http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110008136
Here are my comments:
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Director George Lucas is worried about American "cultural imperialism."
A bit late for that, isn't it, Mr. Lucas? Are you feeling guilty, or what? And just what\ exactly do you mean by "American?" What is this "American culture" like? And what is this "imperialism" thing? Is this culture "forced" onto people at gunpoint, or do they choose it and embrace it, in the same way that Americans do?
So, you found a group of star-struck "yes-men" in Frisco to talk to, did you ? Perhaps you can ask them for plot clues for your next movie. (Hint--midichlorians were a stupid idea, and Jar Jar was pathetic.)
In a speech to the World Affairs Council in San Francisco on Wednesday, he cited the lifestyles portrayed on "Dallas" as an example of how Hollywood irresponsibly infects the minds of poor people overseas.
"They say, 'That is what I want to be' . . . [and] that destabilizes a lot of the world," AFP quotes him as saying.
When speaking to this group of caring folk (many of whom are not likely to be people of color or of little wealth), which poor people were you talking about specifically, Lucas?
How many of them are you actually referring to?
How, precisely, does them saying "We want everything that you have, Mr. Lucas," destabilize the world?
So here we have an unnamed, unnumbered group of people whose lives are so miserable that they want to be like Dallas characters. EVERYBODY knows these people exist--who? Where? If they even have a TV, do they have no local shows from their own country and in their own language? Are these poor people so stupid that they can't tell what is real? Do they really believe that J.R. is an example of a typical American, or that American Women are all like those on Sex And The City? Do these unnamed folk really believe that all American women are Desperate Housewives, or Married With Children?
Ah, but they do know that they are poor and miserable, especially when compared to people on Dallas. Whose fault is it that they are so miserable and poor? Quick quiz--
A) Their own;
B) Their own government's fault;
C) The greedy dictators that run their governments;
D) people like Quentin Tarantino and Tom Cruise;
If you feel, Mr. Lucas, that what you are doing is so bad, why do you keep doing it? Or are the messages you send so much better than the ones you criticize?
Do you really feel that the world revolves around Hollywood and the American entertainment media? You seem to be deprecating things like Bollywood in India, that produces wildly popular films that have nothing to do with American culture or values.
But you can't have it both ways, Mr. Lucas. You claim filmmakers should be more careful about the messages they send, but then when anybody complains about the messages or content that is sent out, Hollywood types cry, "Censorship! Evil! I want my Freedom of Speech!"
U.S. filmmakers should be more careful about the messages they send, Mr. Lucas added.
You claim that films don't influence people to be violent (no matter what the content or messages are), but then you claim the films do influence people to want to be unrealistically affluent?
Which is it?
Marketers, too, presumably, since a lot of poor people in other countries probably see Mr. Lucas's "Star Wars" line of products and think: "That is what I want to have."
If it's good enough to sell to Americans, why isn't it good enough to sell to Pakistanis, or Nigerians, or Indonesians?
Sorry, George, that Bantha don't hunt.
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