Oh George...

You know, I've kept mostly silent about the whole, "George Lucas makes Red Tails and Hollywood is racist for not wanting to put it out there" debacle. But it's when I see videos supporting him and his bullshit - that's when I get pissed and have to stand up.

From various articles I've written on this site most would be able to tell that I don't like George Lucas. Or at least the Lucas that has existed from about 1985 onward. He's done nothing but instill a sense in me that he's absolutely a money-grubbing, corporate stooge who is arrogant and out-of-touch. He is a bully and a businessman who THINKS he's an artist with talent. But I digress.

Lucas has been wanting to make Red Tails for years. He finally got around to it. The facts are that he financed the movie 100%. Meaning he made it with his money. He tried selling the script for years but nobody wanted it. This has been attributed mostly because a television movie was made (called the Tuskegee Airmen) right around this time so it was an unnecessary movie to make but also that the script sucked. That's hearsay, so who knows? Bottom line, Lucas has TONS of projects he's talked about for YEARS that he's going to make, or has been working on, or whatever. I remember hearing about Red Tails back in Junior High for godsakes and that was a LONG time ago. The man is a lot of things, he's also a procrastinator. Anyhoo, he finally get's around to making Red Tails. He doesn't direct it, but the rumors are that he was on the set A LOT, had final say in every decision-making process and even heavily re-shot a significant portion of the film. So for all intents and purposes, you could call Red Tails a George Lucas movie.

So what happens next? He takes the movie around to the studios to get them interested in either buying it and releasing it or simply releasing it. So either the studio get's more money from ticket sales or less depending on the deal they want to make. Many studio's pass on the project.

So you're George Lucas...you're an egomaniac and you were expecting a gigantic bidding war for your new movie...which doesn't happen. What do you do?

You pull the race card of course.

First off, I'll be clear. I have not watched Red Tails...nor do I ever plan to. It was made by Lucasfilm and after the Prequel Trilogy I have nothing but distaste for anything Lucas puts his stamp on. I suffered through Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull but that's because it's Indy. Plus, the movie just didn't look good. If it had looked better, I probably would've checked it out, but it just looked BAAAD.

And from all accounts, it is BAAAD. This is why the studio's passed on it. I've heard it is horribly written and blandly directed. It's just not a good movie. Is Lucas going to accuse everyone of being racist for not liking it?

See it's comments like this that really piss me off.

So Blade isn't a black-action film.

Neither is Bad Boys or Bad Boys II.

Or Shaft for that matter?

I suppose Beverly Hills Cop won't count because it's got white people in it.

What about Glory?

Or how about the Tuskegee Airmen which was critically acclaimed and is heralded as better than Red Tails even though their based on the same story and the former is a TV mini-series while the latter is a theatrical film?

I could of course go on and on. But why bother, the point has been made. Lucas cries out racism even though, let's face it, the studio's probably passed on his movie because it sucks. That and Lucas comes with baggage. He's been attacked for many years over the quality of the Prequel Trilogy and his continued tweaks of the Original Trilogy. The Studio's know this, they've watched it. They know he's a controversial guy. If I were a Studio head I'd pass on Red Tails too. It's just smart business. Plus he's so obviously out-of-touch.

Here's a multi-billionaire whining about having to pay for his own movie, also, eff you Oprah for just going along with this bullshit, be a journalist for once in your life:

 

Although, here's where we have to sort of make a decision here. The question is (and has always been), does Lucas really believe his bullshit or is he just simply covering his own ass.

The whole, "the studios didn't know how to market it and that's why they passed on it" has been repeated enough times for it to remind me of the whole, "Star Wars is for little kids" comments that he makes in order to defend the childishness of the Prequel Trilogy on a whole but mostly Episode I. These comments are obviously shields. He uses them all the time and they're defensive in nature. So...does he really believe this or is this his ego taking over and trying to defend things that really can't be defended? Are these statements made so that he doesn't have to admit to making any mistakes?

I'll leave that up to you, the reader. But personally, I believe these sayings are nothing more than shields. He knows he's fucked up many times...sure it's deep down there, but he doesn't really believe these things he says. He says them to cover his ass, save his reputation, save his movies, and make validations to himself that he's still everything that he thinks he is, i.e. a good filmmaker and an artist - which he most certainly ISN'T. At least, not anymore. But deep down, he knows what's up. Most men do. Even the most powerful have to go to sleep in the dark and that's when our doubts, fears, and anxieties creep in. That's when we have to face the demons and admit to our own failures and wrongdoings.