Revisionist History of a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Originally posted to Thinkspot on June 19th, 2024. The original article contained images from Star Wars media.
There's a strange thing going in on the world of pop culture and it's been going on for quite a while now.
You may have heard of a new Star Wars series on Disney Plus called the Acolyte. The show is created, written and produced by Leslye Headland and sort rewrites a lot of Star Wars canon. Leslye Headland seemingly wishes to reimagine the Star Wars universe through a feminine lens. It's a real boon for feminists, brought to you by a woman best known for being the assistant to Harvey Weinstein.
The reviews for Star Wars: The Acolyte have been horrendous, to the point where even many of the mainstream entertainment news outlets-- normally eager to carry water for Disney-- are being forced to admit it isn't good.
To be honest, that doesn't interest me. As far as I am concerned, Disney obliterated any redeeming quality that Star Wars may have had when Rian Johnson turned my childhood hero into a bitter, violent, washed-up old man. Star Wars is dead.
What I find interesting though is the lens through which a lot of commentators who have been calling out Disney and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy are viewing George Lucas.
To hear these various youtubers, bloggers and sundry commentators tell the tale, George Lucas is the lone voice of Star Wars, the prophet of a galaxy far, far away.
As a fan of Star Wars since the mid-80's, I'm old enough to find this bit of revisionist history somewhere between sad and amusing. It is, however totally dishonest.
Let me be clear. George Lucas does rightly deserve a lot of credit as a visionary. His accomplishments are vast and important.
But while Star Wars would not exist without him, Star Wars is not the singular vision of George Lucas.
The original trilogy-- the stories that inspired generations of young men and women to this day, was the result of many minds and ideas. Voices like Lawrence Kasdan, Irvin Kirshner, (George's wife) Marcia Lucas and Princess Leia herself--- Carrie Fisher who did a ton of script doctoring on all of the scripts while shooting the films. Those are just a few of the people involved in making those movies the magic that they were.
George-- at the height of his powers--- was the first person to irrevocably tarnish Star Wars. It was George who created the infamous Special Editions. Instead of getting to work on new movies in a timely manner, George re-released the original movies, but with graphic additions of CGI. George's revision of Episodes 4-6 were the cinematic equivalent of serving up a $200 steak with dog food on top of it. He also got rid of the original cuts of the films. Now they're pretty much only available through bootlegs and online piracy. As a result, I haven't seen my favorite films in twenty or so years.
And as if that weren't enough, George's next move was to make the infamous Prequels.
Sigh.
In the spirit of honesty, I have to admit that I like The Phantom Menace. Of the three, it is the only one that is watchable. It isn't a good movie, by any stretch of the imagination. But it is a fun watch. It's also the most detached from the rest of Star Wars.
That said, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith are utter garbage. Where the Special Editions scarred Star Wars, the Prequels broke it. The midichlorians, space politics, trade federations, Darth Vader forgetting his droids and worst of all the sickening relationship between Amidala and Anakin. George was reportedly a tyrant on set. The Prequels are fully his vision and he screwed the pooch.
I am aware that younger generations love the Prequels. I get it. They were small children when the movies came out. Bright colors, light sabers, magic... it was perfect for them. I get it. It is for that same reason that I will not countenance anyone suggesting that the Cannonball Run films are anything other than comedic masterpieces.
The truth is that Star Wars was run pretty ragged by the time Disney bought it. There was still life left in the brand though. Many writers had contributed to the Star Wars extended universe, including novels such as the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn and games such as Knights of the Old Republic. Dave Filoni has also produced some of the best Star Wars stories since the originals with his shows The Clone Wars and Rebels.
But then Kathleen Kennedy and Disney took over. They cut the Taun Taun open and stuffed it with barren stories, trash characters and bleak ideologies. They deserve endless derision for killing the most profitable intellectual property in history.
I'm not trying to trash George Lucas. I just wish people would be more honest. George is a personality akin to Stan Lee and Steve Jobs. He's the figure which allowed these great works to be created. He should be lauded for his accomplishments, but not held up as a symbol for things he didn't do.
#starwars #georgelucas #kathleenkennedy #leslyeheadland #theacolyte #thelastjedi
