Brain Fertilizer

Complaints about George Lucas and what he did with the Star Wars franchise are all over the web, including an earlier post on this site.

Well, do you think that he might have avoided the problems if he'd just watched his own movie a few extra times?

Here's some quotes from Star Wars:

So the Jedi are one of the most influential among the ruling powers of the Republic. They are betrayed and destroyed, sure...but would a mere 20-year gap have resulted in opinions like this?

Hokey religions, and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side.

[I]'ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field controls my destiny.

Viet Nam and Watergate have more influence after more than thirty years. Maybe he should have had the Jedi betrayed and destroyed earlier, or discredited more completely, or (best) had them been half-legend even when they existed.

And while Obi-Wan calls Anakin one of the best pilots he'd ever seen, there's no reason he had to be one of the most powerful Jedi trainees. Or that Obi-Wan had to be treated as semi-competent (as he was in Episode II and III). Not only does Obi-Wan defeat a Sith Apprentice single-handedly, Darth/Anakin himself seems to indicate Obi-Wan had always been far better than Anakin when he says:

I've been waiting for you Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete; when I left you, I was but the learner, now I am the master.

And do you think the former home of Anakin/Darth Vader, a place that the elected Queen of Naboo visited more than once, the best place she found to land her disabled ship, could be considered this way?

If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that is farthest from.

The worst pit of backwardness between Washington, D.C. and New York couldn't be described that way. You'd have to find something in North Dakota or Utah. George Lucas ignored most of the legend/mythos he gave us in Star Wars to make his prequels.

I'll say it flatly: George Lucas is a shortsighted, greedy egoist.

I will revisit this topic again.

Bonus Star Wars pun in the comments here.