As somebody who has behaviours that nudge towards the begins of the autistic spectrum (not quite Aspergers but near) I'd say George Lucas possibly exhibits some of the same tendances. He seems to have some difficulty understanding peoples attitudes as being significantly different from himself but that's true for many people, just read some of the posts in this section, we all do differ and that's a strength overall for humanity. When you read the problems he had in the past with cast and crew in the production of the OT you release just how badly it does effect him. But then people have a history of being unkind towards him, so Its not surprising he deals poorly with negative relationships.
Producing a ANH made him very ill, which is why he stepped back from directing the others and instead choose people he could trust. And thats why his divorce was such a loss to all of us, Marcia "balanced" his personality perfectly by bringing support and a more humane perspective to his stories, scripts ,production and editting. If you look at "American Graffiti", "ANH and TESB" they are very different to everything that comes afterwards, which is on the whole is more simplistic, less grounded and immature. He always works better in a collaborative relationship, such as he had with Spielberg and Kershner, people whose friendship and perspective he trusted. Just look at the emotional depth that "TESB" has ,then compare it with "ROTJ"and then the prequels. Its immmensely different. In that single case the director got better performances from his actors by trusting them and allowed changes to the TESB script. So the characters developed more humanely.Lightning in a bottle.
If only Kersh had done the last one and Marcia had not left him. The film we would have got would have been significantly different. But George dislikes conflict because he doesn't really understand it nor responds well towards it, hes not an overtly aggressive person and thats why time after time, people who have disagreed with him have quietly been moved to the side and left , leaving only the company "yes" men which results in him being able to make the choices he makes without a counterbalancing argument. To the loss of all of us to an extent.
He really is a nice guy, quiet and generous to a fault. If you look at his charitable work and what he has contributed to the film industry as a person there is a strong argument that he has had the single most defining influence of anybody in the last four decades and continues to do so .His vision and foresight into production techniques have been incredibly innovative and the modern digital cinema had been hugely influenced by what he and his company have brought in to being. Without him all the effects heavy films we so enjoy would never have come to be so early or have been produced with in such tight timescales or so cost effectively.
Which is why it is rather annoying to listen to everybody picking on him for whatever he does. I really wonder what drives such attacks, on somebody who has had such a hugely positive effect in cinema. I struggle to understand that. Many directors make mistakes and misfires, but few people seem as determined to burn them at the stakes, though the internet seems to encourage more negative feedback than positivity these days.
If he had produced "TFA" he would have got slaughtered personally and attacked by the media for producing a film that amounted to nothing much more than his "greatest hits". By exculding him and his percieved influence on it, Disney and Lucasfilm made a politically astute move and instead everyone is hailing it as a welcome return to the SW universe. And thats got to hurt, because the reason that it works so well IS THAT IT SO successfully copies everything that was right with the first films. Though I do hope he finds some comfort from the fact JJ is getting as much hate from certain quarters as he ever got from the prequels, for not being original enough.
So just leave the guy alone.Stop knocking him. It comes across as nothing more than being ( to a large extent) simply jealous and spiteful. For all his faults hes had such a hugely positive effect for millions of people and for the medium he loves as much as they do, which is the cinema. For that alone he deserves a little of your respect. Just try this as a thought experiment.Its a little bit "Its a Wonderful Life" but that does not make it any the less true.
Imagine a world in which George Lucas died of the injuries he recieved in his car accident on 12th June 1962.
No "Star Wars". No industry changing perspective of sci fi genre films. No "Star Trek" films, for the same reason. No "Raiders" or ,at the very least ,not one we would have recognised. And thats just the tip of ice berg.TV doesn't change. No BSG. No new Star Trek series. Sci fi and fantasy as a media genre doesn't evolve quickly because nobody takes the risks. And no SW means theres nothing to inspire all those other directors. James Cameron remains a truck driver and nothing ever gets terminated.No "Alien" because no Studio would have risked backing that kind of movie. "Lord of the Rings" remains an unsuccessful cartoon, never to be remade by Peter Jackson because nobody understands what a franchise blockbuster could ever do . The list of causiological knock on effects is astonishing. And it continues.
No ILM , no early specailization in groundbraking movie effects by studios.Few other effects firms come into being because nobody makes those kind of big budget movies because of the cost in investing in them. No Lucasfilm , so nobody leaves to start up so many other effects companys. Many other films never get made because there simply are not the technical abilities developed to make their visual effects box office draws.No PiXAR, because George never has to sell it off to pay for a divorce to a woman he would never marry. Digital film progresses more slowly. 3D doesn't happen quickly because "Avatar" never gets made.
So from this one person and his vision, from all his successes (and "failures") and the many many people he gathered around him and also indirectly influenced, who then went their separate ways and did for themselves what they saw he did, an industry is completely revoutioniszed and changed beyond recognition. By that one film. And one man alone clinging doggedly to his belief he could make that kind of movie. That some people might like to watch.
So give the him a break.
The human world will never ever really notice if the majority of us had ever been born for all the difference we have on it. Just our families and friends, for better or worse, just ordinary everyday stories.
But George Lucas?
I rest my case.
