Why Do We Hate George Lucas?

[ShaunN]

I certainly don't hate Lucas, but I can understand some of the disdain that people have for him.

The second SW trilogy was a collection of really bad movies. The effects were great, but the storyline, acting and dialogue were all terrible. For many people, who had waited so many years for the prequel, the disappointment was unbearable.

Also, he undid or undermined some of his own best concepts - eg. midichlorians. Suddenly, skill in the Force goes from being something one can acquire through time and effort into something that you are either born with or not.

But my biggest complaint about "The Phantom Menace" was how racially tone deaf it was. Lucas traffficked in offensive racial stereotypes and did not even seem to know what he was doing. That created the impression of a man who was dangerously out of touch with the world around him.

Again, I certainly don't hate the man, but I can appreciate the reasons for some of the animosity.

[t.c.johnson]

It bugs me when people say, "Oh, he is only doing this to make money."

He already has all the money he will ever need and thensome. I am pretty sure he does things because he enjoys them. And if people want to pay him for doing it, more power too him.

[Erica J Heflin]

Lucas has really been nice with certain elements of the fan community, and that position has allowed a lot of people whose lives were changed by Star Wars - or just love Star Wars - to do some incredible charity work. For instance he could easily shut down all the bootleg production of armor, etc. that the costuming clubs use, but instead he lets the 501st do their Toys for Tots drive and even uses them for Star Wars weekends down in Orlando.

I may not agree with all his story decisions, but I don't expect to. I just shake my head and move on. It doesn't change how the experience impacted my youth. My children will have a different experience, but I suspect they'll think it's pretty awesome for an entirely different set of reasons. That's cool with me.

[Craig C]

I don't hate him I actually enjoy watching all of the movies including the pilot for the Clone Wars tv series. I think some of the fans just get upset when he changes things that they were use to in the expanded universe forgetting that he created that universe and was kind enough to let others play in it but that's just my opinion on the subject. In the end you have the right to be offended by what he's done with the movies just as he has the right to make changes to his movies.

[Personamanx]

Honestly While I LOVE the original films Star Wars to me has always just been a fun setting. It was Cowboys and Indians to me. Something I could have fun with when playing. I don't exactly love the prequels, don't hate them either but they added more things to it's fun world.

[Shurato2099]

I don't hate Lucas. I strongly disagree with some of the changes he's made to certain of his films (Han shot FIRST dammit! ... and I'm fine with that) and I'm disappointed by some of his reported rules regarding the SW IP, but hey it's his baby.

[DungeonMasterJim]

George Lucas and his creations had a pretty big impact on my life. He's pretty awesome in my book and not just for Star Wars even though it's my all-time favorite movie. American Graffiti is a movie I can watch with my whole family and everybody really likes something about it. We all liked Star Wars but American Graffiti was a movie we could point to at least some parts and say to the effect - been there, done that or that's what happened to me.

It took me a long time to really appreciate the Raiders of the Lost Ark series. I kept comparing it to Star Wars when I was a kid and wondering why it didn't measure up.

The video games his companies have produced have entertained me for many hours. One of my favorites was just flying around the cockpit of a spaceship fighting TIE fighters in dogfights.

One thing that is interesting is that George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola went to film school together and we and I think still are, close friends. So I think George even influenced The Godfather movie in some small ways in supporting and helping Coppola.

Just an awesome professional career.

[Chris Jones]

Honestly While I LOVE the original films Star Wars to me has always just been a fun setting. It was Cowboys and Indians to me. Something I could have fun with when playing. I don't exactly love the prequels, don't hate them either but they added more things to it's fun world.

I actually agree very much with this; Lucas himself will be the first to admit that he basically just sewed together spaghetti westerns and samurai cinema and added lasers and spaceships. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, since the journey itself is very compelling, but a lot of the appeal is undeniably in the aesthetics.

[Stressfactor]

Princess Leia was a BIG role model to me growing up. Born in 1973 a LOT and I mean a L-O-T of the female characters I saw on TV as a child -- either animated or live-action were.... afterthoughts. They were every stereotype in the book. They got kidnapped, they waited for the boy to rescue them, they worried and fussed and cowered in fear of the villain until the boy rescued them. Or else they were eye candy. They were a body meant for men to drool over and they got anywhere by using 'feminine wiles'.

And along came Princess Leia. She picked up a blaster and she FOUGHT. Yeah, she got kidnapped, but she wasn't waiting for the hero to rescue her -- for all she knew no hero was coming. When they threatened her planet she STILL bluffed and conned them -- pretending to break when she didn't. When she did get rescued she took over when the heroes ran out of ideas.

She was pretty but she stayed covered in a long dress that wasn't form fitting -- she wasn't a body to be drooled over nor did she stoop to 'feminine wiles' to try to escape.

She was a princess but not one who sat in a tower waiting to be rescued -- she was a princess who FOUGHT and that made all the difference to me. She told the little girl I was that it was okay to be these things. It was okay to take charge and to fight and to be smart and snappy and a leader when needed.


That's the influence Star Wars had on my life.


The prequels... My biggest disappointment was in them as STORIES. There were so many plot holes, so many dangling threads, so much that didn't make sense.

I guess kids could turn their brains off and just enjoy the explosions and the special effects and the fighting but as an adult all I could see was the poor script.

And while "Revenge of the Sith" was the least egregious of the films it still had plot holes you could drive a mack truck through and that, to me, any screenwriter worth their salt should have addressed and solved.

I mean biggest stumbling block? That Anikin and Amidala apparently don't know they're having twins.

I mean, we're talking about a society that can create perfectly functioning robotic replacement limbs, robots with complex A.I.'s, swords made of focused energy, faster than light space travel, and blaster weapons and yet they haven't managed the simple sonogram?! Or else Amidala has not been getting ANY pre-natal care in which case.... shame on her.

But I was willing to swallow SOMEthing -- ANYthing -- if they had just given me a reason WHY in this advanced society these two would-be parents didn't know they were going to have twins.

And that was just ONE thing I had a problem with.


It just really saddened me that Lucas couldn't seem to get a screenwriting partner who could patch up the holes in the plot to give us a really good movie.


Do I hate George Lucas?

No.

But.....

in the immortal words of the internet....

"Son, I am disappoint."

[The Funketeer]

He is the independent filmmaker who committed the ultimate sin of being too successful. The more fans you have, the harder it is to please everyone. I think the problem is that most people watching the new trilogies expected to have the same reaction they did when they were kids. The two trilogies aren't really all that different in terms of quality but there's a sense of wonder you have as a child that can't be replicated as an adult, especially when you combine it with expectations. When I saw the rereleases in the theaters the audience reaction was positive and no one complained about the changes until the Internet made it "cool."