If you’re like me, you’re hesitantly excited about the release of the new Star Wars movie. Excited because it’s the next chapter of the saga in the series of films we were once all so captivated by, but hesitant because Episodes 1 and 2 proved to be such disappointing films. As a kid, I held the first three movies in such high esteem, only to have the prequel (when I was in college) destroy the fantasy entirely. And so, considering that Episodes 1 and 2 were such disappointingly horrible films, is it even remotely possible that Episode 3 will somehow defy our expectations and be a great film?

There’s one instance in the history of film that suddenly occurred to me might give us a clue to what the hell is going on in George Lucas’ head. While watching one of the biggest commercial flops in the entire history of filmmaking, D. W. Griffith’s ‘Intolerance,’ a film with incredibly high production value but with a piddling amount of actual content, I couldn’t help but think of Lucas. Griffith, riding a surge of popularity and commercial success, slipped into a state of mind where he assumed that everything he touched would become an instant masterpiece. Suddenly, for him, larger production cost was in perfect proportion with larger commercial success. And so, he became obsessed with ridiculously lavish set designs. ‘Intolerance’ is a hellishly long three and a half hour re-enactment of four different scenarios in history that are examples of society’s intolerance. Despite filling each scene with top-notch, never before seen cinematography, beautiful set-designs, and thousands of extras, the film entirely lacked any emotional development. Griffith made one of the most technically advanced film ever created, but failed to give the audience anything more than a pretty picture.

This is exactly how I feel about Lucas’ most recent flops. Episodes 1 and 2 are absolutely gorgeous to look at, incorporating all the latest digital technology, but they are also absolutely devoid of any emotion. (The biggest example of this is the entirely flaccid romance between Anakin and Padme.) Totally engrossed in his endeavor to make the most perfect-looking film ever made, Lucas has (perhaps unthinkingly) sacrificed any semblance of emotionality.

But let’s get history straight. If Griffith, for good reason, is considered the Isaac Newton of filmmaking, having been the first to use the majority of the camera techniques that are still used today with regularity, Lucas is more of a Carl Sagan, the stoner scientist who didn’t really add much to science besides innovating techniques to popularize the subject for the general public via the famous NOVA TV-series.

The most striking similarity, however, between Griffith and Lucas, is their respective struggles to maintain complete control over their projects; in effect, to try to remain independent filmmakers rather than succumbing to the protection of any studio. ‘Intolerance,’ independently financed, was a complete financial flop. Griffith lost everything. The rest of his filmmaking career, needless to say, was spent creating films on a much smaller scale. Since he lost all his money and no studio trusted him to do another big-budget feature, making another ‘Intolerance’ was no longer an option.

Even though Episodes 1 and 2 should have been embarrassing flops like ‘Intolerance,’ they were still successful films. Why? My theory is Griffith lacked what Lucas has: a culture open to complete and total market saturation… basically, advertising and action figures. Lucas is some kind of evil genius to have accomplished what he has. He has essentially trained an entire generation of movie-goers to drool and stare whenever they hear the opening bars of the Star Wars theme. Like a Jedi mind trick, something dragged me to a matinee of Episode 2 against my will, sat me down, and forced my head in the direction of the film, as I silently suffered through every minute of it. And even though I expect Episode 3 to be as equally horrible as the first two, I know that I’m going to see it, regardless of my better judgment.

So… is there any chance that Lucas will somehow break the pattern and made a great film? A lot of people I’ve talked to are optimistic for this reason: since Episode 3 covers the darkest part of the storyline (the good-guy Jedis are taken down by the new evil empire), it might somehow cancel out any degree of feel-goodiness that has so blatantly ruined the past films. But I think it’s all wishful thinking.

After ‘Intolerance,’ Griffith did eventually make one of the more highly-regarded silent films of all time, ‘Broken Blossoms,’ a soft-spoken and understated story. Griffith’s financial situation forced him to reconsider conventional methods of making successful films (and he finally joined the studios). Since Lucas is still riding the wave of his overwhelming commercial success, there’s nothing forcing him to reconsider the method with which he constructs his films. Because of this, there’s absolutely no chance that Episode 3 will be anything more than the schlock we saw in Episodes 1 and 2. In a way, he’s built his own evil empire. Because LucasFilms is more of a product now than just a film studio, he’ll never be in the situation where he’s gambling it all on one film. Lucas has accomplished what in Griffith’s time was impossible, turning yourself into a household name. As long as new generations of kids are exposed to Lucas’ Pavlovian experiment, there will be hordes of people consuming his Star Wars products against their will, and hating it.