Something on Which George Lucas and I Agree
Posted on January 17, 2012 Posted by John Scalzi 32 Comments
In a long New York Times feature about George Lucas, the producer and director talks about his relationship with his current girlfriend:
If you’re more beautiful than I am and smarter than I am and you’ll put up with me, that’s all it takes. I’m there.
Boy, do I hear him.
(And yes, before anyone says it in the comments, the dog is more beautiful and smarter than I am, too. Hardy har har, people.)
But what about the cats, Scalzi? Ah ha!
I think (hope) that the majority of men feel that way. I regularly tell my wife how glad I am that she both puts up with me and is more intelligent than me.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, so your wonderful wife must find some thing to behold in you. Or is it really dark “Rose Colored” glasses.
Oh, you were not all that bad looking in that college photo you put up.
That said, however: Mr. Lucas is a known workaholic; probably the “putting up with him” segment of the qualifications is the priority.
It’s nice that men are now admitting that they are attracted to women smarter than they are; that was doubted as little as forty years ago.
Actually, I was going to ask about the houseplant.
oh, I am so lucky to be in the same boat. I really did marry above my station, and am such the better for it.
And not to get off topic, but I hope “Red Tails” does well this weekend. I’m a HUGE airplane fan and I am looking forward to the dogfights, and the sound of 12 growling cylinders of the Rolls-Royce Merlin.
Yeah, that’s pretty much how I’ve operated my entire life. It’s worked out pretty darn well, too. I can’t ever recall being serious about a woman who wasn’t smarter than I am. And my current-and-last lady, the love of my life? Smart, creative, funny, and gorgeous beyond compare. Sigh.
I tell folks I can say “I married the smart one!”
Apparently, putting up with you has driven your wife (or possibly your dog) to drink.
Crap … the above was meant in gest … but looking at it, it just sounds mean. Please delete that.
Lovely pic.
Martin:
No worries.
I have decided this is a recurrent theme among intelligent-geeky-creative males. Lord knows I’ve never understood why my wife Annie has stuck by me for the better part of 20 years. She could have had a richer man, a better-looking man, a man more closely aligned to her own political sensibilities, or somebody more famous. There were numerous opportunities, on all counts. Yet, she surveyed the field and pointed at me and said, “He’ll do.” In fact, she continues to survey the field, and decides every year, “He’ll do.” Hopefully I’ll keep earning it, for all of this life, and the life yet to come.
Yeah, she’s put up with me. And is beautiful and ferocious and intelligent enough for five ordinary women put together. Who got the better end of the deal? (sticks thumb into sternum)
Not to say this is THE reason, but a boat load of money goes a long way to making stupid ugly people smarter and less ugly. From what you’ve said on here John, it might just be she’s a sucker for a good dancer.
Huh… I noticed two things… 1) Your wife is lovely and 2) you still have Christmas decorations up!!
PS: You’re a lucky SOB :)
Hubby regularly tells me he “married above himself”. I regularly tell him I’m pretty sure I got the better end of the deal. We’ve been agreeing to disagree on those points for almost seven years now, come March.
:-)
What’s so funny about the dog putting up with you? She DOES, doesn’t she?
And go ahead and play it light, but you’ve made it so clear so often that you value Krissy for so much more than the way she looks that those of us who have read a while don’t buy it, buddy!
But that’s a good thing. As I told my (now balding and not exactly svelt) husband, you may not look like the world-ranked powerlifter champion that I married, but the same guy is inside, and that’s what counts.
On second thought: I think what’s inside may be better now. Wine and cheese are the only things that improve with time :)
Ummmm…sorry for the multiple posts. Let’s read that last one as “aren’t the only things.”
rickg17:
The picture is from Christmas time. The decorations are in fact down.
John: “Is this guy pretty enough to be my arm candy for the next 50 years?” is a pretty lame question compared to “Is this the guy I want backing me up if, God forbid, I get a cancer diagnosis or the house burns down?”
My girlfriend gets angry when I say it, since she doesn’t like the implication that she’s pitching herself low. I think the sentiment is cute however. This…this is why we fight.
You should try your hand at romance. Pretty sure you could pull it off. :)
The weirdest thing about that Lucas quote? It’s more romantic than any of the dialogue he wrote for the love story in the prequels.
Seems to me more like jigsaw puzzle pieces than relative good looks or smarts; what you want is somebody who fits next to you, in that great weird picture we live in.
“The picture is from Christmas time. The decorations are in fact down.”
What? You’re giving us OLD PICTURES!??? We want new pictures! Fresh pictures!!
And here I was thinking, how hard can it be to be a) better looking and b) smarter than George Lucas?
That may be my inner, bitter, Star Wars nerd talking….
Well, George Lucas doesn’t have a hard time finding people who are more beautiful than him. People who are smarter, ditto, unlike you, John. Will put up with him? With George I-can’t-stop-pissing-on-my-own-ouvre Lucas? I’m surprised there’s ONE.
Well, except he’s rich. Makes it more likely.
Xopher, let’s give his girlfriend a little credit – you really think she only puts up with him for his money? That’s insulting. Especially considering she’s a corporate and political high-flyer and Princeton grad and has been so since her 20s. I totally hear the SW snark, but implying that his fabulous girlfriend is a gold-digger is beneath your dignity.
At the risk of being sanctimonious, why do some folks like to rank everything and everyone? I don’t ask to be snarky; I’m genuinely curious what the payoff is.
A wonderful person I dated seriously in college asked me once if it bothered me that “I was smarter” than her. I replied that I wasn’t, that I knew more information about some things just as she had more knowledge of other things, and that I believed her natural learning ability was probably higher than mine while I was more compulsively analytical. The question bothered me a little though, because, in addition to what I considered her strong emotional beauty and stunning physical attractiveness, I found her mind greatly enriched my own thoughts. I hope it was mutual.
But I’ve never looked for a partner that was “smarter” or “dumber” than me on some fictional linear intelligence scale. Nor have I ever looked for a partner that was “prettier” or “uglier” than me based on some socially constructed “standard” very loosely tied to the instincts our genes have evolved to select for healthy progeny. I’ve just looked for a partner with whom I can share a common light brighter than either of ours shine separately.
At the risk of being sanctimonious, why do some folks like to rank everything and everyone? I don’t ask to be snarky; I’m genuinely curious what the payoff is.
George Lucas is a film-maker – if I think his work sucks Wookie phallus I’ll say so and I’m still trying to repress the memory of seeing Howard The Duck sober. Conversely, when he does good work (and I’ll be very happy if I age as well as American Graffiti, and Kurosawa’s late masterpieces Kagemusha and Ran w Iouldn’t have been made without Lucas and Coppola) I’ll do the happy dance until somebody breaks out a taser.
Samuel Johnson is right: “To commence author is to claim praise, and no man can justly aspire to honour, but at the hazard of disgrace.” That said, even if I’d like to strangle Jar-Jar Binks with his own ears I wish George Lucas the human being and his partner nothing but long life and happiness.
Such a cute picture! Also, I love your wife’s necklace. :-)