George Lucas Is Just Reminding You Who He Always Was

George Lucas has been having a good time of it lately. He's got his years-in-the-making museum of narrative art about to open; we're far enough into the era of Disney's acquisition of Star Wars that any time he minimally interacts with his former franchise, it's met with warmth rather than the revulsion that defined fandom's view of him by the time he sold it off. He's just hanging out, having a great time with his wife and also occasionally appearing in a Minions movie.

That peace was disrupted with the sound of cries of terror suddenly silenced this week when Lucas decided that now was the time to let everyone know that he loves generative AI.

"Artificial intelligence means it’s much easier for us to make movies," Lucas (who has not directed a film since Revenge of the Sith) told A Rabbit's Foot, adding that the technology was an inevitability, and that resistance to its proliferation was akin to horse-and-cart users wary of the invention of cars.

For some, this kind of response from a beloved director, especially in an age of increasing AI skepticism, came as a huge shock. "George Lucas embraces the dark side," headlines cried. How could the man that pioneered special effects as we know them, who helped establish ILM, who forged a whole, lived-in galaxy out of practical models and alien prosthetics, possibly say such a thing?

The thing is, it's very easy to remember the work of George Lucas, the director, and come to this kind of shock. It's even easier at a time when the director has, passively or otherwise, largely managed to completely overhaul his public image over the last two decades to the point that for some people it's going to be difficult to remember that there was a time not that long ago that merely mentioning Lucas' name would casually and rapidly invoke remarks from people that he had "raped their childhoods."