A video purporting to show George Lucas camping out for the premiere of Rise of Skywalker was unleashed upon the world yesterday, and has thrown reality into turmoil.
We have been warned that Deepfakes have the potential to undermine democracy by casting doubt on the veracity of video evidence. If the alleged “pee tape” came out tomorrow, is there any doubt that Donald Trump and his defenders would shout fake? Even if the footage was clear and unmistakable, the existence of technology that can seamlessly meld a famous face onto a stranger’s speech and mannerisms can throw any video into contention. But this new George Lucas video has done something much deeper, and much more troubling.
George Lucas Camps Out & Reacts to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Deepfake Sagawww.youtube.com
Having watched George Lucas being sarcastic and self-aggrandizing in a bad George Lucas wig and a cheap fat suit, I don’t know if I believe in the real George Lucas anymore. You can tell me that it’s actually an actor and impersonator named Josh Robert Thompson, but when he rolls his eyes at Baby Yoda with perfect contempt, I know that he’s the real deal. The essence of George Lucas lives in this video more purely than any footage of the man himself, and I am no longer convinced that George “it’s like poetry” Lucas was ever anything other than a character embodied by Josh Robert Thompson.
He seems certain that American culture leaving him behind can only be a damning sign for society. Couple that with the sigh of a disaffected boomer billionaire—pining for Woodstock while he contemplates buying a movie theater to simplify his schedule—and you have enacted George Lucas’ entire being since 2005. Skywalker Ranch has been officially relocated to the Uncanny Valley, and I’m now convinced that the original George Lucas, in all his pompous glory, was the first CGI creation of Industrial Light & Magic.
If you haven’t watched the video yet, save yourself from the existential dread. It’s too late for me. The map has subsumed the territory. All that remains is the simulacrum, and I am left to wonder, if George Lucas is nothing more than this basic character study in a beard and glasses, who actually created Star Wars? I do not have the answer, but If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably Hatsune Miku.
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