The People vs. George Lucas

The first feature from Swiss film essayist Alexandre O. Philippe takes a deep dive into the mildly toxic aspect of Star Wars fan culture that's focused squarely on the series's creator. The documentary feels a bit like a fan film itself. But despite its rather shoddy production values, Philippe scores some solid interviews with luminaries like author Neil Gaiman (himself a victim of obsessive fans who have attacked him for some of his choices) and Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, along with numerous podcasters, comedians, authors of Star Wars books, and creators of fan websites and fan films. The documentary's central theme: at what point does an artistic creation cease to be the property of its creator and become something that belongs to the general public, is a worthy question. I’m enough of a fanboy shaped by Star Wars to have a strong opinion myself. I believe that once any work of art is put into the world, it can't help but become part of the world, and certainly something that has had the influence and lasting resonance on cinema and culture as Star Wars crosses over from simply a work of art to a societal phenomenon. But as much as I love the first three Star Wars films, I find the culture surrounding the "franchise" pretty sad and embarrassing. I can get mad at George Lucas as much as the next guy (well, actually not as much as the next guy), but I would never go so far as to believe that "he ruined my childhood" just because of the questionable directions he took a fictional series that was foundational to my childhood. 

The documentary was made in a pre-Gamergate era when internet culture was a little more innocent than it would soon become, so we can forgive Philippe for not exploring how this type of fanaticism can turn dangerous and violent. Still, I wish it dug deeper into the psychologies of these obsessive fans. There is a light side and a dark side to fandom, but this film isn't all that interested in exploring those extremes—it's much more about the silly side, which is amusing but hardly worthy of a feature film. Devoting 92 minutes to watching this doc feels a little sad and unnecessary when you can get pretty much the same overall effect (and a much more fun time) watching the great Late Night with Conan O'Brien segment in which Triumph The Insult Comic Dog attends a Star Wars Premiere!"