Would like to point out that HelloGreedo’s community is very civil and nice, and that he himself has mostly turned around on his early, PT hating years, which should paint an accurate picture of how PT fans are treated now vs. how they were treated then. I do believe the Ring Theory is a major stretch, but with honest roots in Lucas trying to tie together the saga visually and obviously story-wise as well, to varying degrees of success. But Plinkett is a major no. In his TPM video he claims the opening shot of the original Star Wars is “so brilliant Lucas must have had nothing to do with it.” Stoklasa, not playing the character, in a regular video with “People vs. George Lucas” director claimed that “Lucas is, second only to Ringo Starr, the luckiest person in show-biz.” Amazes me how people still point to him for great critiques. Fucking idiot.
And it’s this desperate attempt to minimize everything Lucas has ever done that gets to Stardust and people like them. To my understanding, they are simply over-compensating now, for the overwhelming hate Lucas received since 1997 but especially since 1999. And over-compensating is really what Lucas’s story is all about, sadly.
After the OT and the Indy trilogy Lucas became a legend. A man that had written and produced several incredible films, and directed three excellent films - American Graffiti and Star Wars both considered to be two of the best there’s ever been - of course he was a legend. Someone that seemingly could do no wrong, but hadn’t done a lot. Look at Spielberg for instance, always in the spotlight with an excellent film. While Lucas was a huge blast and then disappeared, creating this mystique around him.
And of course there was never a world where he’d live up to the expectations on his shoulder. Then came the SEs, then came the PT, then came Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and the rest is history. People turned on him, demonized him, grown ass men claiming that Lucas “r***d their childhood”. Really disgusting stuff. Constant harassment, etc etc. Really sad to see where all the hype surrounding him led. And now we have the Stardusts of the world, people that grew up loving all the man did and who still love him, and will defend him to death because of people minimizing him for the last 25 years.
Sure, the oojason “time travelling revisionist” thread can be seen as a response to Lucas’ “efforts of burying history” over time, but when people come to this website and that thread stands tall, with no “a moment to thank George Lucas” or something thread next to it, it paints an obvious picture on how the community views him. Essentially the same thing Stoklasa is saying - a lucky hack that’s done nothing right. And of course that’s absurd. He wrote, produced and directed Star Wars and Graffiti. He wrote and produced TESB, ROTJ and the four Indy films. The man is talented, an amazing writer (even if not necessarily an amazing screenwriter) and a competent director. He made three very different films in his middle age but that doesn’t change what he did when he was younger. I think failing to recognize that is what makes Stardust come here claiming he’s a man of singular vision and that he’s right when everyone is wrong.
Of course, Stardust’s position just keeps feeding on this vicious cycle which will probably never end. Again, we should probably all learn something from Lucas’ playbook - which unsusprisingly is the same as the Jedi playbook - and learn to let go a bit.