The People vs. George Lucas

I used to be one of those people that complained about the Special Editions and the Prequels, and how much I hated midichlorians.

But after I saw this about a decade ago, and it had a strange effect on me. It took a few months and a few rewatches for it to sink in, but ironically, it made me realize how completely insane I sounded. I say "ironically" because if you followed the production and creators of this documentary, it was definitely done for "fans" as a sort of plea for Lucas to release the unaltered trilogy and make more Star Wars. I don't know if Lucas ever bothered to watch this particular documentary, but I wouldn't be surprised if his decision to sell the rights to Disney was due to the excessive hatred he received.

Anyways, watching this 12 years since it was released, with all that has happened is really eye-opening. At the time, you could see how crazy these people were, but you could also laugh at them as just being a small collection of nerds. If only we knew what was to come with gamergate, and how these toxic fandoms have been weaponized as political movements in a never-ending culture war. Review bombing, constant trolling, and especially harassment of non-white actors, are tactics now used by "hate fandoms", as training grounds and vehicles for recruitment into fascist movements. It's long past due for us a society to take this problem seriously. This documentary gives real insight into the origins of how toxic pop-culture fandoms develop.

What this documentary inadvertently exposes is that these "fans" have became incredibly attached to Star Wars as children, yet never grew up and put their toys away. What we are first shown to be a source of inspiration and creativity for these fan creators, becomes a lifelong and unhealthy obsessesion. Their escapist fantasy became an addiction to a delusion, and these people end up developing a warped sense of entitlement, where believe George Lucas is personally responsible for maintaing their perpetual childhood.

Among the hyperbolic things these "fans" say: calling the special edition changes a "betrayal", saying he showed "utter disdain" for the fans, saying it was "heinous" they couldn't see the original-unaltered edition, and most insane of all: comparing Lucas to a Holocaust Denier and calling him "Star Wars Denier".

When they talk about the prequels, they talk about the massive expectations they had as fans prior to the release, and then being let down and "feeling like being slapped in the face with a wet fish." Their reaction to midichlorians was really critical to watch. It wasn't just opposition from a writing standpoint. You could see these people had serious delusions that the Force could be real. As kids, they imagined themselves having telekinetic powers, and they never really gave up that fantasy. It was as if someone had just told them Santa Claus wasn't real, and they were going through psychological trauma, unable to accept it. Except, they were all in their late 30's and 40's. Grown-ass adults, still clinging to absurd childish fantasies.

This "trauma" was a major turning point for them. Some just separated themselves from the fandom and stopped caring about Star Wars. But most of those interviewed here have taken it personally and have turned their love of star wars into a campaign of hate.

Then you see people comparing the SW Christmas Special to a "war crime", one guy practically calls for Lucas to kill himself. They say Lucas has become Vader, one guy wonders if Lucas' son will grow up to kill him. They delight in a terrible South Park episode where they portrayed Lucas and Steven Spielberg raping Han Solo. This led to many people talking about George Lucas "raping their childhood" and one group even recorded a song "George Lucas raped our childhood."

What's really messed up is seeing these fans talk about Lucas as if *he's* abusing them by not caving to their little temper-tantrums. These spoiled children think their "Daddy" is abusing them by not buying them the toys they want for Christmas. They are completely oblivous to how they themselves are acting abusive and psychotic.

I wonder how many people who participated in this documentary have looked back and realized how insanely selfish, entitled and childish they look. I wonder if any of them grew up, OR are they still part of the toxic fandom that sends death threats to John Boyega and calls Kathleen Kennedy "Darth Kennedy".

The documentary isn't very well done, it has poor production quality, and spends way too much time showcasing the amateur fan-made movies. It at least has a few contributors who pushed back on the entitled nature of these fans and were willing to point out how absurd they were. However, it didn't talk to anyone who actually liked the prequels, except a handful of young kids who liked Jar Jar Binks. It's sad that an entire generation that grew up with the prequels and The Clone Wars still loves Star Wars, but they weren't ackonwledged in this film.

This isn't a good documentary, but it is worth watching, to understand the mass psychosis of toxic pop culture fans, and how they can go from merely annoying to becoming dangerous, corrosive to creative culture, and potentially dangerous to society.

After seeing The People vs. George Lucas in June at the 2010 Edinburgh Film Festival, I must say that it was the most fun documentary I saw at the festival. And yes, my name is Shane Kester and I am a Star Wars fan, but unlike the others, I can quit any time I want.

The director Alexandre O. Philippe stated that the documentary took three years and was made up of 634 hours of fan films and interviews submitted from all over the globe. You may naturally conclude by the title or what you've heard through the rumor mill that this is simply a "Lucas Bashing" documentary, but it's got much more depth to it than that. The director listened to the impassioned Star Wars and Indiana Jones fan's complaints and rants but also took a very mature look at it from several less "emotional" points of view that gave balance to the force, making this documentary another significant brick in the monument built by fans to honor the cultural phenomenon that Lucas created. This documentary by no means puts an end to the debates as Alexandre Philippe stated in Edinbough, there is still footage being sent in by fans all over the world. And as one of the participants in the documentary stated, "When we're in retirement homes arguing about things, we'll be having conversations about what went wrong with Phantom Menace." The People vs. George Lucas had a surprising array of interviews from the avid Youtube fan to original producers and actors all the way up to Lucas's mentor and friend Francis Ford Coppala who expressed a heart felt lament that George never ventured beyond Star Wars with his story telling.

