Originally posted by Transcended
Whether you love or hate his work, I doubt anything Lucas does could be considered "generic".
A story about a future where people are numbered and everything is sterile and clinical. A place where individuality is frowned upon and ultimately punished. The story of a man trying to break free of the system. Yeah, that wasn't formuliac drivel that raped concepts done before, and done better by some of the most prolific Sci-Fi writers of the 20th century, or anything

...rather generic, IMO
A coming of age story that takes place all in one night, where crazy misadventures happen to a group of teens in the central valley of California....Excuse me If I think that's really a borrowed concept, and rather generic. It reminded me of Cannery Row, and some of the 50's teen movies all rolled into one jumbled mess. I liked it, but that was for the great, real performances by many of the lead actors, rather than the borrowed story. The elements from Lucas' life were indeed the biggest influences, but it had been done before, by other people writing about thier teen years. It is a classic, generic starting point for many movies and books. Hell I am making one right now, I know it is generic, but generic isn't always bad.
Then Star Wars...which was amazing...and oddly enough...most of what it became on screen didn't come from Lucas...Imagine that...his first drafts were generic, folrmulaic sci-fi, so much so that no studio would back it. It wasn't until Ralph Mc Quarrie came aboard and started visualizing the universe and creating characters that would be exciting to watch that it caught interest. The final product was shaped by talented artists, actors and much of the final story came from Gary Kurtz. It was not generic, but it was derivitive. Most everything is. But Star Wars was fresh, and exciting. People want to act like George Lucas is a pioneer...fine, think what you will. I think it takes a little bit more than stealing people's work and technology, and surrounding yourself by people thousands of times more talented than you, to make you a pioneer. He has so little actual screenwriting and directing experience it's not even funny.
There are some really great EU novels, that represent what is great about Star Wars. I have read 14 of them, and only found 5 of them to be generic, even though they were still enjoyable. They didn't disrespect the fans, or sacrifice story for action like some Star Wars projects I can think of.