The ‘Star Wars’ Prequels Are Secretly About George Lucas’ Life

Every movie George Lucas makes is extremely personal. That’s obvious in films like American Graffiti, which is set in Lucas’ hometown of Modesto, California and follows a group of teenagers who love cruising in their cars just like he did as a teen. But even his Star Wars movies are personal as well. Lucas saw himself in Luke Skywalker, the farm boy from a remote little town in the middle of nowhere (i.e. Modesto) who yearns of leaving his home for a big life full of adventure.

But the parallels don’t stop there. Believe it or not, the much-maligned Star Wars prequels also contain tons of elements of George Lucas’ life in that time period as well, including his divorce from his first wife. The films became his way of working through all of the issues he was going through in his personal life, and in that regard, they are actually pretty interesting.

Watch our full breakdown of the autobiographical elements in the prequels (and all of Star Wars) below:

If you liked that video on George Lucas and the hidden autobiographical content of the Star Wars prequels, check out more of our videos below, including one on why Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is not popular but underrated, one on Star Wars: Ahsoka and how it might have just set up the Rey Skywalker movie (or movies?), and one on what happens next for Ezra and Baylon. Plus, there’s tons more over at ScreenCrush’s YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to catch all our future episodes. The next Star Wars Disney+ series, Star Wars: The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4.

Sign up for Disney+ here.