That is a bold statement that you prefer not to participate in conversations about preserving film history. Given this website was founded to petition for the original cuts to be released on DVD, and have since preserved it themselves, also highlighting Lucas’ revisionism and bizarre claims, writing out and underplaying others contributions from SW history, and have preserved hundreds of other films and various cuts. 😃
I feel like I might have not expressed myself clearly (sorry bout that english isn’t my native language). I appreciate very much reading this forum because most of people have been doing lots of research about Lucas’s work so it often results in factly-backed debate.
I’m perfectly aware of the highlights you’re talking about (also read Kaminski’s book) and found them so interesting. Simply, I prefer not to take part in the debate of theatrical star wars preservation and enjoy that the forum is open to many other subjects concerning star wars. In a word : it’s not because i’m not taking part in it that I’m not aware and instructing myself on that subject.
Talking about the white men issue, I’m not fully convinced about your argumentation.
Firstly, I feel like blaming Lucas to be participating in non representation of colored and female actors is true, but somehow unfair.
To me, part (and only part of it) of the problem is linked to the time where star wars was created. That question is obviously complicated, because it can quickly be seen as ‘people are not tolerant, so I won’t be either’ which of course is unforgivable. But just like we today have to fight for more representation of diversity, people at that time had different scale in their action to promote tolerance.
Given the social climate 5 decades earlier, I believe that it could be fair, before pointing Lucas’ mistakes, to acknowledge what he did great. I consider Leia to be a major female figure of pop culture and a conterpoint to the damselle in distress. To some extent, Mon Mothma being a rebel leader serves that point of representing strong women, in a time where it was rare.
I would also argue that the budget of Star Wars has something to do with that. I do believe that Lucas was willing to showcase the alien-human opposition, more globally conveyed through a nature-technology dichotomy. One argument in favour of this is that in Jedi, which can be described as what George would have like Star Wars to look like, pilots are as you said more represented through aliens. So Lucas does showcase that good guys are the one promoting differences when he has the money to make aliens and more pilots (female pilots deleted from Jedi’s final cut, what a shame)
That being said, it is true that almost all rebels are white men, and I can only deplore that this era wasn’t giving chances to minorities (and that today’s era still has so much to accomplish), but I believe that Lucas was on the good side, trying, probably not enough, to fight against this.
‘Good side’ being backed by the sort of hippie resistance that he and his friends represented back then : I think we can’t say that they were for the establishment and statu quo. I won’t extend on the social movements of a country that isn’t mine though.
I agree with the non-sense of Lucas declaration like ‘There is only racism against alien’ since the Empire is obviously racist against colored people.
Looking forward to read your comments !
