zombie84 said:
I duno. MJ was definitely a recluse. He pretty much never gave an interview until the early 1990s, and then it was only to clear his reputaion. Lucas is definitely NOT a recluse, though he was in the 70s and 80s. He seems unable to escape that reputation. GL and MJ have a lot more in common than people realize:
-Despite being regarded as reclusive, both are public figures
-Both are ridiculously wealthy
-MJ built Neverland Ranch, GL built Skywalker Ranch
-Both had their heyday in the 1980s
-Both are protective of their private life, and have a mysterious aura to them
-Both are among the most influential and successful artists in their fields, and both got famous at a young age, with scandal following them in the 1990s
-MJ in his recluse went a bit crazy and re-constructed his face. GL in his recluse went a bit crazy and re-constructed his films.
-Both have fans that either hate or have mixed feelings about them for their personal decisions, despite admiration for their early artistic efforts
-Both see themselves as, and to some degree actually are, misunderstood by the media
-Both of them had/have their contributions overshadowed by their failures at the end of their lifetimes
Of course, there are many huge differences. But while GL does indeed have a lot to be proud of in his life, ever since 1999, his reputation definitely has been mixed, much like Jackson since the early 1990s.
Key differences though. George's "scandals" don't revolve around criminal charges and his "failures" are strictly artistic in nature (and that only in the eye of the beholder) as the Special Editions, the 2004 DVD's, the prequels and everything else were all commercially successful and, whether we like it or not, there's a limit to how much of that financial success can be attributed to the Star Wars association.
By contrast, I don't know that Jacko had a platinum CD after his problems in the early 90's (even though the early 90's marked his commercial peak).