Read this
George Lucas Says He's Sorry
Tells 60 Minutes that Jar Jar Binks was a 'mistake' and that 'it won't happen again.'
March 31, 2000
It was like a scene right out of Return of the Jedi -- you know the one, when Darth Vader finally removes his mask and renounces the Dark Side. But this time there was no sound stage, no script, and it was George Lucas himself who was in front of the cameras, not behind them.
Put on the spot by 60 Minutes reporter Mike Wallace, acclaimed filmmaker George Lucas actually broke down and said that he was "sorry" about the whole Jar Jar Binks thing, and vowed that "it would never happen again."
"What was I thinking?" Lucas said of the floppy-eared amphibian that most critics agree "ruined" Star Wars. "It's not like he was even cute, like an Ewok," the famed director confessed, in this remarkably candid interview. "Let's just say that I'm sorry about the whole $#%@ thing."
Lucas told Wallace he now realizes the enormity of his mistake. "All I wanted was a decent remake of The Hidden Fortress. And I did that. But I didn't know when to quit. I mean, can you honestly imagine Kurosawa sticking a clumsy anthropomorphic toad-man in the middle of The Seven Samurai?
"Meesa, meesa Samurai!" Lucas shouted, mimicking the broken English of the hated Gungan as he leapt out of his chair and began to prance around the studio, flapping his arms like a chicken. "Yousa say peepa gonna die?"
Lucas then resumed his seat and struck a dignified, remorseful pose. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so, so very sorry."
How did Wallace get Lucas to say these things? As 60 Minutes often does, before it talked to Lucas it did some serious investigative work. First, it showed a segment depicting the veritable mountains of Jar Jar merchandise still littering the nation's shopping malls. According to 60 Minutes, these items have clogged warehouses to "dangerous" levels and are causing serious accidents. Viewers were shown footage in which a 40' stack of boxes filled with Jar Jar material toppled over, injuring several workers.
It's not just big business that's suffering under the weight of Jar Jar items: scientists are warning of long-term environmental consequences too. One scientist interviewed by 60 Minutes estimated that the 235 million metric tons of still unsold merchandise -- coffee mugs, sucker pops, oven mitts, inflatable chairs, the innumerable busts and figurines -- constituted an ecological catastrophe of "nightmare proportions."
"If we don't do something about the Jar Jar Binks landfill crisis, it's our own grandchildren who will pay the price, " Dr. Phifer told the program. "They'll be forced to pave their streets with melted down Jar Jar action figures, build their homes out of ceramic Jar Jar busts.
"We are looking at a future where the only form of currency is collectible Jar Jar medallions, the only form of clothing indestructible plastic Jar Jar capes and masks!"
When Mike Wallace confronted Lucas with these reports, shaking a handful of Jar Jar action figures in Lucas' face, the famed director actually broke down and cried. But Wallace continued to badger the director, demanding to know how he could lend his name to so many inferior products.
"They drove a dump truck full of money up to my house!" Lucas said, burying his face in tear-stained hands. "I'm not made of stone!"
At that point the show went to a commercial break. When it resumed, both Lucas and Wallace seemed calmer, although Lucas' gray, ashen visage remained visibly shaken. The questions resumed, with Wallace gently probing Lucas, trying to ascertain how things could have ever reached such a point.
Lucas said that sometimes success can be a two-edged sword.
"It's the dark side of fame," the filmmaker confided. "I had reached a pinnacle of wealth and success so great that no one around me ever questioned anything I said or did. I'd say, 'Let's have a talking red frog that runs around farting and spouting gibberish.' And everyone around me would say it was the greatest idea ever! I was surrounded by a bunch of spineless yes men!"
"I mean look at Howard the Duck! What the hell was that?!"
Lucas then explained that he had recently had a change of heart about his whole career, which is why he agreed to be interviewed by Wallace. This change, he said, was a "revelation" that struck him as he looked over the blueprints for a proposed LucasLand theme park in the heart of San Rafael, California.
"Here I was, all enthused and excited about this 25-square mile high-tech playground that would appeal to kids and parents alike, when one of the proposed 'Lands' within the park struck me as a little odd. Then I remembered.
"A long time ago, I had done a little film called THX-1138, a scathing indictment of conformity, corporatism, and the pacification of the masses through the use of meaningless, sense-intoxicating mass media.
"And now in my theme park we were going to have a hotel called 'THX-Towers', where park visitors would be strapped into couches by shaven-head workers, deafened by THX sound systems, and bombarded with Ewok cartoons and Pod Racing games."
Falling to his knees, he gathered the carpet in his hands, his face turned up into the lights. Tears streamed down his penitent, Christ-like face.
"If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate you destiny, consume you it will," Lucas said, his voice a grim whisper. "For my ally was the Force. And a powerful ally it was. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us.
"Luminous beings are we," Lucas cried, suddenly heaving the pile of Jar Jar action figures off of the desk. "Not this crude matter!"
And with that, the interview was over.
Don't miss this remarkable, historic interview which airs again on this Sunday's 60 Minutes.
Well?
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"That television... it bewitched me!"
Ha ha! That'd make my day. ; )
Kurgan
[This message has been edited by Kurgan (edited August 27, 2000).]
<font face="BernardMod BT"><font color="#117DF4"> Awesome.
Kurgan, I thought I would find you faster here. Can I be the mod for the TPM forum?
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Micro**** mind tricks don't work on me....
http://fan.starwars.com/Fishsticks/files/MadeWindu/Mace.gif)
Jedi Microsith Warrior
Go To The Rogue Federation Board @
http://pub22.ezboard.com/broguefederation)
Hmm... I believe that was an April Fool's Day joke, but it's still quite funny.
We appreciate your generous offer, however, we don't have a need currently for any more moderators.
Kurgan