George Lucas changed the course of science fiction and influenced generations to come with his epic space opera Star Wars. While the filmmaker only helmed the first film in the original trilogy, he was involved in the creative decisions that have made the franchise one of the most loved pop cultural milestones in Hollywood.
While Lucas’ billion-dollar franchise has fans worldwide, the movies have also come under stark criticism. Since the beginning of the franchise with A New Hope, Lucas has been accused of writing bad dialogue and crafting stories that were more kid-friendly. Lucas himself admitted to his shortcomings with dialogue and mentioned that the movie does not require smart lines.
George Lucas Has A Reason For Bad Dialogues In Star Wars
One of the biggest criticisms of the Star Wars franchise under the creative leadership of George Lucas is his unnatural and exposition-heavy dialogue. The filmmaker’s Achilles Heel has been made fun of and has been parodied many times, including his own actors such as Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher.
Hamill had reportedly begged him to remove a line in the original film as it was unnatural and was not something that any human would say. Hamill recounted the incident on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and mentioned how he had to plead with the American Graffiti director to remove the line. Harrison Ford too had reportedly told him to read out loud his lines while he was writing them (via GQ).
George Lucas himself was reportedly aware of the criticisms his dialogue-writing received and humbly admitted that he could not write smart lines of dialogue like Lethal Weapon. Lucas said to Empire,
“I’d be the first person to say I can’t write dialogue. My dialogue is very utilitarian and is designed to move things forward. I’m not Shakespeare. It’s not designed to be poetic…After a while of working in the medium, I decided that wasn’t ultimately essential to making the movies. So in the last few movies, we did not try and be clever with the dialogue. I just wanted to get from point A to point B.”
The filmmaker also mentioned that he tried to include snappy one-liners in American Graffiti with writers Bill and Gloria Hyuck. However, he essentially decided that such a tone would not fit the milieu of Star Wars.
George Lucas Has A Reason Why Characters In Star Wars Speak That Way
Though George Lucas’ Star Wars has become a cultural milestone that changed Hollywood due to its success, critics reportedly did not enjoy the film initially. Lucas mentioned to Empire how the criticisms for the original trilogy focused on the dialogue being wooden, the excessive special effects, and how the film was catering to children.
However, Lucas mentioned that there was a reason for his films to be in that way and the world they were set in was more in tune with the films of the ‘30s and the ‘40s than the films of the present. He said,
“The acting in Star Wars movies is a throwback to an earlier time – the 30s and 40s and more theatrical acting than method and realism. When you get away from that convention, a lot of people don’t understand it anymore. They’re used to a more affected kind of style.”
The filmmaker mentioned that the films would never appeal to academically inclined critics as the films did not depict realism, which they had become used to.
