OFFICIAL NEWS George Lucas says he sold Star Wars to 'white slavers' and elaborates on TFA

He's George Lucas. He says strange things in interviews. It's just what he does. Ask him about The Force Awakens again in a year and he might tell you it was great. He tends to change his mind a lot, and then act like he never thought any other way.

However, I wouldn't blame him for being a bit irked. The early marketing plan revolved around telling fans how much the movie wasn't like the prequels, to the point where it was a bit insulting to George. I'm not saying Disney and Lucasfilm weren't right about what needed to be changed, but they certainly didn't try to be gracious about it.

Then they started TFA with a line that was a not-so-subtle dig at the PT. How could he not be a little insulted?

It's a weird situation. I can't think of another time when a devoted fan base turned against the creator like people did after the prequels.

 

I felt Lucas's antagonism was channeled more towards the Awards, and justly so. Anyone who watches Academy Awards should realize it's all bunch of b.s. politics based on preference. I think what Lucas was trying to say is that during Politburo's severe scrutiny the Russian filmmakers had to become very clever to layer political satire or other messages to get through to the audience. I can say with confidence THE BEST films are all from Soviet period. Surprisingly.

Also, Lucas feels frustrated with big corporations not willing to experiment because it's all profits to them. If they put X amount of money they need to make XX back!! In regards to TFA I just wrote my own piece of mind.

Would be interested hearing your thoughts on it guys.

https://thecantina.starwarsnewsnet....w-do-you-think-it-will-evolve-with-time.8303/

 

Way to rewrite the movie. Luke spends a new hope getting his ass kicked and being saved. He is only good at two things, fixing droids and bullseyeing womp rats which I assume is something like a gopher. So he had been practicing for that shot his whole life and got a little bit of help from the force once Han saves his ass from Vader in the MF. Rey on the other hand is an expert at everything, takes ZERO L's, solves all of her own problems, doesn't need any saving at all, and manages to defeat the main antagonist on her first try. She is absolutely nothing like Luke. Finn is more like Luke without the force.

Also Rey got Force slammed into a tree and fell 30 feet to the ground. Managed to wake up from a major concussion in seconds without a scratch or bruise or any of the signs of being concussed like dizziness, lack of balance, sensitivity to light, nothing. She just brushes it off like it was nothing when she should have been severely injured and easy prey for a wounded dark force user channeling his pain. Rey is the biggest Mary Sue that has ever Sued.

 

Lucas aided the creation of this system though. Think about what his original goal was with Skywalker ranch (when him & Coppolla dreamed of building an open community/ facility where film makers could collaborate & work on their projects without big studio intrusion). Indy Jones, Star Wars, these were franchises that inspired a 100x copy cat production studios to make the garbage that hollywood has produced over the last few decades. That's not to say it's Lucas's fault though... we live in a capitalist society that places very little value in art, as a consequence we are among several generations that have compromised educational understandings of history's greatest works of art. Schools have instead emphasized that their goal is to train students for future careers instead of *real* learning. How are we supposed to get creativity out of such a regime?

It also seems like every other 1st world nation does a lot to subsidize their artists & provides them with the opportunity to exhibit their crafts.

Lucas shouldn't have a monopoly on the phrase "experiment" as far as film making goes... think about the work Douglas Trumbull did for 2001 space Odyssey, he invented a lot of the technology & techniques that Lucas used for Star Wars. That guy is the one who's doing the real experimenting... he's even right now in the process of proposing a new method of projection and creating new technology for the industry himself. If anyone saw "the tree of life" He's the dude who did all that crazy outer space explosions & stuff... from what I know I think he created it with nothing but liquid & cameras shooting @ 1000x frames a second.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 31, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 31, 2015 ---

You need to do some catching up with the forums... a lot of these arguments have been put to rest like 2 weeks ago.

But just to annihilate your argument in 1 sentence: Luke went from farmer boy to killing a f***ing death star within the span of a film.

 

You know I agree with him, from a certain point of view. However, this is more conjecture than pure fact. With Star Wars as done by Lucas, there was definitely little attempt from him to make a film 'for people'. As a result, it'll always be a more risky and sometimes brilliant, sometimes utterly messy affair. Case in point, the Prequel Trilogy. The world building, sense of scale and exhilarating action sequences are worth those films existing. However, he is not a director who cares about the nuances of characters as much he does about those things, which is why JJ Abrams' take worked.

