The People vs. George Lucas

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.

The term 'documentary' is a difficult label to affix to 'PvGL' but sadly, for lack of a better word, is one that must suffice. I say this because the film does not shed new light or impart new information so much as it distills and summarises what we already know. Director Alexandre O. Philippe condenses and intercuts massive amounts of amateur videos, conversations, and first person tirades with pseudo-authoritative interviews in an effort to douse the acclaimed titular director with a bucket of icy water and wake Lucas from his delusional God-complex so that he will own up to the serious missteps he's made with the 'Star Wars' franchise (as well as 'Indiana Jones'). Make no mistake – this is a film made by disillusioned fans, for disillusioned fans, and the issues that irk the most are well-covered: the erasure of the 1977, 1980, & 1983 originals by the CGI-altered 1990s reissues; the character change in Han Solo by firing AFTER Greedo; the inherent ramifications of quantitatively defining the Force with a microbiological organism; the erasure of the Star Wars Christmas TV special; Jar-Jar Binks; and so on.

The film nicely establishes the original trilogy's place in history and in culture, and sets the tone for why we love George Lucas. But from there, it just gets ugly. As one interviewee put it, 'I love-hate George Lucas. I love-hate him a lot.' The anger and vulgarity that erupts from the wounded fans is unsettling but even more disturbing is the fact that I often found myself nodding in agreement with their arguments. Two-thirds into it, though, I just get the sense that 'PvGL' is acting like a neglected child throwing a tantrum at a parent, begging for attention and respect. Yet Lucas' betrayal of his fans through touting his authorial and divine right to tamper is not without merit. Attributing the disrespect to his secession to the dark-side (that is, entrepreneurship and big business), rather than remain the rebel filmmaker of his youth, 'PvGL' ultimately finds itself in an un-winnable spot, wedged between arguments of public (social and cultural) domain and artistic control. Does 'Star Wars' belong to the general public, or can those that originally penned it rewrite history?

Bearing this in mind, does anyone know where can I get one of those Tauntaun sleeping bags?

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.

In this day of mass-participatory media it is in some ways inevitable that a film potentially destined for general release would be made incorporating a significant chunk of such material.

You may ask why has George Lucas been singled out for this film's subject? As the film explains, the number of homages, remixes and re-workings by the public of Star Wars is far greater for this work than any other film ever made. Furthermore Lucas has courted controversy through the mass marketing of his product and the slightly dictatorial way older versions of the film have been more or less obliterated. So any analysis of the subject of the art and business of film, rights ownership and its effects on its fans cannot pick a better subject.

In terms of the normal movie goer Alexandre O. Philppe's film provides plenty of laughs and is fascinating to watch. Barely pausing for breath, the film is a visual and auditory onslaught, with a barrage of sound bites and clips from the original material and its many derived manifestations. Producer Anna Higgs - interviewed after the showing - explained that contributions were invited on one of the many Star Wars forums on the Internet. Sifting through the mountain of material that arrived in response was a huge undertaking, and in showing the pick of the crop we the viewer are given an insight into the massive fandom that surrounds these films.

While for most people just watching a movie is enough, serious fans will purchase (sometimes compulsively) associated movie merchandise and involve themselves to varying degrees in paying tribute to the film and its mythos. If you have ever wondered what kind of person will spend three days walking around in a sweaty storm-trooper outfit at Dragon*Con in Atlanta. Or set themselves on fire in order to recreate a scene from a film then this film offers an insight into that world.

A large amount of the discussion in the film is about the differences between the original theatrical release of Star Wars and its subsequent remastering and updating which angered many fans not least as the original film was essentially removed from circulation at the same time. As digital technology empowers audience creativity, the democratisation of media seems to be at odds with filmmakers who want to retain absolute control and ownership of their work. However, despite its title this film is not about simply Lucas bashing. It is pointed out that Lucas has made footage and sound freely available to people who want to play with it.

It is possible to see a similar issue between the behaviour of obsessed film fans and people with strong religious beliefs. While religious texts have been used as an excuse for inhumanity and war. One wonders whether George himself lies awake at night puzzling at how his simple sci-fi story has led to such an amazing cultural legacy even if that legacy includes such things as Ewok yiff. 4 out of 5

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