George Lucas: A Hack

I am going to stay within the realm of science fiction for a little while. As you can tell from the title, I don’t have a high opinion of George Lucas. He may be a man with ideas and a good producer but after that, he is nothing more than a hack.

When the fourth Star Wars film came out, The Phantom Movie, one magazine had a shot of him and called him an überdirector. I was stunned and flabbergasted. Especially after I saw that piece of shit.

I will give Lucas his dues. He changed the landscape of film-making. And for me, generally for the bad. Don’t get me wrong, I love Star Wars (The New Hope) and The Empire Strikes Back. But then he lost it afterward.

Yet the media salivated whenever he spoke, like Bill Gates. Projects he was involved in made major bucks so he was a force in the industry.

Let us look at the output of the überdirector, over 30 odd years (1971 to 2005).

• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
• Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
• Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
• Star Wars (1977)
• American Graffiti (1973)
• THX 1138 (1971)

Whereas his friend, Steven Spielberg did 26 films over the same time period. I know volume is not a determining factor in how good a director you are, but 7 films in 30 years? How does that make Lucas an überdirector?

The myth that has been generated around George Lucas is based on the projects he has been involved in, like the Indiana Jones series. People don’t realize he did not direct Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi, let alone the Indiana Jones series.

As a producer/executive producer he has been involved in over 40 projects. And the same can be said as a writer. So he has not been sitting on his butt doing nothing.

The main reason for my bitching about Lucas is two-fold: a lost opportunity and a wrong direction. Star Wars started with such promise. I can remember, one evening, after my friend Cathy and I had just seen Empire Strikes Back. We were pumped. We sat in the Old Dublin, with our pints, wondering who the other was and where Lucas was going with this trilogy. Then came Return of the Jedi.

Instead of a great denouement to a long story, I watched a hackneyed mixture of slapstick and T&A. The dark aspects introduced in ESB was dropped for cute Ewoks and a cackling Emperor. And we must not forget the chains and gold bikini.

Instead of a good story, we got eye-candy and a flimsy plot. Luke needed to return to see Yoda, who just ups and dies without finishing the training. We have little furry creatures dancing around the forest who can bring the Empire to it’s knees. We have a mediocre reunion between Luke and Darth, all culminating in a silly scene with bolts of lightning and a supposedly malevolent Emperor cackling for Luke to die.

Yet by this time, Lucas was starting to focus on, what I believe, is what Star Wars really is about: merchandising. That is what Lucas brought to film-making.

Merchandising wasn’t anything new. Star Trek did it, Space 1999 did it. I even had some of the models of things like the Enterprise and some books. But Lucas brought it into the 21st century. Star Wars heralded a machine, be it for figurines or product endorsements.

With Star Wars, suddenly we have images of characters on Burger King or McDonald’s cups. The products could not be featured in the film, so have a picture of Luke on a soft drink bottle or a cereal box. With Return, I could not walk around without seeing something of Star Wars around me.

For me, this is the negative legacy this überdirector has left. I can see why he is called that, because the films he has been involved in, has brought in billions and billions of dollars into the Hollywood system. The minute his name is attached to a project, you can expect a better dividend.

Yet the title überdirector should be for someone who does good films, not good box office. The new trilogy was completely atrocious. There was no story telling. Things like what the Force is, gets retooled and becomes parasites in the blood not a Zen like field that comes from every living thing. Save a couple of characters, the universe was populated with boring and dull people.

But what the new trilogy was good for was sheer eye-candy and merchandising. Be it all the new types of ships to the massive amount of characters, the three films are a boon for the collector. But not for an audience that wants a decent story.

And this hurts people who want to try to promote good science fiction. The standard now is a screen full of space ships, impressive explosions and tons of funky aliens. We need ships weaving in and out, for over ten minutes, giving the audience a roller-coaster ride. Overload and impress the audience and maybe they will not see you don’t have a story. They will ignore the bad dialogue and flimsy premise.

This hurts people trying to bring good SF to the big and small screens. The studio knows how to promote a Star Wars but are at a loss with a film like Serenity. For me, Joss Whedon put more in Serenity than Lucas did in all three prequels when it comes to story-telling. Yet the studio did not promote the film and only the Firefly fans and word of mouth brought people to check it out.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we have a wealth of science fiction that can be harvested. Right off the bat, I can think of Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks. It is high space opera but a good story. It would make an amazing film but it does have space battles, a huge number of aliens and a base for merchandising. But it would make a fun SF romp with some serious points to bring up.

I know a good SF film or show is expensive to make. Be it the modelling or CGI, audience expect a certain level of effects. This drives up the cost. But that is the box people like Lucas put SF and fantasy into. And moulded the mindset for the bean counters in charge.

Yet with the advent of inexpensive CGI for PCs and digital cameras, independent film makers can start to make science fiction films or shows. They don’t have to be as clean and slick as Star Wars. There is an audience for a good story and minimal special effects. Many of us have no problem with a little bit of cheese with the story.

The problem is that too many look at Lucas as the überdirector. When he speaks about the future of film making, people listen and lap it up. For many, his vision is the way to go. That is sad because that regulates science fiction to just special effects and toys. The idea of investigating the future, good or bad, becomes secondary or unimportant. Looking into the human condition is irrelevant. Science fiction becomes the playground of the mediocre and bland. If it looks good, then it sells. That may be Lucas’ legacy to us over the next few years.