George Lucas on Star Wars, Fahrenheit 9/11, and his own legacy

[Hatalles]

I thought the Fahrenheit 9/11 bit made it DU-worthy. I've read the Episode III script and can definitely attest to the Bush/Palpatine parallels. Lucas is also a democratic donor (donated to Senator Barabara Boxer among others), refused a request from then President Reagan to visit Skywalker Ranch, and also named several of Episode I's Trade Federation baddies after Republican politicians.

Here's an excerpt from the Q&A:

Give me an example of what you mean by a folk artifact.
Fahrenheit 9/11. People went nuts. The folk aspects of that film were George Bush or Iraq or 9/11 or -- intense emotional issues that made people put up their blinders and say, "I have an opinion about this, and I'm not going to accept anything else." If you could look at these issues more open-mindedly -- at what's going on with the human mind behind all this, on all sides -- you could have a more interesting conversation, without people screaming, plugging their ears, and walking out of the room like kids do.

And you do that by --
By making the film "about" something other than what it's really about. Which is what mythology is, and what storytelling has always been about. Art is about communicating with people emotionally without the intellectual artifacts of the current situation, and dealing with very emotional issues.

Full text here:
http://wired-vig.wired.com/wired/archive/13.05/lucasqa.html

[Kolesar]

1. that was a great interview...eom

[thebigidea]

2. i'm almost charmed by his insistence that he's gonna make avant stuff next

I'd love to see him try, but the bottom line is gonna win out in the end. A shame, as I could go for more THX-style weirdness with crazy Walter Murch soundtracks...

the 3 new films were a huge waste of time, he should've just started making what he keeps saying he really wants to make.

[democracyindanger]

3. I dunno. He's loaded.

He could do a trilogy in 35mm on his family's vacation to Six Flags and it wouldn't be more than a blip on Lucasfilm's bottom line.

[thebigidea]

4. so what stopped him from doing so in the 90s? he was loaded then.

[democracyindanger]

5. franchises

indy, the SW prequels

[thebigidea]

6. but wouldn't those excuses hold sway in the 00s as well?

another indy, SW tv series, etc etc.

It seems really tragic, I get the feeling he feels imprisoned by the franchises and there's another filmmaker underneath desperate to escape... But I don't think there is - he is what he is. A maker of several classics, a few duds, and lots of shiny tech. and of course, a multijillionaire. so not entirely tragic...

Still, I suppose you do need that feeling of having something to prove to make something interesting.

I hope he does, I'd love to see something on the order of THX-1138, a scary nightmare dystopian slice of scifi from a guy with nothing to lose and no moneymen to tell him NO. No action figures, no sequences that look like video games, no cuddly sidekicks, no children!

But I doubt it. He's become the Empire, bringing the whole thing full circle quite nicely.

[tom_paine]

7. Which Trade Federation Baddies were named after Busheviks?

[Hatalles]

9. Names of Trade Federation Baddies

For one, "Nute Gunray," an obvious jab at Newt Gingrich. Also, flip the syllables in "Gunray" and you get "Raygun." Of course, Reagan named his proposed defense system "Star Wars" despite Lucas' protests. There's also Lott Dodd, Lucas taking the surnames of Trent Lott and also a Democrat, Chris Dodd. I think there was one more but it doesn't come to mind, ATM.

[KoKo]

8. The interview is an interesting read...wish it was longer. n/t

[Capt_Nemo]

10. Well the metaphor is definetly there

Palpatine is a Dick Cheney that doesn't need a "likeable" proxy (shrub) because he disguises his evilness under the character of the humble civil servant.

He engineers a war (out of a terrorist strike) to build up his powers and an army for himself, in the name of the
republic he claims to defend as supreme chancellor, but ultimately wants to subvert (turn it into an empire) to become
the absolute ruler of the galaxy.

The problem for Lucas is that the american moviegoers seem to be incapable of
understanding metaphors. If that was the case they would have seen
The Matrix as the denuntiation of the corporate media as undemocratic tools of the powerfull and Fox and CNN would be finished...
Didn't happen.

So his myth based approach is unfortunately bound to fail just like
the in your face approach of Michael Moore.

Just like Moore he has to face the fact that a majority (however small) of americans with their
inflated nationalism and evil righteousness want to make part of an evil empire that sends its star destroyers
to kick arse in the four corners of the galaxy.

[Bread and Circus]

11. I've read Star Wars 3 and the book seems very political

There are numerous analogies from the book that seem to be lifted directly from what is occuring in our politics. I don't think it is a mistake. In my opinion, except for some diction, the book is excellent. I hope the movies plays like the book because it is a message about our times. Certainly the most political film in the series.

Plus there is no Jar Jar !!!!