How a near-death experience showed George Lucas the meaning of life
Thinking of the biggest names in science fiction cinema, one of the first that undoubtedly comes to mind is the formidable George Lucas. After all, it was Lucas that created arguably the biggest sci-fi film franchise of all time, Star Wars, with the first film being released in 1977. The Star Wars franchise now boasts a number of films, TV shows, animations and video games under its belt.
Lucas also co-created Indiana Jones with Steven Spielberg as well as directing the social science fiction film THX 1138 and the coming-of-age comedy-drama American Graffiti. However, Lucas might not have made a single film because he very nearly came close to dying in 1962 when he suffered a horrific car crash on his Autobianchi Bianchina a few days before his high school graduation.
The Star Wars creator had dreamed of being a race car driver and spent much of his youth racing the underground circuit. The terrible accident nearly claimed the young Lucas’ life, and while in mid-air, his seatbelt snapped, which forced Lucas from the car. He suffered horrific bleeding and bruised lungs and decided never to race again.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Lucas opened up about his accident. He said: “In high school, I lived to be a race car driver. I was in a very bad accident. I re-evaluated all that and said, ‘Well, maybe there’s something else for me. Maybe there’s a reason I survived this accident that nobody should have survived’.”
“I was hit broadside by a car that was going about 90 miles an hour. I should be dead,” he added. “But from that moment on, I said, ‘You know, I’m gonna get an extra day. Today’s my extra day. I got a bonus.’ It did give me this perspective on life that said, basically, ‘I’m operating on extra credit; therefore, I can do anything I want. Let’s just go for it’.”
In the book The Meaning of Life: Reflections in Words and Pictures on Why We Are Here, Lucas also offers up his personal anecdote on how his crash informed his outlook on life. He wrote: “When I was eighteen, I was in an automobile accident and went through a near-death experience. I was actually taken away from the scene, presumed dead, and it wasn’t until I reached the hospital that the doctors revived my heartbeat and brought me back to life.”
In this passage, though, we see that Lucas is thinking of the bigger living thing picture rather than just of his own life on Oprah. He continued: “I have found that most of my conclusions have evolved from observing life since that time. If I’ve come to know anything, it’s that these questions are as unknowable for us as they would be for a tree or for an ant. Everybody seems to dress down the fact that life cannot be explained.”
“The only reason for life is life. There is no why. We are. Life is beyond reason,” Lucas added. “One might think of life as a large organism, and we are but a small symbiotic part of it. It is possible that on a spiritual level, we are all connected in a way that continues beyond the comings and goings of various life forms. My best guess is that we share a collective spirit or life force or consciousness that encompasses and goes beyond individual life forms.” Might that collective spirit just be… the force…?
