Sometimes, when people talk about the man and the mind behind Star Wars, they talk in hushed tones. Sometimes they are barely able to articulate words to describe the wonder of this man's persona and intellectual capability.
Is George this super-human with ideas and creativity coming out of his ears? Is he a never-ending flow of smart commentary on life and society? No, he's a normal guy who lives on a Ranch in Marin County, California who takes his children to school each day.
We see only a part of him on Entertainment Tonight, and a glimpse of his visions and creativity in the Star Wars films. People laud his creations and admire his sense of vision and dedication. But probably only a few people know the real George Lucas, and someday I would like to be one of those people. Not a worker drone in his vast empire necessarily, but someone that got to know the real George.
He puts his pants on one leg at a time, and still drives his own car. He takes his kids to school and buys them the occasional gift like any good father would. He wants less articles written about him and less of the focus on his personal life than the camera usually finds. Society is driven to know the intimate details of a celebrity's life, like the attention on George W. Bush's next meal or Madonna's latest boyfriend. It's insane!
And while I do respect Mr. Lucas' ideas and creativity in making Star Wars, he's still just a normal guy. In fact, think about it like this: has he ever once posted something on Starwars.com? No, although he is credited with a few Select pictures. Has he ever drawn concept art himself? No, he's enlisted a crack team of artists to put a pen to his mind. Has he ever built a set, been in a Star Wars movie or made a new sound effect for a scene? Chances are he's never nailed together two set pieces, acted, or been out hunting for sounds to insert into the film. Probably the distinguishing mark of his success is the fact that he's surrounded himself with a genius staff, one that will take his ideas and run with them. So perhaps Lucas is a genius for that.
Or perhaps you are the reason Lucas is a genius. Not because Star Wars is the most amazing movie around, but because something in it made you click. People have tried aliens and spaceships before, but not close to half of the return. Something about the movie resonated within you, and maybe you've never articulated it before, but it is special somewhere inside. So maybe Lucas is a genius for that.
Either way, we need not peer too closely into the world of George Lucas to see he leads a normal life with a normal family but with a particularly unique and envious job. And he would suggest it's probably not that envious, getting to make 2 more Star Wars films and tell a modern day myth that will never be forgotten. But I would say he is a genius, not for the fantastic images we see on screen or the legendary qualities people place on him, but more because he's a good business man and has made a series of movies accessible to everyone.
Joshua Griffin
December 21st, 2000
RECENT EDITORIALS
04/08/03 - Christopher Knight - Oscars Give Short Shrift to Fantasy
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01/14/03 - Michael Potts - Clone Wars: Expanded Universe Editorial
2002
09/03/02 - Joshua Griffin - Digital Pirates Sink Ships
05/17/02 - Chris Knight - Digital Projection: The Audience Is Watching... And Waiting
04/11/02 - TFN Staff - Thumbs Up, Tumbs Down for SW2 Marketing
03/08/02 - TFN Staff - Clone War Trailer Reaction
01/13/02 - TFN Staff - TFN Reaction to SNL N'Sync Skit
01/03/02 - TFN Staff - Boy Band Jedi Reactions
2001
12/12/01 - Chris Knight - Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
12/07/01 - Jeff Yankey - All I Want for Christmas
11/17/01 - Guest Editorial - Ritual and Romance of Episode II
10/04/01 - Guest Editorial - Why Episode I is Brilliant
10/02/01 - Guest Editorial - Episode I is Star Wars
09/30/01 - Guest Editorial - Why I Loved Episode I
09/25/01 - Joshua Griffin - Episode II: Make It or Break It Time
08/21/01 - Chris Knight - SW2: Attack On The Soul?
07/13/01 - Joshua Griffin - Special Time for SW Fans
05/14/01 - Joshua Griffin - AlphaCon is Finished
05/09/01 - Chris Knight - In The Beginning... Star Wars Comes To A Wired World
04/17/01 - Joshua Griffin - Global TFN - International Outlook on Star Wars
03/14/01 - Chris Knight - Palpatine vs. Hitler: Prequel Speculation Runs Amok!
