I have a love/hate relationship with Star Wars. I am a fan, though the humanism of Star Trek will always make me prefer that series. Star Wars is all peaks and valleys to me – the first two films being the peak, and most of the recent output being a (very deep) valley.
Well, you see some of the negative reaction to these deep valleys in the following trailer, for the documentary The People Vs. George Lucas:
If you go to sites highlighting this trailer, like deadlinehollywooddaily.com, you see a lot of very strong opinions expressed about Lucas, and this documentary. OK, here’s some more of mine:
Lucas settled. He took the easy money. He could have done the “art films” he claimed repeatedly that he wanted to do, and he didn’t. He went to make the prequels and the cartoons and even more toys and THAT is why many many people are frustrated with him.
He stopped trying.
You see some of that frustration in the trailer, people who LOVE his work and hope that we will see the potential he showed in THX-1138, in Graffitti, in Star Wars… once again realized.
Hasn’t happened. And I think it never will.
Did Lucas impact Hollywood, and create a lot of opportunities for a whole lot of people? You bet. I don’t think that is the point of this documentary. Whether this documentary is professionally done or not, this effort is a reflection of a shared opinion: Lucas let us down. And we’re frustrated with that – and with him.