Oh George…
June 29, 2004
No, not that George. We’re talking about George Lucas this time. In a shameful display of architectural thievery, a designer at Lucas Films ripped off the design of the Long Room Library at Trinity College in Dublin, and used it as the Jedi Archives in SW: Ep 2. The barrel ceilings, the busts, the books (cleverly replaced with non-descript digital blue light boxes), and the double-shelves. Lucas’s people deny it, of course. Shame, shame, shame, shame, shame.
June 30th, 2004 at 10:57 am
Sarah, who cares? Star Wars is a movie, not a building, so there can be no question of “architectural thievery.” This could just as well be viewed as a flattering and clever tribute to a classic building. And how can you dismiss (the still living) Ray Bradbury’s concerns about his book title and then turn around and object to a reference to an architectural classic?
It seems to me that you go back and forth between marvelling at new gadgetry produced by private companies, and rending your clothes at the evil of the capitalist system. It used to be conservatives that would take umbrage at things.
June 30th, 2004 at 11:44 am
You may have had a point…if Lucas Films had acknowledged, in any way, that there is a connection. But they are denying a connection. So, no–it’s not a tribute unless you acknowledge it as such. Which Moore did, granted in a late and unprofessional way (which I fully acknowledge). But he did, eventually. Lucas has not.
I’m curious that you say I am “rending my clothes at the evil of the capitalist system.” How, precisely, am I doing that? My post on Lucas has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the capitalist system. You are reading things that aren’t there Jack. And I like the capitalist system. I generally subscribe to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, and she was queen of the pure capitalists if ever there was one (not a very stereotypical liberal viewpoint, is it?)
But, heck, why am I defending myself to you? You’re going to dislike me, and everything I post on my site, purely because you have categorized me as a liberal. And therefore, anything I say is either inconsequential to you, or just plain wrong. So, whatever Jack. Truly.
July 1st, 2004 at 12:15 pm
If it weren’t for the busts at the end of each stack, I’d believe them that they weren’t inspired by the Long Room. It is possible that the designer just had a mental image for the Jedi Archives that (s)he didn’t realize came from an actual place. I’ve certainly had that happen before. Not on the same scale, but you get the idea.
Without the busts, it pretty much reminds me of a ton of churchs and cathedrals. It doesn’t look very comfy for a library (or archive, either), but it’s durn impressive.
In terms of alluding to titles or borrowing architectural elements, I’m not really bothered by either.
October 12th, 2011 at 7:07 pm
Sadly, everything George Lucas has ever done has been shameful thievery. Check out The Dam Busters(1955). You might recognize dialogue and plot points from the attack on the death star.