The People vs. George Lucas

I was pretty fascinated by how passionately and obnoxiously harsh these fans were with some of their analogies and explanations for how George Lucas defiled their childhood. Like, wow, I too would have sold Star Wars to walk away from it all.

I’m familiar with the general consensus surrounding cringey, rage-filled Star Wars fans. But to be presented with a compilation of fans throughout the prequel era letting loose at Lucas like Italians at Mussolini’s public execution brings so much more context as to what exactly people despised about Star Wars fans. 

Aside from some of the more ranty portions of the documentary, I appreciated how it highlighted the beauty in the Star Wars fandom. The fan films, the costumes, the fan-fictions, the die-hard collectors, the late-night theatre goers, the parents showing their children Star Wars for the first time… it was a very heartwarming thing to see. 

It made me understand Star Wars fans’ frustration to a degree. I understand that watching a franchise with huge potential be set on a path that was at times disagreeable and irreversible to be a heart-wrenching experience, especially when you love it like your own child. But it’s no excuse to personally attack the director, and that’s not a hot take at all.

I’m not the biggest fan of the prequels, and I wouldn’t exactly curse the director to the degree the fans in this documentary went to. But maybe I’m just speaking from a luxurious standpoint that disallows me to properly feel the immense amount of disappointment those fans may have felt after waiting 16 years for a highly anticipated saga. 

One of the more agreeable portions of the documentary is George’s resistance to embracing the originality of his very first Star Wars films. I believe art can be changed, improved, or even hated. But, to strip it from being appreciated by the audience who loves it solely for a selfish purpose of not thinking it’s your best work is, I believe, to be somewhat irresponsible to the people who gave you an audience to begin with. 

To choose to properly preserve an updated version you are proud of while openly ignoring the fans of an unproblematic, historical, charming piece of historical cinema is not something I can stand on George’s side with.  

Fortunately, the documentary ends on a good note. It acknowledges that Star Wars fans, while still not far from their emotionally-charged identity that they have been closely associated with, have embraced some semblance of positivity for the future (at least in regards to Lucas and his films).

But, I think the new animosity towards Kathleen Kennedy and the recent revival of love for Lucas can be summed up by one very simple quote from Michael Scott:

“Sometimes what brings the kids together is hating the lunch lady.”

George Lucas, you are amazing, but please understand that a select number of criticisms do have their merits, even though the people expressing them may have the look and the characteristics of the most stereotypical basement-dweller crybaby nerd that a stand-up comedian can come up with.

“George Lucas may be the brainchild behind Star Wars; he may have come up with the story and a lot of the characters, but everyone who participated in making those films had some type of creative input.”

I was pretty fascinated by how passionately and obnoxiously harsh these fans were with some of their analogies and explanations for how George Lucas defiled their childhood. Like, wow, I too would have sold Star Wars to walk away from it all.

I’m familiar with the general consensus surrounding cringey, rage-filled Star Wars fans. But to be presented with a compilation of fans throughout the prequel era letting loose at Lucas like Italians at Mussolini’s public execution brings so much more context as to what exactly people despised about Star Wars fans. 

Aside from some of the more ranty portions of the documentary, I appreciated how it highlighted the beauty in the Star Wars fandom. The fan films, the costumes, the fan-fictions, the die-hard collectors, the late-night theatre goers, the parents showing their children Star Wars for the first time… it was a very heartwarming thing to see. 

It made me understand Star Wars fans’ frustration to a degree. I understand that watching a franchise with huge potential be set on a path that was at times disagreeable and irreversible to be a heart-wrenching experience, especially when you love it like your own child. But it’s no excuse to personally attack the director, and that’s not a hot take at all.

I’m not the biggest fan of the prequels, and I wouldn’t exactly curse the director to the degree the fans in this documentary went to. But maybe I’m just speaking from a luxurious standpoint that disallows me to properly feel the immense amount of disappointment those fans may have felt after waiting 16 years for a highly anticipated saga. 

One of the more agreeable portions of the documentary is George’s resistance to embracing the originality of his very first Star Wars films. I believe art can be changed, improved, or even hated. But, to strip it from being appreciated by the audience who loves it solely for a selfish purpose of not thinking it’s your best work is, I believe, to be somewhat irresponsible to the people who gave you an audience to begin with. 

To choose to properly preserve an updated version you are proud of while openly ignoring the fans of an unproblematic, historical, charming piece of historical cinema is not something I can stand on George’s side with.  

Fortunately, the documentary ends on a good note. It acknowledges that Star Wars fans, while still not far from their emotionally-charged identity that they have been closely associated with, have embraced some semblance of positivity for the future (at least in regards to Lucas and his films).

