1977, and George Lucas conquered the world: “‘Star Wars’ had a very specific political context, but no one was able to detect it”
Story The success of "Star Wars" ushered in a new era of globalized entertainment: that of the blockbuster. Oddly enough, it was a natural outsider who was behind it.
Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) in "Star Wars" (1977). LUCAS FILM/WALT DISNEY/CHRISTOPHEL COLLECTION VIA AFP
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It takes place in a galaxy far, far away, just beyond the star Tagada du Fraisier, very close to the Dubon-Dubonnet constellation. There are super-villains dressed in black expanded polyurethane and assault troops disguised as white beetles, friendly Jedi knights who wear Benedictine monk capes or judo kimonos made of Italian linen. All these people travel in fuel-oil-atom-powered Google Jets, zigzagging to avoid the light rays of death, and the heroes beat each other up with neon tubes.
Fun fact: Disney, which has owned the "Star Wars" franchise since 2012, refused to produce the first installment in the series—the one that hit theaters in 1977, cost $11 million and grossed $775 million. Some people have hung themselves for less than that. But all the other studios—Universal, Paramount, Columbia, United Artists—made the same mistake.
Only 20th Century Fox had agreed to ensure the d…
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