amelia from the videos — in case any of u hadn’t seen lol

it is such a large scale tragedy, because the massive success of that first star wars turned into an increasingly isolating nonstop work atmosphere for all involved, and it killed their marriage. all this changed the tone of the saga forever. the first really was lightning in a bottle, and she, and their marriage, was central to it

george lucas’ dad, who he is named after:

- grew up in a dirt poor family in a small town

- became “head of the family” as a kid after the loss of his father (“the early responsibility deprived him of his adolescence”)

- met his future wife also as a kid and instantly fell in love with her

- said future wife was the daughter of a rich, prominent family

- they get married when he’s 19

- glucas sr goes on to form a pseudo father-son bond with his much older business partner/mentor, a relationship that lasts over a decade and only ends when said business partner DIES

- his wife has frequent bouts of a mystery illness which reportedly tortures glucas sr “for twenty years”!!!

all day we go back and forth on this app on whether star wars depicts the jedi as good or evil. star wars is about the trials of having a fatherless father and that’s that!!

so we have this divide between the feminine heart and masculine rigor. and this vast industry of peers who can accomplish great things, but on a military scale, through deep personal discipline—then this little private world, of real love and easy affection. and it’s a possessiveness from anakin and a desire to push himself to be the best while having total control that leads to a really dark place. home front and battlefield. fight to achieve your potential, keep your guard up. the great forces of evil are coming to destroy your oh so fragile family. everything is volatile. like surely we get what i’m putting down here

the way this all ends up in the final product is deeply messy & bound up in a lot of sincere-but-done-as-a-sales-pitch-first politics. but ultimately i believe this is a much more fruitful lens than any insistence on the jedi being less complicated than they were or anakin being less of the jedi than he was

its hard to be in love and to be a job. it’s hard to be in love and to be famous. it is hard to be in love and make blockbusters crafted for the market first. it is hard to be consistently human and angry and to navigate a world that is eating you. i think thats what its all about really . tbqh