But, I think the new animosity towards Kathleen Kennedy and the recent revival of love for Lucas can be summed up by one very simple quote from Michael Scott:

“Sometimes what brings the kids together is hating the lunch lady.”

George Lucas, you are amazing, but please understand that a select number of criticisms do have their merits, even though the people expressing them may have the look and the characteristics of the most stereotypical basement-dweller crybaby nerd that a stand-up comedian can come up with.

“George Lucas may be the brainchild behind Star Wars; he may have come up with the story and a lot of the characters, but everyone who participated in making those films had some type of creative input.”

No wonder George Lucas sold off Lucasfilm to Disney. What a bunch of petulant fucking children. Any discussion of auteur theory or debates about whether or not a piece of art belongs to the general public once it hits the general zeitgeist is dropped in favor of bitching and moaning about how much the prequels suck, as well as slandering George Lucas the entire documentary. “George Lucas raped my childhood”, “George Lucas altering the original trilogy is like denying the holocaust”, get the fuck over yourself!!!!!!!! You have no idea how film restorations work (In fact, George Lucas has explained in the VHS/laserdisc intros of the 1997 Special Editions that sections of the negatives for the Original Trilogy had been faded and damaged beyond repair, so duplicates from the negatives had to be used for the restoration before the release of the special editions, and additionally, many home video masters of the OT from 1982-1995 were sourced from print masters that were ultimately color corrected to fit within home video standards of the time which wouldn’t hold up today. In short, the original negatives are gone.), and I really love that these dorks brought up the South Park gag where Steven Spielberg and George Lucas rape Indiana Jones (Do these fuckasses even realize that the joke is literally making fun of how overly dramatic they are???????).

All in all, this documentary was a goddamn chore to get through. These nerds don’t care about or respect auteur theory, they have no idea how film restorations work, and it’s shit like this that has paved the way for the Fandom Menace, a subculture that has snowballed into one big culture war bitching and moaning about supposed “wokeness” in media, and what this documentary has done here is made it so unbearably embarrassing to be a Star Wars fan and you can thank these dorks for all the slop Disney has pumped out under the Star Wars name.

No wonder George Lucas sold off Lucasfilm to Disney. What a bunch of petulant fucking children. Any discussion of auteur theory or debates about whether or not a piece of art belongs to the general public once it hits the general zeitgeist is dropped in favor of bitching and moaning about how much the prequels suck, as well as slandering George Lucas the entire documentary. “George Lucas raped my childhood”, “George Lucas altering the original trilogy is like denying the holocaust”, get the fuck over yourself!!!!!!!! You have no idea how film restorations work (In fact, George Lucas has explained in the VHS/laserdisc intros of the 1997 Special Editions that sections of the negatives for the Original Trilogy had been faded and damaged beyond repair, so duplicates from the negatives had to be used for the restoration before the release of the special editions, and additionally, many home video masters of the OT from 1982-1995 were sourced from print masters that were ultimately color corrected to fit within home video standards of the time which wouldn’t hold up today. In short, the original negatives are gone.), and I really love that these dorks brought up the South Park gag where Steven Spielberg and George Lucas rape Indiana Jones (Do these fuckasses even realize that the joke is literally making fun of how overly dramatic they are???????).

All in all, this documentary was a goddamn chore to get through. These nerds don’t care about or respect auteur theory, they have no idea how film restorations work, and it’s shit like this that has paved the way for the Fandom Menace, a subculture that has snowballed into one big culture war bitching and moaning about supposed “wokeness” in media, and what this documentary has done here is made it so unbearably embarrassing to be a Star Wars fan and you can thank these dorks for all the slop Disney has pumped out under the Star Wars name.

No wonder George Lucas sold off Lucasfilm to Disney. What a bunch of petulant fucking children. Any discussion of auteur theory or debates about whether or not a piece of art belongs to the general public once it hits the general zeitgeist is dropped in favor of bitching and moaning about how much the prequels suck, as well as slandering George Lucas the entire documentary. “George Lucas raped my childhood”, “George Lucas altering the original trilogy is like denying the holocaust”, get the fuck over yourself!!!!!!!! You have no idea how film restorations work (In fact, George Lucas has explained in the VHS/laserdisc intros of the 1997 Special Editions that sections of the negatives for the Original Trilogy had been faded and damaged beyond repair, so duplicates from the negatives had to be used for the restoration before the release of the special editions, and additionally, many home video masters of the OT from 1982-1995 were sourced from print masters that were ultimately color corrected to fit within home video standards of the time which wouldn’t hold up today. In short, the original negatives are gone.), and I really love that these dorks brought up the South Park gag where Steven Spielberg and George Lucas rape Indiana Jones (Do these fuckasses even realize that the joke is literally making fun of how overly dramatic they are???????).

