I believe he's more so become. The artist was sadly replaced by the businessman. He’s managed to convince possibly (though I’d like to think otherwise) the majority of fans that this is his world, thus his alterations should subsequently be understood and almost graciously received. Well…I’m not particularly fond of this sycophantic mindset, because the truth of the matter is that this isn’t George’s world, contrary to what he’d have you believe. When art is released to the public and becomes such a significant cultural phenomenon, something akin to Star Wars, the art becomes bigger than the artist. This is something artists must make peace with; they sometimes become outshone by their work. It becomes something bigger, something far more emotionally powerful than any one man will ever truly be. Don't undermine that by trying to claim the credit. It's not about that whatsoever! This has become something more. Something everlasting! Thusly, this is our universe, this is our sandbox to play in. Neither Georges, nor the fans! It belongs to all of us.
So why shouldn’t the fan base critique be shared, heard and valued, and ultimately weigh upon the welfare of the franchise? We gave George his fame and fortune, we shouldn't be sniveling appreciative…shouldn’t it be vice versa? I just never got this feeling that he ever really valued his fans outside of their pocketbooks, something I'm not alone on, which I think birthed a lot of animosity. I think it's blatantly obvious that he compromised the scripts literary merit for the ability to maximize profit with shamelessly inescapable fast food promos and unavoidable action figures (solidifying the “sell-out” moniker), all the more clear when you consider characters like General Grievous and the continuously ongoing list of expendable, yet visually very cool, prequel villains. Fact of the matter is that George Lucas appears to be a money-hungry control freak anymore. Plain and simple! And the defying irony is that in the end no one can be held more responsible for birthing George Lucas’s ego-driven devolution then the fans themselves with their unhealthy deifying of the genius visionary, but regrettably one very subpar writer-director.
