What did George Lucas do for you?

As I watched Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D, in an attempt to draw myself away from the un-relenting boredom... I found myself thinking; George Lucas can't be an idiot, as much as his story writing attempts prove otherwise. I would say rich people aren't stupid, or they wouldn't be rich...but just a glimpse into modern media shows that to be on the contrary. Upon turning down warner brothers' offered directing payment for the rights to merchandise, a insight into his intentions became clear. Star Wars wasn't just a set of 6 films, but a brand...the first of it's kind. The merchandise far exceeded the films box office, with the help of myself; Opting for Star Wars branded items to the nth degree, to the point where even shampoo had to be branded. But the fact these things existed, his hyper-merchandisable products existence paved the way for future films to become a brand. So, why would a man with great business sense become a writer if his writing was so poor? Simple, it doesn’t need to be…all he needs to do is set up a basis for characters and they write their own stores, possibly more coherent ones at that. Give a character a funny name and a lightsaber and it sells, then rinse, repeat until a universe filled with two-dimensional characters…metaphorically anyway, as the film is in garish three dimensions. You could be forgiven for expecting a pun, or comment on that fact… Frankly, I can’t think of one. Lucas has squeezed every penny out of a once loved story, un-ashamedly pushing it back into the box office. Did he feel it benefited from a third dimension, in fact does 3D give a third dimension? 2D films still have depth, but the front of shot remains in screen. Three dimensional films claim to add depth, but actually remove it; They have two depths, front and back…images with come out of the screen and those that don’t, with no space in-between. Thus removing depth. So, why George? With a new film comes new publicity, new toys and the box office revenue itself. So, is it a bad thing? No, greed is what the world goes round with…my 10 year old self ran to my friends house with a rucksack bigger than me filled with star wars toys, was happier than could be. Thank you George, for being a detestable money grabber.