Lucas and his right to make TPM (and the rest) his way.

There was an interesting article on CNN back in May that I don't seem to remember ever being brought up here before. Here is the last part of it, which I think shows Lucas' opinion of everyone who wants to control his artistic style, suits and fans alike.

---

Lucas has maintained his independence with the "Star Wars" films, doing things his way, on his schedule. He controls the "Star Wars" merchandising -- "I didn't want someone using the name 'Star Wars' on a piece of junk," he once said -- and also the many "Star Wars" characters and story lines, which live on in books and video games even when they're not appearing on the big screen.

"I'm able to tell the story the way it's meant to be told, and I don't have to listen to what [studio] market research does," he said.

"They would be listening to the fans -- 'and these people think you should be doing this, and these people think you should have that character in there.'

"These [stories] are not put together by a marketing department. They're purely sort of a creative act that was created to tell a great story."[hr][/blockquote]So there, deal with the way it is, and get the heck of Lucas' back. Go do something on your own like he did, and then you get to call all the shots.

 

"I didn't want someone using the name 'Star Wars' on a piece of junk,"

Yeah, why let someone else use the name Star Wars on a piece of junk when he can do it himself like with TPM.

 

You know what they say about one person's junk.

You don't like it, don't buy it.

 

Geez, where you just waiting to pounce on the first person or what? That took all of three seconds.

 

I can see things before they happen. It's a Lucasfan trait.

 

"You know what they say about one person's junk.

You don't like it, don't buy it."

Really? That's a saying? I always heard "One man's garbage, is another man's treasure"


Never heard "One person's junk - you don't like it, don't buy it."

Maybe it just hasn't caught on yet.

 

I didn't include what they say about one person's junk, I assumed you all knew it.

You have never heard the phrase "you don't like it, you don't have to buy it"? It is a staple in the SW forums.

 

I always liked - "You better stop crying, or I'll give you something to cry about!"






Don't think it really applies here... although, the Order of Holy Flannel does do a lot of crying for poor, rich Georgie around here.

 

Go-Mer is right.

That is all.

 

No he is not.

No it is not.




Gome, lol.


Order of the Holy Flannel?! ROTFL!!!!

 

RogueSith, yours is similar to my patented: You don't like the prequels? I should force you watch the Holiday special, now that is something worth complaining about.

 

Definately agree with that.


What were the names of Chewie's family? lOL! Just thinking about it is

 

Oh come on, that thing is entertaining, in an unintended way of course, but entertaining none the less.


And didn't you just know that any thread containing the GL quote "I didn't want someone using the name 'Star Wars' on a piece of junk", would also have to have a Holiday Special reference as well? Methinks Go-Mer came with a pre-emptive strike there.

 

Lumpy....

I forget. Every new commercial break held the prommise of a new low to come.

Just when you thought 20 minutes of a Wookie family barking to each other without subtitles is grating, Art Carney, "the fixit guy" comes in to give Grandpa wookie some cheesecake hologram of a black woman dancing pervocatively, and the kid wookie a hologram of Jefferson Airplane, pre 80's makover.

Then it's off to see Bea Arthur bartending and singing to the patrons in the cantina.

The best part is seeing a druggerd out of her mind Carrie Fisher singing the "life day" song set to the main Star Wars theme.

-shiver-

It's still good in that "trainwreck" facination kind of way.

 

Point and case...lucas does what he wants because he can do it and you cant stop him. Theres no debate on this. Its fact.

Give me any snappy reply youve got, at the end of the day, that remains.

 

Hmmm..Elian Sleezegabaggano?

Anakin with 1 sowrd and 2 swords?

Padme in 55 different otufits? Not to mention the stomach-baring midriff.

It sounds like a lot of marketing thoughts (sex/toy potential) went into the making of the PT films.

 

Just because that is how you would make a film doesn't mean that's how eveyrone does. Maybe, just maybe HE likes those things you bring up? I know I do. Instead of asking a bunch of strangers what they want, he goes with what -he- wants.

 

"Methinks Go-Mer came with a pre-emptive strike there."

Lord Gomious? The "real" Phantom Menace!

 

Instead of asking a bunch of strangers what they want, he goes with what -he- wants.

So the fact that he's rich and apparently doesn't take anyone else's advice or comments about the quality of his work seriously is a good thing? Wierd....

 

For his fans, yes, it is a good thing.

The Holiday special is his #1 peice of evidence that says he shouldn't let others mess with his story.

I think it's wierd you guys don't see the point to the prequels.

In another thread, there are a bunch of fans who can't even comprehend what TPM has to do with the rest of the saga. I mean is everyone plugged in here or are you guys really that desperate to justify your irrational dislike of Jar-Jar and a "wasted" Darth Maul and Obi-Wan?

 

I think it's wierd that the distinction between "fandom" and "sycophantism" is being gleefully blurred. How is no critical feedback a good thing? I know from personal experience that without an objective eye and feedback I don't do my best work. Because I'm too close to the work in question, I don't recognize flaws and inconsistencies - it takes someone else to point them out, and then I can correct them in a manner consistent with the rest of the work.

I'm not equating myself to Lucas here - we operate in different fields - but I know that two heads are better than one, for precisely this reason. Without an external crap filter, errors creep in to the work.

Exactly how is this a good thing?

 

Critical feedback is one thing, making Lucas go with that feedback is something else entirely.

What makes you think he gets no critical feedback?

 

Go-Mer, as usual, is absolutely correct.

How you can even being to argue that the creator of something should not have absolute control of his or her ownwork is stupid and laughable.

Then again, most GL naysayers and SW bashers just like to hear themselves talk.

 

What a great flame Menlu.

Gomer is NOT absolutely correct, or else QS and myself and the rest of us would unequivically (sp?) be in agreement with him.

How you can even being to argue that the creator of something should not have absolute control of his or her ownwork is stupid and laughable.


I only need to point to the greatness of the OT to back up my argument that absolute control is not always the best thing. It was a collaboration of minds that made the OT what it is today: great.

 

I'll bite my tongue, rather than respond to the obvious flame-baiting, Menlu.

Go-Mer, critical feedback is present in a collaborative effort (like the OT, in which GL exercised ultimate control, but was, from everything I see, much more open to others opinions in fleshing out aspects of his overall story). This is not to suggest that he did not follow similar lines in the PT, but he has admitted that writing isn't his strength, and there were flaws in his literary execution (which have been covered in greater detail in other threads), structure, characterization, etc. Because of the amount of influence he had over TPM (flexing his self-admittedly flaccid literary muscles and writing the script alone, directing it, etc.), he is much less open to the kind of feedback that would have prevented a lot of the backlash.

There is a difference between being led by popular opinion ("I'll do what others tell me") and being informed by popular opinion ("I'm getting some flack about some of the choices I've made; I'll examine them to see if they have any merit"). Lucas, it seems, is neither.