That's very true. Frankly, I think "telling a story of what happened" and "pleasing fans" don't have to be mutually exclusive and if that's the ideology he's been working under, that could explain a lot.
Exactly. It's not an either/or situation. You can do both at the same time, but I kinda get the sense that, to George, the fans are just another group of people trying to limit his vision. At this point in his career, I don't think he wants anyone telling him how to do anything.
The thing is, I think he's absolutely right about needing to just walk away entirely, and it sounds like he didn't do that initially. He stuck around, provided a voice, and was consulted some...until people realized that he saw things
very differently from them, and did something else instead.
To be honest.......I don't think he should've been consulted at all. I don't think he should've been involved at all. And I think that
should have come from him. It was always likely that he'd be approached by JJ, Kathleen Kennedy, and other higher-ups at the new LucasFilm. They'd probably do so "out of respect" or "to honor his legacy" or somesuch. And that's the point at which he should've taking the high road and said "Guys...this is really sweet of you to do...but I'm out. I'm retired. I know you'll do great with this, and even if it isn't what I imagined for the story, I'll support you either way. Go kick some ass. It's your turn now, kids."
Instead, because he's generally a nice guy and I think probably assumes other folks are too, he said "Oh, you want to know what I'd have done? Ok, sure. Happy to help and answer your questions." Then when he was ignored or they shot down his ideas, after a while, it was probably like "Well, why the hell do you keep asking me if you're just gonna ignore me anyway?!"
