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Unlike Sharon Stone last week, I am painfully aware that what I am about to say is going to get me flamed faster than a set at Universal Studios. But I cannot remain silent.

A few weeks ago, leading up to the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the George Lucas haters came out in full force. After the fans worldwide saw the new movie, complete with bouncing refrigerators, curious prairie dogs and Shia LaBeouf flying through the air like Tarzan, there was an uproar.

Similar to what we saw after the release of the Star Wars prequels (which was most fiery after the release of Episode I), people began to lash out at Lucas. And the amount of hate that’s flying at this old dude leads me to say…

What the fuck?

Look, I was as annoyed with Jar Jar Binks as the rest of human civilization, but I’m not letting Lucas’s goofy ideas ruin my life… or rape my childhood, as one of our writers once so eloquently put it.

Was the Tarzan scene in Indy 4 silly? Sure. Were the prairie dogs bordering on the side of “too cute”? Probably. Were most of the bad ideas probably those of George Lucas rather than Steven Spielberg? That’s a pretty good bet.

But here’s where I defend Lucas. He’s doing what he wants to do. Period. No one is dictating anything to him. This guy has enough money to buy and sell all of his fans two times over. He can self-finance a $200 million movie and not bat an eye. He is the true embodiment of the independent filmmaker.

You may not like what he does, but he really doesn’t have to answer to you. He doesn’t even need your ticket money (or your DVD money, or your gaming money, or your collectible money). In this industry, people are crucified for being a sell-out or being a whore for the studios. But someone like George Lucas, who owns the Star Wars empire end-to-end, has total control.

The reality is that most of us want to see films that we love as fans. We have to remember that Lucas isn’t a fan at all. He’s a guy who is so inundated with Star Wars and Indiana Jones buzz that he’s plain sick of the old films. He’s trying new things, whether we like them or not. Sure, a lot of them are bad ideas – from Greedo shooting first to Darth Vader building C-3PO. But Lucas doesn’t have to answer to us.

And if you get past your own bellyaching, you might just realize that this is one of the best positions for someone to be in for the movie industry.

Image Source: The hilarious cartoon with Lil’ Lucas comes from Jolly Jack. Visit his deviantART site for more cool stuff.