Why I’m down with George Lucas

Star Wars was cool and all but I’m not a fanboy (fangirl?) and Jar Jar Binks was almost enough to make me not write this post but for other reasons listed below I have been able to forgive him that particular lapse in judgement.

1. His long term live in boo is a black woman and she is DOPE!

Mellody Hobson is the president of Ariel Investments, LLC,^[1] a Chicago investment firm managing over $3 billion in assets. It is also one of the largest African American-owned money management and mutual fund companies in the United States.^[2] She is a regular contributor on financial issues to ABC’s Good Morning America and a spokesperson for the annual Ariel/Schwab Black Investor Survey. She is also a director of the Starbucks Corporation, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Dreamworks Animation SKG, Inc. and Groupon. (Wikipedia)

Word.

2. He supports African-American themed stories.

Even though people told him he was crazy and umm even though he really kinda didn’t make his money back he took a risk and put 100 million dollars OF HIS OWN MONEY into a story about the Tuskegee Airmen (Red Tails). I saw it and I enjoyed it. Yes there were a few problems (Ne-Yo) but overall I was good with it.

Hey George, if you’re still open to funding projects I have a few to run past you. #realtalk

3. He pisses off other wealthy people.

He is planning to build low-income housing on what was supposed to be the location for the 3rd expansion of his movie production company (Lucasfilm) in Marin County, one of America’s RICHEST counties by the way. (NYT)

Short recap:  For the past 25 years key residents of Marin county have fought an expansion of his film studio. He is tired of fighting and decided to sell the land to a real estate developer on the condition that it is used for low-income housing.

Perfect.

One response from his neighbors:

“It’s inciting class warfare,” said Carolyn Lenert, head of the North San Rafael Coalition of Residents.

Wealthy people can be so high strung and dramatic. Geez.

Lucas says he does not have “ulterior motives”:

Mr. Lucas said in an e-mail that he only wanted “to do something good for Marin,” waving away accusations of ulterior motives.

“I’ve been surprised to see some people characterize this as vindictive,” he said, adding that there was a “real need” for affordable housing here. “I wouldn’t waste my time or money just to try and upset the neighbors.”

Sure, sure what he said sounds good and it might actually be sorta true. But really he is saying “f*ck you” to his neighbors and I ain’t mad at him. You don’t want me to expand my film studio and bring more wealth to the area? Okay fine. Let’s keep it residential and let the people who probably clean your homes and mow your lawns live there – how ya like me now b*tches?!?

Now the people who fought so hard against the studio expansion are catching real heat from other neighbors:

That has created an atmosphere that one opponent, who asked not to be identified, saying she feared for her safety, described as “sheer terror” and likened to “Syria.”

Carl Fricke, a board member of the Lucas Valley Estates Homeowners Association, which represents houses nearest to the Lucas property, said: “We got letters saying, ‘You guys are going to get what you deserve. You’re going to bring drug dealers, all this crime and lowlife in here.’ “

Yes of course because EVERYONE WHO QUALIFIES FOR LOW INCOME HOUSING IS A CRIMINAL. If I wasn’t so pleased with George’s decision I might be offended. Still, I am acutely aware that home security businesses in the area will be quite busy for a while.

By the way, just in case you were wondering what qualifies for low-income in Marin County – “a family of four with an annual income of $88,800 can qualify for housing assistance in Marin.” So anyone making under $90k is a possible criminal. Cool.

Let’s see, we don’t want to help properly educate poor people, we don’t want to help provide healthcare to poor people AND we are afraid of them. God Bless America.