He gave us those moments that we craved from the old ones that George forsook for the above mentioned elements. So there's pros and cons for Lucas. The pros for Lucasfilm is that they want to make films for the fans, which fans will love. However, I do have this niggling fear that they may go down the Marvel route and make 'good' films that never break the wheel or try and reinvent it. They may just end up making event films that are designed to make a shedload at the box office by pleasing a general audience. IF they can avoid doing that and make truly unique and lovable Star Wars film - films that expand the universe - then I don't see any reason why anyone especially George Lucas should be upset.

 

He made one shot, with the help of a squadron and the MF doing something he did his whole life. Up to that point where he pulled the trigger using the force he was lame and had to get saved over and over.

Rey starts off remarkable. Amazing at everything. Then she ends the story being a bigger bad ass. Luke went from loser to winner in the course of a day. Rey went from winner to God in the course of a day. Rey never took a L the whole movie. She never sucked at anything. She solved all her own problems. Hell even Obi wan had to give Luke the cheat codes to bring down the Death Star. Rey pulls them out of thin air. She just starts doing amazing OP blast from the middle of the film to the end. Then she gets slammed into a tree and wakes up like the terminator. Like I said, she is the the biggest Mary Sue that has ever Sued.

 

So he flies around in a skyhopper which is like flying around in a Cessna and then can switch over to an X-Wing, which is like an F-16 and knows how to fly it better than all the veterans despite never having seen one? His shot in the exhaust port was not about targeting skill, it was about using the force, of which he has no extensive training other than a quickie lesson in deflecting laser bolts.

Rey has knowledge of technical equipment and flying because she's worked for 15 years as a part scavenger in a spaceship outpost. She has fighting skills as demonstrated in her dealing with Unkar Plutt's thugs.

What information do you have to indicate she suffered a concussion? When was that shown at all? She takes time to recover from being thrown, then beats him because of his injuries, his reeling emotions, and his complete lack of concentration, which any force-user needs to be successful in combat, not being physically dominant.

Remember the whole Yoda lesson about the force NOT being about who has the most physical strength, but who has the most focused mind?

That's why she was able to beat him.

Zero L's? Did you miss the part whole where she is kidnapped? Did you miss the part where she needs to be picked up by Chewbacca as the planet she's standing on is imploding?

 

Pffft whatever man, fighting an injured guy is somehow more remarkable than killing a death star without military exercises that no doubt all other X wing fighter pilots would have had?

Or how about all the storm troopers he took down in ANH? Did Luke receive some kind of combat training that I'm not aware of?

Rey did have failures you are just ignoring... remember when she was shooting at the storm trooper in the forest? She missed the first shot... then she missed Kylo.

 

She was slammed into a tree and fell 30 ft and was knocked out. That equals concussion. How many people do you know can get slammed into a tree like a baseball hitting a catchers mitt, then fall 30 feet, get knocked out, and then wake up like nothing happened.

In the starwars universe, if you can fly, you can fly anything. Poe never saw a tie fighter but he worked it fine. I'm sure the principles of flying were the same regardless of the size of the aircraft and he had practiced his whole life to make that shot.

Rey gets kidnapped, then quickly busts herself free. From a plot standpoint why include the scene when she's just in a pair of hand cuffs that she has a key to open the whole time. That's not taking an L. That's just a setup to show how awesome she is. Getting your ass beat by a stormtrooper is taking an L. Getting your ass put into a coma is taking an L. Rey just suffered minor inconveniences.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 31, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 31, 2015 ---

He performed a maneuver he had been doing since his childhood. He had more training than everyone on the squad when it came to making that specific shot. Luke made some good shots. But it's funny that the best you can come up when it comes to Rey taking a L is her missing one shot, which she immediately corrects and kills them all. Then Kylo takes her blaster and she damn near kills him as well. Those aren't L's. Those are look at how badass Rey is moments. Finn laying on the ground about to get his skull caved in by a space baton is an L. One that he never corrects unlike every so called L you bring up about Rey. Laying face down ass up in the snow with a piece of your vertebrae carved out is taking an L. Getting your hand chopped off by your Pa is taking an L.

