Erstellt am: 18. 1. 2012 - 17:15 Uhr

The Lucas empire strikes back

Reality Check: Wikipedia black out, tax havens and the developing world, how safe is Ethiopia?, George Lucas challenges Hollywood racism, contacting alien life forms.

George Lucas is no stranger to controversy, neither does it bother him. He's one of those characters that pays scant regard to criticism and goes his own way regardless. He was recently dismissive of Star Wars fans who were incensed at his expressed intention to withdraw all copies of the original Star Wars films and subsitute digitally enhanced and politically corrected versions for future audiences. So hang on to your original versions - when George wants something done, it happens - so any original copies might be worth a bit in years to come!

His first real commerical success was the semi-autobiographical American Graffiti, which he wrote and directed. Off the back of this, he started working on the scripts for Star Wars, already invisaging this as a 6 part story, and in typical Lucas style, he started in the middle of the story in filming it. It was over 30 years from starting work on the project and filming part 4 to the release of the final film, which was part 3, in 2005 - so whatever else you say about George - you can't say he's a quitter. Despite the Indiana Jones films in between, he eventually gets the job finished.

The same can be said of his latest film, Red Tails. It's an idea he's been nurturing for some 20 years, but none of the studios wanted to touch it. When you consider his track record of successes, this might seem odd - surely Lucas is more or less money straight into the bank for the studios. However, Red Tails, the story of a crew of African American pilots in World War II, has an almost entirely black cast - and that made Hollywood nervous, and Lucas couldn't get financial backing for the film.

I must admit, I was surprised. In my naievety I couldn't see why the colour of the actors' skins would make any difference to the success of a good movie - but apparently it does. When you look at the list of Hollywood's 40 top earners, you can count the black faces on one hand. When you look at the Vanity Fair list of to 20 leading men since 1989 - only 3 are black. Hollywood may not be openly racist, but the evidence is there for anyone to see.

So, in the face of opposition to the idea from the studios, Lucas funded the project out of his own pocket - and the finished product opens in US cinemas on Friday. In today's Reality Check, our Tinseltown correspondent, Peter Bowes, tells Steve Crilley about the inherent racism in the system, and how it is glossed over.

Wikipedia blackout

Wikipedia and other sites are blacked out today in protest against a proposed anti-piracy laws in the US which they say will limit freedom of information. Steve Crilley talks to media analyst Charlie Beckett of the POLIS think tank about the implications of the new laws and whether they may, indeed, change the face of the Internet in the future.

Tax havens and the global recession

The World Bank is warning developing countries that they must tighten their financial systems in the face of declining growth around the world. Kate Farmer reports on the continuing problem of tax evasion and how it is crippling some developing countries.

Travel to Ethiopia

Following the killing of 5 foreign tourists in the Afar region of Ethiopia, Chris Cummins looks at the risks of travelling to this popular African destination with Tom Hall of Lonely Planet.

Talking to aliens

With the recent discovery that there could be billions of planets like ours in the immediate galactic neighbourhood, John Cummins finds out what ET is likely to be finding out about us from Dr John Elliott of the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.

FM4 Reality Check

Monday to Friday from 12.00 to 14.00, and after the show via Podcast or fm4.orf.at/realitycheck.