Lesson #3: Grow a Thick Skin

“You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going,” says Lucas about encountering pessimism. “Put blinders on and plow right ahead.”

When Lucas first decided to go to film school, he was told he would never find a job afterwards. When he graduated and decided to make a film about androids, he was told to come back when he was serious. And, when his film about androids was finally made, not everyone was singing its praises. But, Lucas pressed on and soon became one of the wealthiest and well-renowned filmmakers in history.

“If you want to be successful in a particular field of endeavor, I think perseverance is one of the key qualities,” says Lucas. He didn’t succeed because everyone was pushing him up in support. He succeeded in spite of those who were trying to pull him down.

After first revealing his intention to attend film school, Lucas recalls, “everybody said it was a crazy thing to do because in those days nobody made it into the film business…so everybody was thinking I was silly.” But, Lucas stayed firm in his commitment. “I wasn’t moved by that. I set the goal of getting through film school, and just then focused on getting to that level.”

Criticism would be common for Lucas throughout his film career. When he first began to shop around his film American Graffiti, every studio rejected him until one executive at Universal Pictures decided to give him a chance. The film went on to become a huge hit, but that didn’t ensure Lucas’ success. His next film, Star Wars, was similarly rejected by all the major studios. Armed with a confidence in his product, Lucas kept on until he finally found a studio that was willing to give him a chance. He never allowed the rejection to damper his belief and vision for his films.

Before Lucas was able to own his own production company, he was often forced to succumb to film studios’ wishes concerning his movies. But, he tried not to let their criticisms stop him from achieving his visions. In writing the original Star Wars, he said, “It got to be too big, it got to be 250, 300 pages.” Anticipating the studio’s rejection, Lucas said, “I will take the first half, make a movie out of that, and then I was determined to come back and finish the two stories.” It was only for Lucas’ determination that the Star Wars trilogy came to be. “All I knew is, I was going to finish these three, and that was it.”

Few industries receive as much criticism as the Hollywood film industry. To survive in that world it is absolutely crucial to develop a thick skin in response to the naysayers and those who criticize your efforts. “You have to have a thick enough skin to cope with criticism,” says Lucas. While he values the opinion of a select choice of critics, he notes that, for the most part, “the journalistic community lives in a world of sound bites and literary commerce: selling newspapers, selling books, and they do that simply by trashing things.”

Lucas resorts to a close circle of friends to get constructive criticism for his films. “Technical criticism is extremely helpful but you are only going to get that from your peers,” he says. Without having developed such a think skin, Lucas might have given up at the first piece of criticism he received. Instead, he persevered, creating the masterpieces that are such a part of North American culture today and making himself a millionaire along the way.

Lesson #3: Grow a Thick Skin

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