Even if you aren't an avid fan of Star Wars or Indiana Jones you must at least be aware of the massive cultural influence that George Lucas has had on our little planet. If you're not aware, you must be on the planet farthest from the center of the universe with your head buried in bantha fodder not to have noticed. To you this documentary will be of no interest. But for the rest of you who enjoy a good rant and like to laugh out loud at how seriously people take Star Wars, you really would enjoy this movie.

As a big Star Wars fan I had heard only a brief mention of this movie some months ago, so I was happy to stumble upon it in Netflix's instant library.

What I liked about the film was that they got some hardcore (sometimes scary) fanboys but also some really reputable creative people to discuss the films. Mostly Star Wars fans but also some film industry types. I also enjoyed how they wove so many fan films into it. It will never cease to amaze me how much Star Wars content is out there, and as big a fan as I am I never knew so many people had taken time out to create such things. It's astounding, and again sometimes a little scary haha.

I also enjoyed the opinions that were given. Mind you I am one of those people that has been very frustrated by Lucas in the last 15 years so take it for what it's worth, but I thought they were fair and that the filmmakers made sure to give some grounded perspective on the issues people take with the new films and the re-imagining of the old ones. Questions like "Can a film be altered years after it's been established?" and "Does a creator have the right to change his work after it's been installed as a cornerstone of so many people's lives?" are addressed as I was hoping they would be.

A couple of complaints would be that though they did offer some counter-arguments to us whining fanboys, there could've been more or at least an expansion of those that were there. Also, I really go into it when they broke down the re-creation of the Jabba scene from A New Hope and was hoping they would break down each subsequent change from the original trilogy, however they did not. I suppose that would've been a bit too uniform an approach but I would've liked it and I still think there would've been time to work in all the rest that was presented. I also think that they could've gotten one or two more big names to contribute their opinions. Neil Gaiman and David Brin were by far the biggest but they are not shown often and only in short spurts. Either one alone could've pretty much anchored this entire documentary, so I would've liked to see more of them or one or two more personalities like them.

As far as the ending, at the risk of sounding holier than thou, I think non-Star Wars fans just don't really understand what they were trying to get across. The fact is that though so many of us love/hate Lucas, half of that is still love. No matter what he's done and will do since Return of the Jedi was finalized he has still given us something that has greatly impacted our lives and has brought us countless hours of enjoyment. The bottom line is that we complain because we care, and Lucas is the one who made us care so much. That's what the end of the film was saying.

No, this film is not 93 minutes of giving George Lucas the finger. It plays out as a bizarre, but highly entertaining, mash-up of love letter, trial, intervention, and therapy session, culminating in a general feeling of hope.

I won't go into details, you're likely either going to really want to see this movie, or you won't. If you loved the original Star Wars trilogy and hated the prequels, you're going to want to see this. If you don't care about the Star Wars movies (and therefore, filmmaking in general) then I can't imagine you'd enjoy this movie.

Personally, I really enjoyed the original Star Wars trilogy, and pretty much hated the prequels. However, I don't enjoy Star Wars enough to want to go out and try to make my own fan film, nor did I enjoy watching the bulk of the fan film footage included in TPvsGL. I think these amateur attempts to recreate Star Wars only serve to trivialize and dilute the magic of the original trilogy, in much the same manner as George Lucas' tampering, and subsequent self-destruction of the series. Actually, one of the most interesting things about TPvsGL is that the fans are guilty of most of the "crimes" they accuse Lucas of. It's a very dysfunctional relationship.

The interviews make this movie. Almost all of the interviewees are excellent. They're, for the most part, keen, poignant, and funny. Sometimes hilarious. I laughed out loud a few times.

A must see for Star Wars fans, of all types.

I had put off watching this movie for a while. I assumed it was going to be an hour and a half of George Lucas bashing. Was I wrong? Not entirely... but I wasn't right either.

I will never deny that I am a fan of all 6 of the Star Wars movies. I never understood the hatred towards the prequels. In fact, people who had turned on Lucas and his recent work, REALLY bothered me. I was tired of fans flipping Lucas the bird and all that he created.

In "The People vs. George Lucas" you certainly hear from many disgruntled fans, but at the same time you feel their love for Star Wars. You can see how they are frustrated, but at the same time respect the man who shaped their childhoods. It is an entertaining and well put together film featuring hilarious Star Wars fan film clips and energy-charged interview clips. It is a ball of hatred and sweet at the same time. By the end you remember why you love Star Wars, even if there are things that bother you about them... you still love them and you have to give Mr. Lucas respect for creating it all.