Pretty much the only person who doesn't need to be ashamed of what went on in the prequels.
Please note important comics-based update, below!
So after all these years, and all those movies, and all that hype and excitement and fanguish (why yes, I did just coin that term), and prompted by the already-infamous-yet-still-brand-new Darth Vader “Noooooo!”, plus the recent viewing of Episodes IV-VI with my family — I have finally figured out why I really kind of hate George Lucas.
So yes. Here we go, another nerdy blogger is going to write about hating George Lucas on the intertrons. Quelle surprise! But a gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do.
I remember going to see Star Wars (back when there was just the one) with my mom. I remember leaving the theater and walking to the car and being enthralled. I’m not sure how many times I saw the first one as I waited for Empire Strikes Back, but it was probably a lot, given that when Empire came out, I cut school in order to go downtown for the opening (back in the olden days, openings were matinees) — and subsequently spent the summer watching it over and over. The arguments among my friends regarding Luke’s parentage were long, loud, and filled with genuine emotion, and one night, we all went to the early show, didn’t leave, and watched it again. I think I saw it eleven times before school started that fall. I have no recollection of the first time I saw Return of the Jedi, likely because the wheels were already coming off — stuff went on and on, or appeared, kind of out of nowhere (that chase scene on Endor, for instance, can now be seen in its true light, as a brutal precursor to the seemingly eternal pod race in Phantom Menace), and like all my budding quasi-socialist friends (we were 18), I suspected the Ewoks reflected less about a galaxy far, far away, and more about Lucas’s increased understanding about merchandising. And yet: It was Star Wars. And it was still pretty damn good.
Fast-forward to 1999. I’ve just moved back to America after 14 years away, and George Lucas has finally made the first prequel — the movies that my friends and I used to talk about in tones reserved in other circles for prophecy and magic — and: BOOM.
Oh my God. Oh my God! I had to see it twice to make sure it was that awful, and oh my God. There is so much to be said (and has been said) about just what a terrible turn Lucas took with Phantom Menace (and I have already mentioned the endlessly endless pod race of endlessness), but I will say only this: Midichlorians? Are you fucking kidding me with this?! Either the force is “an energy field created by all living things [that] surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together,” or it’s something in communication with microscopic beings within our blood for which we are (and I quote) “symbionts.” Take your pick.
I so hated Phantom Menace that I never intended to see the other two prequels, but life and the advent of a child warranted otherwise. At some point I caught the boy up on the first three films with great joy, and ground my teeth through the prequels (only the last of which had any redeeming qualities, if you ask me. And Ewan McGregor deserves a trophy for being the only actor among a large group of excellent actors to actually do any good with his terrible role) and I seethed. Like any good old-school Star Wars fan, I have been seething for 12 long years, and every time he tinkers and changes and adds and subtracts and releases some new damn version, my fanguish grows and I hate George Lucas a little bit more.
BUT I FINALLY FIGURED OUT WHY.
Broken down into parts, the first three movies are not particularly great, certainly not by today’s standards. In light of my immersion in the cinematic world of Lord of the Rings, I find myself particularly bothered by the way that whole cultures pop up, unremarked, and then disappear, again unremarked, as so much set dressing. You never get anything on anybody who isn’t front and center to the story, and even then, you don’t get much. And then there’s (some of…) the acting. And, of course: Bechdel Test. Of course.
And yet! The sum is clearly so much greater than all of those parts, all of those flaws, even all of the moments of greatness — when seen in its entirety, all together, it told a story of such sweep and such emotion that it fell straight into people’s hearts and hasn’t let go since.
But Lucas didn’t make that story — he recognized it.
The stories are out there. If an artist is lucky, he or she gets to be the one to tell a particular story, and if the audience is lucky, he or she is skilled and respectful, and the story is served. That’s what happened in the first three (well… two and a half) movies.
But ever since, Lucas has been pissing on his own work, and jerking canon around because he felt like it, and disrespecting his audience — and disrespecting the story.
And that, my friends, is my bottom line. It was a long walk to get here, but at least I’ll be brief: I’m a writer. Stories really, really matter to me. Words matter to me. Truth-that-cannot-be-weighed-and-measured matters to me. And it matters that we try really, really hard to respect all of that. The stories, the words, the truths do not belong to us. If we’re lucky, we get to recognize them.
And stupid George Lucas was lucky! And then he messed it all up.
The end.
Though of course, as we discussed the other day, there’s always the possibility that this is what really happened:
We live in hope.
*****
Oops, more credit where it’s due! Go read this by Lev, over at Library Grape — he definitely jogged my mind on all of this, particularly with regard to the differences between Lucas’s re-fashioning of his films, and the recent-ish remastering of the original Star Trek series.
