MovieChat Forums > The People vs. George Lucas (2011) Discussion > A missed opportunity

A missed opportunity

posted 13 years ago by Killingforcompany
5 replies | jump to latest

To really explore the culture of fandom.

This film just didn't deliver the goods, or even raise the sort of questions that I was expecting to be raised. I'm not saying that it was a totally bad film, but there was no deeper exploration into the psychological and sociological reasons for fandom. The filmmakers never placed Star Wars into the broader context of what it did to the business of filmmaking. Star Wars was practically the first blockbuster and, along with Jaws, ushered in a new type of film. It created the summer blockbuster extravaganza, which has dominated our cultural landscape ever since.

The filmmakers never raise the question that the Star Wars generation is a generation that has never truly grown up because of the infantilization of our culture in the aftermath of Star Wars' success. Instead what we get is something about how Star Wars has created a world of endless parodies. That and the fallout from the prequels and OT reissues, which was done rather well. But the bigger questions are never really asked.

[–] Segarr 13 years ago

I agree that the film seemed kind of thin when all was said and done.

Scratches the surface, but didn't take that next step.

[–] jmtelfor 13 years ago

Agreed.

It didn't exactly cover any new ground and the endless star wars fan videos were so annoying. I'm no fan of George but if I were him, I wouldn't be taking any of these whining fanboys seriously either. I kinda felt embarrassed for the people being interviewed. Get a life people.

[–] dack25 13 years ago

Yeah I mean I thought I was angry over the prequels or not having the original films on Blu-Ray but jeez some of these people are nuts. I mean I stopped playing with action figures when I was 9 or 10 and they're showing these grown adults complaining about being forced to buy more Star Wars stuff. It's laughable that people actually got this hyped for Episode I. It's an entertaining documentary but man some of the people are crazy.

[–] Killingforcompany 13 years ago

The hype for Episode 1 really was astronomical, but what's even crazier was that one dude in the movie who went back to see it repeated times even though he didn't like it.

I've always wondered, if the fanboys really hated episode 1 for all it was worth then why did the other two prequels continue to make big money? Just because it is Star Wars? Had any of these films tanked or underperformed in any way, then it would have sent a stronger message to Lucasfilm than the endless complaining online.

[–] vincent-27 13 years ago

THe analogy they made between a heroin addict chasing a high and watching the star wars movies was very accurate. All those fanboys were expecting to get that same high they got in 1977 (or whenever they watched it for the first time) and couldn't believe it when not only did they not achieve it, but the movies didn't even come close, like they injected themselves with draino.

I think it was very traumatic for them when Lucas took a big shart on the thing they dedicated a good portion of their lives. It was like the robot trying to compute "This statement is a lie", eventually its head explodes.

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