George Lucas Said That He Lost Control Of 'Star Wars'
An interview has recently surfaced involving not only Star Wars creator George Lucas, but also his wife Mellody Hobson, chairwoman of Starbucks and President and co-CEO of Ariel Investments. The interview actually took place last year as part of a Virtual Speaker Series for the East Harlem School at Exodus House. As Hobson and her husband answered some questions sent in by elementary school students, Star Wars inevitably came up.
About 42 minutes and 50 seconds into the video, a seventh grader named Jeremiah asks the following question:
"The world has changed so much since the first Star Wars movie. How do you think the change in the fights for racial justice will impact the Star Wars universe going forward?"
George Lucas responds with the following:
"Uh, I don't know. I mean, I've kind of lost control of Star Wars, so it's going off in a different path than what I intended. But the first six are very much mine, and my philosophy. And I think that philosophy sort of, goes beyond any particular time, because it’s based on history, it’s based on philosophy, it’s based on a lot of things. And, you know, the first three basically tell you how democracy turns into a dictatorship and you end up with a tyrant, the Emperor. It’s very important now, where we are now in our political history.”
When he mentions "the first three," he of course means the prequel trilogy. The quality of that trilogy has been contested by various viewers, but it does have an intended political message. Of course, some may latch onto Lucas saying that he has lost control of Star Wars. Whatever he means by the franchise going in a different path than what he had intended is anyone's guess. For all we know, the comment can pertain to how the newer films try to tell their messages, or it could simply be Lucas saying the story events themselves are different from what he had outlined and that he does not have a hand in everything like he used to try to and does not keep up with everything that is going on.
He continues to talk about his take on Star Wars:
"All of the various colors and shapes of the aliens and everything, that live in that world, it’s a normal situation, there’s no real discrimination. The only discrimination is against robots, and we haven’t really reached that period yet, and I’m sure the robots will be able to overcome it because they don’t have the same feelings. But it really shows you in terms of the way the politics are and the way things are and how to fight those ideas. And a lot of it really has to do with overcoming fear."
One of the things that George Lucas mentions earlier in the video that may bring Star Wars to mind is the idea of letting go. Specifically, about letting people go their own way rather than holding onto them like a bird in the hand and then crushing that bird rather than letting it go its own way. One could argue that a similar thing happened with Star Wars when he put the new films in the hands of other people when Lucasfilm was purchased by Disney. And within the Star Wars universe itself, it could apply to Anakin Skywalker being afraid of letting go and then turning to the dark side as a result.
If you want to watch the full video, especially for what goes beyond the Star Wars stuff, you can check it out below.