Taken at 57th Fighter Group

Taken at 57th Fighter Group

Either this ladybug has been living in our bedroom for several months with no discernible source of food or new ones keep getting in.

We Need To Talk About George

I’ve started writing this a couple of times, but the former debater in my head keeps trying to counter every possible argument against what I’m saying before I’ve even gotten my point out. I’ve kicked him out and barred the door so I can finally write this damn post. If anyone wants to debate my points, I’ll let him back in. What I’ve got to say, I’ve been saying offline amongst friends for a while now, but when this testimony George Lucas gave to Congress back in 1988 popped up in my Twitter feed last weekend I decided I needed to finally write up a proper defense. Enough with the wordy introduction, let’s go.

Hypocrisy (Yours, Not His)

That congressional testimony gets passed around as evidence that Lucas is a hypocrite. Surprisingly (not really), people on the internet are wrong. He spoke out then against corporations who didn’t create a work of art altering that work of art, like say Ted Turner colorizing a movie over the objections of the director. Lucas created the Star Wars films so the changes he has made over the years are not at all what he was talking about. That work is just a continuing revision of the original creative process by the original creator.

Here’s where the actual hypocrisy comes in. While people cry foul at any alteration of the original Star Wars trilogy, those same people happily embrace director’s cuts or extended editions or any other permutation of other films. How many versions of Blade Runner have there been?

I get it though. Despite how people usually phrase their objections, their problem isn’t really with him changing the films; it’s what he’s changed. Yes, that new Kryat Dragon howl on the A New Hope blu-ray is horrible. He’s definitely made, what I consider, bad choices in his revisions.

And Then There Were Three (New Films)

It goes beyond the changing of the original trilogy. There are also the prequels. Yes, this is the point where I really have to work hard to defend Lucas. Actually, wait. I’m going to toss Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in here for a quick defense.

Forever Young

I do think it’s the worst of that series, but it’s not the abomination you think, when seen from a certain point of view. See it came about post-Young Indiana Jones and that’s the key to understanding why it feels so different. That TV series took what was just a call back to old adventure films and recast it as a way to teach history.

So when a new film came about that was set in the 1950’s, a period that the TV series only briefly touched on, Lucas saw it, I think, as a way to continue this new model. They would include as many cultural touchstones of that decade as possible, Communists and the paranoia they engendered, greasers, nuclear weapons, aliens and UFOs, hot rods, troubled youth, etc. It is really more a long episode of Young Indy than a direct sequel to the original films.

With a Little Help from My Friends

Ok, back to the Star Wars prequels. I agree with the internet that they aren’t as good as the originals. I don’t think it’s because Lucas is a soulless monster though. It comes down to one key factor: collaboration. The first two original films along with American Graffiti were produced by Gary Kurtz. He and Lucas had a falling out after Empire. Since then, well, I’m sure Rick McCallum is a great producer and he’s helped Lucas do whatever he wants, but I think sometimes he needed to be more critical.

The other area where Lucas needed more assistance was in the writing. He is a very good story teller when it comes to the big picture and mythic elements. The little details get missed though. I so wish he had brought Lawrence Kasden back into the fold to work with him on the scripts. He could have taken what were well plotted stories and given them that bit of humanity that made the originals so great.

And In The End

Ultimately the Star Wars films are Lucas’ story to tell however he wants to tell it. If you don’t like what he’s done you can, as some have done, recut or alter the films yourself. Of course, then you are the exact sort of person he railed against over 20 years ago. The better course is to go out and tell your own story about a rogue who shoots first and falls for a princess.

One More Thing

This New York Times article about Lucas really got me thinking about him again even before last weekend. See, I would have been happier if we didn’t have the prequels not because of how they turned out, but because I want the next THX-1138, American Graffiti, or even Radioland Murders. I want him to do what he said he was going to do before the prequels, when he first started working on Red Tails, make small artsy films. Francis Ford Coppola is doing it and loving it. He’s said to the public and to Lucas that he should do the same and now maybe he finally will. In spite of all the choices he’s made that I don’t like, I still consider Lucas to be one of the most creative and brilliant cinematic artists we have and the idea of him actually embracing that excites me.

Update: Let He Who Is Without Sin Fire The First Shot

Ok, the internet is abuzz over this brief interview with Lucas wherein he says that Greedo always shot first. The quick and easy defense is that he’s tired of 15 years of people attacking him over that change and is trying to just say something that will end it. Unfortunately what he said only makes it worse. I’d love to leave it at that, but this is the internet so let’s get nitpicky.

Looking back over the scene, there’s no visual or audio backing up that Greedo was always faster on the draw. So the letter of what he said is indeed wrong. However, there’s one difference between the screenplay and the spoken dialogue that makes me think Lucas didn’t intend for the scene to be as one sided as originally shot. Greedo’s last words there aren’t “I’ve been looking forward to this”, but “I’ve been looking forward to killing you”. The scripted wording makes it much more clear that he’s about to kill Han, not just haul him off to Jabba. When he wrote that, Lucas meant for Han’s shot to be a defensive reaction to an explicit death threat. So the spirit of his recent claim is correct. By adding in the wide shot and Greedo’s firing, he made his interpretation of the scene more obvious. As I said before, it’s his story to tell and revise. Now just let it go, internet.