Star Wars creator George Lucas is not a man known for mincing his words when it comes to the Academy. Having famously left the Directors Guild of America after being fined for not having a standard title sequence on Star Wars (which also meant he couldn’t get Steven Spielberg to direct one of the movies), Lucas is a man who quite often speaks his mind about the Hollywood system.
In an interview with CBS This Morning to promote his new movie Strange Magic, Lucas gave some harsh thoughts on the nominations for this year’s Oscars, in particular its all-white Best Actor category and the “snubbing” of actors like David Oyelowo.
“It’s a political campaign. It has nothing to do with artistic endeavour at all,” Lucas said.
“Why do we elect people who drift toward not the most talented, best, and brightest we have in the country?” he adds. “It’s all political… I think it hurts everybody.”
SEE ALSO – George Lucas wanted to direct Star Wars Episode VII
The Oscars have always been shrouded in racism battles and it seems this year will be no different. Last year the Academy was criticised for giving 12 Years a Slave the Best Picture award despite several Academy members admitting that they had not seen the film but felt “it probably deserved to win”.
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Originally published January 16, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
