twister111 said:
It's pretty clear he's wanted to be the public figure head for Star Wars since the SEs were produced. He had plenty of time to think about it and he wanted that fame induced lifestyle. I hazard a guess that his life was becoming ever more "average" during that time. I mean when Star Wars was discussed prior to the SEs I as a kid did not care and did not know about George Lucas. I just discussed the characters on the screen with my friends. Sure this is anecdotal, but I ask you prior to the SEs in the early 90s how much did you associate George Lucas with Star Wars?

As a kid, the only name I knew about the making of Star Wars is that George Lucas made them all. I didn't know the names Kirshner, Marquand, Kasdan, Kurtz, etc. I think I did know John Williams did the music. IIRC, Bantha Tracks (and other media) frequently invoked his name and called him a "visionary genius". I think BT even sold posters of George Lucas looking whimsically into the stars, probably done by Struzan.

George has taken the role of Sole Creator of Star Wars™ since the beginning, and gladly accepted all the accolades during the golden years. It's only natural then that he received the lion's share of the blame when things went bad.