The REEL Addict 

Sometimes Hollywood fancy speak can seem a little confusing to the average laymen, and make it hard to understand what is really being said. That’s especially the case when that showbiz vernacular is being masterfully wielded by Mr. George Lucas. Thankfully, your friendly neighborhood REELaddict is on hand to translate the below segment of the interview Mr. Lucas recently conducted with Times Online regarding INDIANA JONES and his future. (The bold is the original text, the rest is the actual translation)

Really, though, it was a challenge getting the story together and getting everybody to agree on it…

Really, though, it was a challenge getting everybody to agree on the fact that the story I put together was awesome…

Indiana Jones only becomes complicated when you have another two people saying ‘I want it this way’ and ‘I want it that way’, whereas, when I first did Jones, I just said, ‘We’ll do it this way’ — and that was much easier.

Indiana Jones only becomes complicated when you have another two people who don’t want to do things my way (and qoute Backstreet Boys songs in the process). When I first did Jones, I just said, “We’ll do it this way” – and that was much easier because nobody questioned me, and instead graciously defferred to my superior opinions.

But now I have to accommodate everybody, because they are all big, successful guys, too, so it’s a little hard on a practical level.

But now I have to get everybody to compromise their own ideas and accommodate my better ones, because now they are all big, successful guys (though let’s face it, not as succesful as me) who think their opinion are as good as mine, so it’s a little hard on a practical level.

If I can come up with another idea that they like, we’ll do another.

If I can come up with another idea that I can bully or blackmail them into liking, we’ll do another.

Really, with the last one, Steven wasn’t that enthusiastic. I was trying to persuade him.

Really, with the last one, why the hell wasn’t Steven enthusiastic? I was trying to persuade a guy who has made like twenty movies about aliens to put them in the new INDIANA JONES film. Whose the better filmmaker here anyway? I’m the guy after all who came up with one idea so fantastic that I’ve been able to mine it for years. How many filmmakers can claim that?

But now Steve is more amenable to doing another one.

But now Steven is more amenable to doing another one because he realizes me having had to comrpomise on INDY 4 (what was I thinking?) led to it being dissaponting, and that that proves I have a better sense of what makes a great INDIANA JONES film, and exactly what audiences want.

Yet we still have the issues about the direction we’d like to take. I’m in the future; Steven’s in the past. He’s trying to drag it back to the way they were, I’m trying to push it to a whole different place.

I’m a f***** progressive visionary, Steven is an ass backwards nostalgic old fart. He’s trying to drag it all back to the way the franchise was when nobody liked it, I’m trying to push it to a whole different place that Indiana Jones fans really want to see and will love way more.

So, still we have a sort of tension. This recent one came out of that. It’s kind of a hybrid of our own two ideas, so we’ll see where we are able to take the next one.

So, still we have a sort of tension. The recent one disappointed because of that, especially because Steve wouldn’t concede to my awesome ideas and made me feel I had to compromise (seriously, seriously, what was I thinking?). If it hadn’t been a hybrid of our own two ideas – and only been based on mine – it would have been way better, so we’ll make sure that we are able to take the next one to where I want it to go.