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Star Wars, the Lost Interviews
smooth wombat writes "Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Release of Star Wars, Ballantine Books is publishing J.W. Rinzler's "The Making of Star Wars", which bills itself as "The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film." The book is the result of Rinzler's discovery of interviews that Charles Lippincott, Lucasfilm's VP marketing and merchandising in the mid-'70s, conducted with the film's principals between 1975 and 1978."
In the book, Lippincott admits that he actually fired first ...
Bark less. Wag more.
These are not the interviews you're looking for. Move along.
I've seen an advance galley proof of the book, and let me tell you, it's filled with fascinating material. Here's some nuggets:
Q: George, there are rumors going around that Luke and Leia are related in some way.
GL: (Laughs) Charlie, I can assure the fans that they are not related. Look at the chemistry between Carrie [Fisher] and Mark [Hamill] on screen! Everyone would feel ill if they turned out to be brother and sister or something like that.
Q: Fans seem to be fascinatated by Darth Vader. What do you think about him has captured everyone's imagination?
GL: People love mysteries. They always have. I learned that a long time before USC. Vader is full of them. Perhaps some of peoples' questions will be answered over time, but I think anyone who expects to get all the answers on things like who he (Is "he" even the right word?) is, what's his name, does he have a family, is or was he ever married, those sorts of things may be disappointed.
Q: What about the Force? Is it magic? Telekinesis? A God-given gift? Illusions?
GL: All of them. None of them. What I can say is that the Force is certainly not something that can be pinned down to anything physical or tangible. If we were to find out that magicians need an extra gland or anything else unusual in their bodies to do their stage tricks we'd all be disappointed, because that means they wouldn't be human any more. We couldn't relate to them. If there's anything the Jedi are, it's that they are as 100% human as you or me.
Q: The Negro community—
GL: Isn't the word "black" nowadays?
Q: —sorry, the black community—some have complained that there aren't any black people in the Star Wars world. What's your response?
GL: Charlie, I want to say that I have the utmost respect for black culture and Negr--blacks' contributions to American society. While, of course, there are no black Americans per se "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away," I can assure fans that anyone who looks black, or sounds black, will be portrayed in a completely-dignified fashion. I won't stoop to using demeaning cultural stereotypes of any kind in my work.
Q: Here's another question from a fan: "Do people in Star Wars use money?"
GL: Charlie, with all due respect to the fan, I want to emphasize how I am trying my best to depict on screen a completely new society. A completely new world. One of the many things different about this world is that it's moved beyond things like "money." Why, one might as well ask whether people will still be talking about "free trade" and "trade cartels"! I mean, come on! Talk about losing the audience! (Laughs)
Q: Speaking of money, what's your take on tie-in products? Toys, games, that sort of thing.
GL: I don't like them. As much as I love and admire Steve[n Spielberg], one thing I found distasteful about Jaws was all the commercialism around [the movie]. I mean, come on! A Jaws lunchbox? A book? Does a shark movie really need a novelization? Mark my words, you're not going to see anything like that for Star Wars. Well, maybe a toy or two for the little kids. But that's it.