gffa:
This is a really interesting read about George Lucas and you really sort of get the point of just how much shit he took over Star Wars and over just about everything and yet how settled in his own skin he seems to be, in a way that I don’t know that I could have managed.
re: Making the movies he wanted to make:
Most critics hated the first two episodes. But Lucas isn’t worried about their reaction. “They haven’t liked any of them, really, and they especially haven’t liked the last two,” says Lucas. “It’s like, hey, you know, it can’t get any worse.”
But doesn’t it hurt? “Oh, it always hurts. It hurts a great deal. But part of making movies is you get attacked, and sometimes in very personal ways,” says Lucas.
“The point is, like if you paint your house white and somebody comes over, ‘Well that should be a green house.’ Well, fine, but I wanted to paint it white. I don’t think there was anything wrong with painting it white. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me for painting it white. Maybe it should be a green house, but I didn’t want it to be a green house. I wanted it to be a white house.”
re: Why wasn’t he married again?
And his love life? “What love life,” says Lucas, laughing. “It hasn’t changed much. … I’d love to get married again, but I’m not gonna get married unless it’s the right person.”
“Are you getting set in your ways,” asks Stahl.
“Oh, I’m very set in my ways,” says Lucas. “I am difficult. But you know, whomever I’d be interested in now is also the same way.”
Back in 1999, Lucas’ good friend, Francis Ford Coppola, told 60 Minutes what he thought the problem was: “He has very high standards. I mean, he wants Queen Noor or Grace Kelly or someone. She can’t be too tall, she has to be wonderful with her kids.”
Lucas’ response? “Everybody says the same thing about their friend that’s single, which is, ‘They’re too picky. If they just wouldn’t be so picky they’d be married by now,’” says Lucas.
Just imagine getting this much shit constantly. About absolutely everything! Because people always feel free to say whatever they want about him. Imagine having to be secure enough in yourself to not let that change you.
idk it’s interesting to actually listen to him talk, someone who has clearly given a lot of thought to himself and how he is and how he comes off, but has settled into his own skin and is like, yeah, I am who I am, but not in a mean, aggressive way. He’s open about his flaws and, like, I’m not going to feel sorry for someone who literally made billions from his movies, he’s doing fine, but sometimes it’s just sort of remarkable to step back from all of the criticism of him (deserved and undeserved alike) and really look at things.