The People vs. George Lucas

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.

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.

Whether or not you'll appreciate this documentary has a lot to do with what you think about George Lucas and his tinkering with his original Star Wars franchise. If you really couldn't care less or if you dislike Star Wars, then you shouldn't bother with the film. Or, if you are such a devoted fan that any criticism seems wrong, then you shouldn't bother with the film. But, if you think that Lucas fundamentally violated his contract with his fans, then this is your film!! That's because although some of the folks interviewed defended Lucas, most folks interviewed were mad, VERY MAD, at the man who created the franchise--making it a serious love-hate relationship.

Let me explain some of the complaints in the film. First, George Lucas has chosen to re-edit and change his original three films--adding scenes, changing scenes and putting in all new special effects. Second, the final three films in the series (oddly, episodes 1, 2 and 3) weren't up to the quality standards of the first films. And third, Jar Jar Binks is a character who so annoys fans (mostly adults) that people wonder why he insisted not only in putting him in these three most recent films (mentioned in the film) but adding him to the DVDs of the original films (oddly, never mentioned in the documentary). It all boils down to who owns the films--are they Lucas' or does he owe more to his devoted (and sometimes rabid) fans?

A few interesting parts of the film include: the fascinatingly hypocritical fact that Lucas led fight AGAINST colorization--

Testifying before Congress that films should be kept as they originally were made and changing them was wrong! A discussion of the Star Wars Christmas Special--a show considered by many to be among the WORST TV shows ever made.

The use of the word 'rape' which was used quite inappropriately towards the end of the film. Sure, I am one who definitely think it's terrible Lucas has changed his original films and WON'T allow the original films to be sold, but to use the R-word?! This belittles rape and is a bit disturbing.

Overall, a film that will appeal to some--and they will love it. Others might just wonder what all the fuss is about anyway!

I just watched PvGL, a film that I had been eagerly anticipating for the last several months. I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and like most fans, feel a deep loathing towards the prequels and the changes that Lucas has made to the original trilogy.

Now, if you're reading this, chances are you already know the basic premise of this film (detailing the complex and dysfunctional relationship between Lucas and his fans), so I'm not going to reiterate the various intricacies, emotions, and reasoning that go along with that story. Sufficed to say, if you're a fan, you know what I mean.

And to that end, the film does a decent enough job painting a picture of who the Star Wars fans are and what the film has meant to western culture as a whole. There are some good insights from a wide range of people, from hardcore Star Wars nerds to film critics to other producers and directors. Most of what they say is easily relatable, as Star Wars really has become a cultural touchstone that almost everyone has some kind of feelings towards. It is cathartic to hear so many other people verbalize the frustrations almost every fan has surely felt towards Lucas, the prequels and the special editions.

With that having been said, there are a few flaws. The first being that the film is a bit too long. They could have easily cut about ten minutes out of the first act of the movie, which consisted almost entirely of fan parody and tribute films of varying quality. Yes, Star Wars inspires epic creativity on the part of it's fans, but that is a relatively easy point to make and didn't require quite so much screen time time to illustrate.

The other flaw is the end of the film, which completely goes soft on Lucas and abdicates its responsibility to take a firm position on the subject matter that was detailed in the entire rest of the film. After watching a whole documentary which carefully explained all the ways Lucas was ruining his work, thumbing his nose at film history as a cultural artifact (in direct opposition to positions he himself took years earlier) and acting in deliberate contempt of his fans, the conclusion it reached amounted to little more than a shrug and a soft-pedaled declaration of loyalty to Lucas anyway. Disappointing.

Any catharsis I felt very quickly melted away and once again turned to frustration. Why did the director feel the need to ultimately kiss up to Lucas? Wasn't that the fatal flaw which led to the prequels in the first place? That nobody challenged him? Let me be clear; I was not looking for a hit-piece here either; two hours of Lucas-bashing wouldn't have made for an interesting or informative film (which PvGL certainly is), but the entire premise of this documentary would have been far more credible had the last few minutes not completely undermined everything that was asserted throughout the entire rest of it.

I would still recommend it to fans as there are very interesting points to be heard in this film, but for true geek catharsis (and brilliantly insightful critique), you still can't beat the Red Letter Media long-form reviews of the prequels. People vs. George Lucas is entertaining to be sure, but it still doesn't come close to those reviews.