"'Star Wars' is fun, it's exciting, it's inspirational, and people respond to that. It's what they want"
About this Quote
The subtext is a defense of sincerity against the era’s cool-kid cynicism. When Star Wars landed in 1977, American cinema was still steeped in post-Vietnam, post-Watergate disillusionment: paranoid thrillers, antiheroes, endings that refused catharsis. Lucas’ line implies that this cultural mood wasn’t the whole story. Audiences weren’t merely being distracted; they were reloading. Myth, clean moral geometry, and forward motion weren’t naive - they were restorative.
“It’s what they want” can sound vaguely paternal, even algorithmic: the creator as a technician of desire. But it’s also an admission that Star Wars is engineered empathy, designed to be instantly legible across age, class, and language. Lucas isn’t claiming profundity through complexity. He’s arguing for the power of clarity: big feelings, archetypes, and a universe where hope isn’t a twist ending, it’s the premise.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Lucas, George. (2026, February 20). 'Star Wars' is fun, it's exciting, it's inspirational, and people respond to that. It's what they want. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/star-wars-is-fun-its-exciting-its-inspirational-11257/
Chicago Style
Lucas, George. "'Star Wars' is fun, it's exciting, it's inspirational, and people respond to that. It's what they want." FixQuotes. February 20, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/star-wars-is-fun-its-exciting-its-inspirational-11257/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"'Star Wars' is fun, it's exciting, it's inspirational, and people respond to that. It's what they want." FixQuotes, 20 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/star-wars-is-fun-its-exciting-its-inspirational-11257/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.