All in all, this documentary was a goddamn chore to get through. These nerds don’t care about or respect auteur theory, they have no idea how film restorations work, and it’s shit like this that has paved the way for the Fandom Menace, a subculture that has snowballed into one big culture war bitching and moaning about supposed “wokeness” in media, and what this documentary has done here is made it so unbearably embarrassing to be a Star Wars fan and you can thank these dorks for all the slop Disney has pumped out under the Star Wars name.

No wonder George Lucas sold off Lucasfilm to Disney. What a bunch of petulant fucking children. Any discussion of auteur theory or debates about whether or not a piece of art belongs to the general public once it hits the general zeitgeist is dropped in favor of bitching and moaning about how much the prequels suck, as well as slandering George Lucas the entire documentary. “George Lucas raped my childhood”, “George Lucas altering the original trilogy is like denying the holocaust”, get the fuck over yourself!!!!!!!! You have no idea how film restorations work (In fact, George Lucas has explained in the VHS/laserdisc intros of the 1997 Special Editions that sections of the negatives for the Original Trilogy had been faded and damaged beyond repair, so duplicates from the negatives had to be used for the restoration before the release of the special editions, and additionally, many home video masters of the OT from 1982-1995 were sourced from print masters that were ultimately color corrected to fit within home video standards of the time which wouldn’t hold up today. In short, the original negatives are gone.), and I really love that these dorks brought up the South Park gag where Steven Spielberg and George Lucas rape Indiana Jones (Do these fuckasses even realize that the joke is literally making fun of how overly dramatic they are???????).

All in all, this documentary was a goddamn chore to get through. These nerds don’t care about or respect auteur theory, they have no idea how film restorations work, and it’s shit like this that has paved the way for the Fandom Menace, a subculture that has snowballed into one big culture war bitching and moaning about supposed “wokeness” in media, and what this documentary has done here is made it so unbearably embarrassing to be a Star Wars fan and you can thank these dorks for all the slop Disney has pumped out under the Star Wars name.

Neil Gaimon jump scare 💀

Neil Gaimon jump scare 💀

For a documentary that claims to be nuanced, it is 90% one sided, with a tiny sprinkle of antithesis just to put aside the "biased" accusations and call it a day. No mention whatsoever to the bullying Jake Lloyd suffered or Ahmed Best's attempt at suicide due to all the hate. But still enough fanboy anti-art clout to remind you why you grew out of Star Wars in the first place. Well, those were the days. You couldn't make a compliment about the prequel trilogy without being mocked, as the documentary itself shows. If it were made today, it would probably have actual nuance (or be fully George biased)

George Lucas created a juvenile fantasy so powerful its fanbase still act like crybabies at 40 years old. The only criticism I found barely reasonable is the one against George's decision to not release the original cut of the OG trilogy, but the rest is pure petty childish vitriol treating a kid's movie like a holy religion that received a blasphemous treatment. The fact that Disney, ever since TROS, has been trying to cater to the manchild crowd is even more revolting. Good luck getting your sloppy teen fanboy dreams come true. You got what you cried for after all.

They even have the nerve to say they want George Lucas to make more movies even after 90 minutes of non-stop hate over him. As much as I despise what Kathleen Kennedy, J. J. Abraams or Dave Filoni have done to the franchise, I wouldn't go as far as comparing them to Holocaust deniers or personally attack them. They really shouldn't bow to the will of those types of nerds

For a documentary that claims to be nuanced, it is 90% one sided, with a tiny sprinkle of antithesis just to put aside the "biased" accusations and call it a day. No mention whatsoever to the bullying Jake Lloyd suffered or Ahmed Best's attempt at suicide due to all the hate. But still enough fanboy anti-art clout to remind you why you grew out of Star Wars in the first place. Well, those were the days. You couldn't make a compliment about the prequel trilogy without being mocked, as the documentary itself shows. If it were made today, it would probably have actual nuance (or be fully George biased)

George Lucas created a juvenile fantasy so powerful its fanbase still act like crybabies at 40 years old. The only criticism I found barely reasonable is the one against George's decision to not release the original cut of the OG trilogy, but the rest is pure petty childish vitriol treating a kid's movie like a holy religion that received a blasphemous treatment. The fact that Disney, ever since TROS, has been trying to cater to the manchild crowd is even more revolting. Good luck getting your sloppy teen fanboy dreams come true. You got what you cried for after all.

They even have the nerve to say they want George Lucas to make more movies even after 90 minutes of non-stop hate over him. As much as I despise what Kathleen Kennedy, J. J. Abraams or Dave Filoni have done to the franchise, I wouldn't go as far as comparing them to Holocaust deniers or personally attack them. They really shouldn't bow to the will of those types of nerds