Star Wars: The Hidden History (Episode +/-BBY)

Let me preface this by saying that it's hard to refute the idea that anyone who writes and directs something like the Star Wars movie Attack of the Clones deserves all the flak they get. That said, there is something off-putting about the way over-zealous Star Wars fans, stinging from a perceived betrayal on the part of George Lucas, seem intent on denying him any credit for the parts of the film series that are almost universally enjoyed.A recent piece from Cracked.com about pop culture visionaries who get too much credit is just one fairly public example. This is especially pronounced when it comes to The Empire Strikes Back, where everyone tries to present the film as being good in spite of Lucas rather than because of anything he did. What makes this so comical (and asinine, really) is that the two elements that people most often cite are absolutely down to Lucas.

The first thing people point to is the screenplay, without a doubt the best script of of all the films, where all credit is given to Lawrence Kasdan. Kasdan wrote some of the best screenplays of the 1980s, but he wasn't the only person with a hand in that script. The first draft was written by Hollywood veteran Leigh Brackett, and though it's unclear just how much of her work is reflected in the final version, she shares credit with Kasdan. And though Lucas does not receive screenplay credit, it's documented that he was involved in writing at least some of the drafts and, as the story credit indicates, the credited script-writers were working from his framework.

The other one is the directing. The late Irvin Kershner was one of Lucas' professors at film school and had a good reputation for working with actors. That point is key to why Lucas hired him for what he clearly intended to be a more character-driven chapter in the saga. When people talk about the performances in Empire being much better than they would have been had Lucas been directing, they're somewhat missing the point. The performances were better because Lucas hired the right man for the job and let them do that job.

There's no question that the prequel trilogy was a disappointment or that much of that disappointment derives from Lucas decision to write and direct those movies himself rather than work with collaborators of the quality he had on the earlier trilogy. What doesn't hold up to scrutiny, though, is the idea that the failings of the more recent productions somehow invalidate the quality of Lucas contributions to the earlier ones. There's lots worth criticizing, but there's no need to make things up because you feel that Lucas' later work somehow tainted your childhood.