“When you see the films one through six it’s a very very different experience…but the idea of when Darth Vader comes on in episode 4 it suddenly has a huge, powerful effect because you know, right from the get go that that is Princess Leia’s father. You know that when you cut down to Luke, you know that that’s his son. And you realize that Darth Vader is a pathetic character, he’s not this big all-powerful monster. He’s actually this pathetic man who made some wrong choices, who found himself trapped in the word of evil…and the only people who can get him out are his kids.” – George Lucas
It really has to do with learning. Children teach you compassion. They teach you to love unconditionally. Anakin can’t be redeemed for all the pain and suffering he’s caused. He doesn’t right the wrongs, but he stops the horror. The end of the saga is simply Anakin saying, I care about this person [Luke], regardless of what it means to me. I will throw away everything that I have, everything that I’ve grown to love – primarily the Emperor – and throw away my life, to save this person. And I’m doing it because he has faith in me; he loves me despite all the horrible things I’ve done. I broke his mother’s heart, but he still cares about me, and I can’t let that die. Anakin is very different in the end. The thing of it is: the prophecy was right. Anakin was the chosen one, and he does bring balance to the Force. He takes the ounce of good still left in him and destroys the Emperor out of compassion for his son.
George Lucas – The Making of Revenge of the Sith; page 221. (via greenkaorichan)
Lucas has put forth plans to build a 224-unit affordable housing complex at Grady Ranch, the Contra Costa Times reports, which once served as the proposed site for Lucas’ third digital studio. The plan has been in the works since 2012, but opposition from wealthy Marin County residents had stalled its progress … until now.
I WISH I COULD SHOVE THIS IN THE FACES OF EVERYONE THAT EVER TRASH TALKED THE PREQUELS
I like the prequels, but I think even if you don’t – the attacks on Lucas after TPM came out were really violent and really unsettling and really, really undeserved. It was fucking horrible behaviour, and still is.
Other fun stuff: Lucas and his wife (who is incredibly accomplished herself) donated $25 million to After School Matters, he’s building afforable housing on his land, he contributed $33000 to Obama’s presidential campaign, and he spoke out against the overly-white 2015 Oscar nominations-
-but eh, you know, he literally like DESTROYED EVERYONE’S CHILDHOODS with some bad CGI and stuff so he’s totally THE SCUM OF THE EARTH
The Princess is everything Luke wants to be. She is socially conscious, whereas he is thrown into things; intellectually, she is a strong leader, and he is just a kid.
– George Lucas
People often talk about how Han influenced Luke, but we should also look at how Leia influenced Luke.
I’ve
always really liked this idea—that they’re the exact same age, but
their different lives have given them very different levels of maturity,
and Luke is envious, but fascinated, and idolizes her a bit.
It’s
kind of weird to think of Han as being a big influence compared to
Leia. I mean, yes, they were close. But it’s made reasonably obvious
that close male friends aren’t something Luke’s ever lacked. If
anything, I’d say they’re mutually influential. Han’s experience and
training help temper Luke’s youth and inexperience, and his cynicism
demands that Luke account for his own faith. Luke, in turn, cracks Han’s
shell with hope and faith, and his earnest belief that Han can be
better than what he’s let himself become won’t let him crawl back into
the hole he’s dug for himself.
But Leia?
I mean, come on.
Luke’s got these vague intentions to run away and do…something. He’s
dissatisfied with his home life, he’s dissatisfied with the future he
sees for himself, and he resents, in an equally vague way, the
expectations of his family. He thinks of joining the rebellion because
he’s romanticized it. He thinks of going to the academy because it’s
anywhere but where he’s at. All of his ambitions amount to this sort of
nebulous, Anything But What I Have aspiration. He goes running after
Kenobi on the strength of a shitty, recorded hologram because it seems
exciting. He has no real idea about what this sort of mission would
entail, or cost, or achieve. It’s an Adventure, and he’s bored.
Then he meets Leia, and she’s literally everything he ever had some mindless daydream about being.
Only instead of being a cardboard cut-out hero in some story he’s using
to distract himself from a shitty frontier subsistence-farmer life,
she’s a real person who’s actually fucking doing it. She’s a leader.
She’s a fighter. She’s risking life and limb for a cause she completely
and utterly understands and absolutely believes in. This isn’t some
thing she ran away to do because she got sick of being a princess and a
senator. People look up to her, and follow her, and obey her, because
she’s spent her life earning it.
He’s looking around and going
“Empire bad? We blow up ships?” and she’s going “Here’s ten political
treatises on why the Empire needs to go, here are the details of troop
movements and expected reinforcements and supply lines for the upcoming
battle, and here are the family photos of everybody in the next ten
systems that are going to get stomped into bloody paste in retaliation
if we fail here.” He finds her, and within five minutes she’s gone from
the princess he’s rescuing because that’s what action heroes do to the
person he needs to emulate if he’s ever going to make something of
himself.