02/13/01 - Chris Knight - "The Force" of Love: A Valentine's Day Editorial
01/17/01 - Chris Knight - Star Wars Could Continue... As Television Anthology
01/11/01 - Guest Editorial - A Review of A New Hope After the Prequels
01/07/01 - Guest Editorial - No - We Want the DVDs Now!
01/04/01 - Chris Knight - New Digital Disciple Says "Lets Wait On Star Wars DVDs"
2000
12/21/00 - Joshua Griffin - Is George Lucas Really a Genius?
11/18/00 - Joshua Griffin - To Spoil or Not to Spoil
11/06/00 - Joshua Griffin - The Power of the Election
11/01/00 - Chris Knight - Why Isn't There A Star Wars Postage Stamp?
08/17/00 - Jason McCabe Calacanis - The SW2 Fan Trailer (guest editorial)
07/14/00 - Joshua Griffin/Scott Chitwood - TFN's Spoiler Policy
06/20/00 - Chris Knight - Star Wars and the Saga of Life
05/13/00 - TFN Staff - TheForce.net Wish List
04/08/00 - Special Guest Editorial by Skybaugh - Worth the Wait
03/30/00 - Joshua Griffin - What Star Wars Has Won
03/19/00 - Joshua Griffin - The Next Denver Celebration
03/14/00 - Joshua Griffin - Fair Weather Fans
03/07/00 - Joshua Griffin - Predicting the Academy Award Winners
02/22/00 - Joshua Griffin - Who should profit from Star Wars?
02/16/00 - Joshua Griffin - Episode I and the Academy
01/27/00 - TFN Staff - Flaming TFN over DVD
01/25/00 - Chris Knight - Motivations of the Sith
01/20/00 - TFN Staff - Leonardo DiCaprio as Anakin?
01/10/00 - Joshua Griffin - World-Wide Star Wars
01/03/00 - Joshua Griffin - Mass Merchandising Menace
1999
12/13/99 - Joshua Griffin - Questioning Star Wars
11/22/99 - Joshua Griffin - Trusting Internet Rumors
11/11/99 - Paul Davidson - Rise of the Empire: China and TPM
10/28/99 - Scott Chitwood - Signs There Probably Won't Be a Sequel Trilogy
10/18/99 - Joshua Griffin - Why not Episode I DVD?
10/15/99 - Joshua Griffin - What Makes SW Fans Special
10/01/99 - Joshua Griffin - The PG Rating of TPM
09/07/99 - Scott Chitwood and Paul Ens - Comic and Book Wishlist
08/18/99 - TF.N Team - Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down on Episode I Everything
07/11/99 - Joshua Griffin - Parody Site isn't that funny
07/10/99 - Brian Linder - The Jar Jar Factor
06/08/99 - Joshua Griffin & Chris Knight - Why is Jar Jar in Episode I?
05/06/99 - Darin Smith - Return of the Child
03/09/99 - Scott Chitwood and Paul Ens - A Chat with LFL
02/07/99 - Amy Pronovost - Convention Romances, Can they Work?
01/23/99 - Scott Chitwood - What's up with Prowse?
01/01/99 - Scott Chitwood - Uncle George and Episode 1
1998
11/23/98 - Scott Chitwood - What Lucasfilm is doing right
11/05/98 - Scott Chitwood - Prequel Spoilers
09/28/98 - David Coates - First thoughts on the the Episode 1 Title
06/19/98 - Scott Chitwood - How Godzilla affected Episode I
04/09/98 - Scott Chitwood - The Art of the Space Battle
04/09/98 - Scott Chitwood - DIVX SUX
02/26/98 - Scott Chitwood - X-WING TV Series Should Fly
02/09/98 - Scott Chitwood - Xerox Sites
02/03/98 - Scott Chitwood - Canon Issue, Part 2
01/07/98 - Terrence Daniels - Canon = Personal Preference
1997
12/17/97 - Darin Smith - Everything I need to know...
11/15/97 - Chris Kivlehan - Six Episodes or Nine Episodes?
11/07/97 - Scott Chitwood - How do you solve a problem like Ewan?
11/03/97 - Scott Chitwood - How we get our Prequel 'Spy' info
10/22/97 - Paul Davidson - Trek vs. Wars