 

Speaking of that blaster...how did she get it back for the end scene???

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 31, 2015 ---

Also, Rey is Anakin reincarnated. That's why she's so good at stuff.

 

They slagged off the prequels in the marketing campaign (even though Lucas used real sets, went to real locations), they took the films in a silly direction and essentially remade ANH. Lucas entrusted Disney with his baby and they screwed with it.

For me, it was good to hear what Lucas said as it confirmed my own misgivings with the movie. I always feared the ST would feel tacked on and not like a true continuation of the saga. I thought I was turning into an old cynic. Lucas' thoughts show that it is a rational and popular analysis.

 

Enough the tree thing! Yeah... I don't know many people who could get up after being thrown into a tree like that. I also don't know very many people who can lift s*** by just pointing a hand at it.

& due to that principal... Rey had a speeder. She's good at flying stuff. Problem solved.

Were you not paying attention at the key moment when Kylo Ren tried to force-read her mind and it backfired because she could also read into his? That solves a lot of issues you seem to have with the character.

What does the "L" abbreviation stand for?

So let me just clarify... you are changing your argument from Rey being perfect to a character that makes mistakes & adjusts for them? If she was a Mary Sue, Kylo would have never been able to capture her in the first place.

& you are also making this argument based on one episode from a trilogy... when you have no idea if Rey will get her ass handed to her in the next film or not? Do you have access to the script for 8 or something?

 

An L just means taking a loss. Rey makes minor mistakes only to immediately correct them. She let Kylo get the jump on her. That was a mistake that she immediately corrects. When Rey is on screen I'm never ever worried about her safety. Kylo probes her mind and guess what, she immediately turns the tables on him. Would've been nice if he got to really mess with her mind and reveal some messed up blast about her past. But nope, Super Rey can't be outdone and must always be the most powerful character on screen. This movie has taught me that no matter what the situation, Rey will come out untouched and unscathed. That kind of character is lame. She's Superman without the kryptonite. Atleast when Finn is on screen I can actually root for him because the stakes are high. He doesn't wear any plot armor like Super Rey. He can get his ass beat by any character at any time.

It doesn't matter if it's episode 8 or 9. KK has ensured that this movie will be about girl power. So no female dismemberment. No female scars, no female slashes from pelvis to scapula. That's Finn's job. He's the whipping boy. I have no excitement when it comes to Rey because I know not a hair will be damaged on her pretty head and she will always win while her partner takes all the L's.

 

Finn is the new Threepio.

 

What are you guys talking about? Anyway, I was surprised that nobody had posted this:

Apology accepted, George.

 

Not immediately... your argument is falling apart here. You have to account for how a Mary Sue was captured & held long enough for transportation to a military facility where she was restrained long enough to endure an interrogation.

Interesting that you mentioned that... my father always said he didn't liked Star Wars because he never felt the characters were in danger.

This was the first film where I thought a main character had died (When Finn got slashed across the back it looked like he died)

Rey didn't come out unscathed though... she got hit by Ren's saber at least once from what I recall.

Ahhh so finally it comes out... the agenda.

Well whatever, I'm done with this. It's a George Lucas topic, lets move on.

 

George Lucas apologizes for comparing Disney to "white slavers"

 

UPDATE: George Lucas has apologized for comparing Disney to 'white slavers' in an interview he did with CBS' Charlie Rose. According to Variety, Lucas called the statement a "very inappropriate analogy."

The Star Wars creator felt it important to say he's "thrilled" Disney owns the franchise, and he's very proud of The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy on the film's runaway success. - IGN

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 31, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 31, 2015 ---

 

Umm he didn't say that. He said that film corps didn't think the movie would be profitable. He was being pretty clear that it was a movie he wanted to make despite the reluctance of the industry to distribute and market the film. I think he was being pretty open about the fact that movies don't necessarily turn to gold. He might have not made a good film but he didn't blame the cast or their race.

Please. Finn is more important to the film that pretty much any character. People are pissed because he has a low body count in his wake. Finn didn't kick enough tail so he sucked. Sure he saved the galaxy through his actions and nothing positive that happened could have happened with out him but he sucks because he didn't look rad enough.