UPDATE: Well, I never! On the very day that I decide to add to the endless stream of internet anti-Lucas sentiment, the extremely cool Shortpacked does the same! Click here to see one more reason (I really couldn’t go into all the reasons on my own) that the prequels suuuuuuuuuuucked. And then, if you’ve made it this far, you’re probably geeky enough to want to click here to see the his fantabulous reaction to the recent abysmal DC Comics Starfire reboot.
Emily L. Hauser - In My Head 
SeussMD
/ September 27, 2011Truer words were never spoken, and I believe I was with you for most, if not all, of those 11 viewings of The Empire Strikes Back.
I would say that Liam Neeson did what he could with the role he was given, in addition to Ewan.
Ahhhh…memories!
emilylhauser
/ September 27, 2011You know you were in my heart as I typed every single one of the above words! I hope Bobby and everyone else sees this, too. I’ve been very bad about being in touch, but dude — remember those conversations? The pathos!
But Liam Neeson? Eh. He wasn’t terrible, but every time he uttered the name “Ani,” I died a little inside.
SeussMD
/ September 27, 2011Yes…yes…the script was awful…there is no excuse. We lived and died with those movies back then! *sigh*
emilylhauser
/ September 27, 2011That scene where Luke’s arm is cut off? I cried, man. Every.single.time.
And now, God save me, I’m over on Twitter, talking about it more. IT NEVER ENDS.
SeussMD
/ September 27, 2011*cries*
BenjaminTheAss
/ September 28, 2011I thought Pernilla August managed to retain her dignity as Anakin’s mother.
stephen matlock
/ September 27, 2011First Star Wars (77) (WHICH WILL ALWAYS be the first) was great. Next two released – good, with the third one being quite good.
Then the awful prequels. The awful, awful love story of the Princess and the Clown. (That scene in the field. Urk.) The awful, awful Dead Tree Walking acting of the blond guy. The awful, awful scene of Darth Vader and the lava pit of doom. (Really. They have machines to do all this work, and they don’t have wireless robots?)
I won’t go into the MEESA MEESA.
I watched that first one perhaps two dozen times that summer. It was unlike any movie I’d seen before.
But the “prequels”? They are simply unwatchable except on a dare.
emilylhauser
/ September 27, 2011(Really. They have machines to do all this work, and they don’t have wireless robots?)
I mean to fucking say!
stephen matlock
/ September 28, 2011Maybe it’s just age. I was young & full of wonder in 77. I’m jaded and cynical in the 2000’s.
Levv
/ September 28, 2011Ah, Lucas-bashing, the Internet’s National Pastime. Not that he doesn’t deserve every iota of it. I agree with you that stories and words matter. With something like Star Wars, which has basically been one of the most popular phenomena ever, you have this piece of pop art that’s particularly powerful for a lot of people. A lot of people revere it. But Lucas doesn’t seem to respect it or even understand that power at all. His approach to his own beloved works is entirely technical and businesslike, though arguably that began with the Ewoks in Return Of The Jedi, which was obviously tacked on to sell toys (incidentally making the movie about 20 minutes longer than the other two, and much, much draggier). With the prequels he took it to a whole other level, the only way they make sense is if you assume he started by writing the action setpieces for maximum toy-ification and then filled in the rest–there isn’t a plot or even really a story there, just dull/stupid junk to carry you from one horrible action scene to the next. But at least he balanced it out with a healthy dose of black, Jewish and Asian stereotypes/funny accents, right?
I actually do respect Lucas and Steven Spielberg as filmmakers–they’re both pretty good at captivating audiences, and Spielberg in particular often is able to convey ideas within big blockbusters, which is rare and wonderful to see–but I wonder if they’re going to be more remembered for their business innovations than for filmcraft. Both have some great movies to their names, but I’d argue that product placement and merchandising changed the movie industry and the world more than E.T., for example, ever did.
WAKnight
/ September 28, 2011It’s interesting to me that you say that you find yourself “particularly bothered by the way that whole cultures pop up, unremarked, and then disappear, again unremarked, as so much set dressing.”
Because I felt that one of the strengths of the original movie (not even the sequels) was that it promised a larger, bigger universe without supplying it. There were these grand hints – an Emperor, the Clone Wars, etc. that are only mentioned in a line or two. But seeing the first movie again they feel huge.
Yet at the time they weren’t fleshed out ideas and I suspect that, being designed as allusions in the script rather than actual backstory, once they were fleshed out it couldn’t live up to what we imagined when we saw the first film.
Sugel
/ September 29, 2011A decade after it first hit theaters Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace is still causing people to lose their shit.