I gained the impression from this doco that George was basically a decent sort of guy, even if he was a philanderer, but then in his position, most of us would be. He wrote some great tunes - "If I Needed Someone" never appears on any Best of Beatles anthologies, but it was my favourite Beatles tune - and he seemed to have a keen sense of humour. The video clip for Got My Mind Set on You used to crack me up.
The only part that grated was all the reverence given to George as some spiritual guru. In the first place, it seems that his spirituality was substantially fuelled by chemicals, which is a pretty artificial way to aspire to a higher form of being. Secondly, if spirituality is a personal journey, as the gurus like to tell us, then why are they always banging on about it? I'd have more respect for a spiritual person who said nothing about it, and wrote nothing about it, who communed in private with his or her God or whatever Spiritual Being they chose, and whose spiritual goodness could be measured by their actions and by the sort of people they were. Too often, these holier-than-thou types turn out to be shallow and hypocritical with no greater insights or knowledge than the rest of us. Take George for instance. Towards the end of the film, he's asked about dying, and what he would miss in the world. He says, well, there's my son and, um, not much else. Now his wife Olivia is producing this film, and she's probably sitting in the room, and is going to be watching the film. She's the one who stuck by him and saved his life when he was attacked. And she doesn't rate a mention? That seems like a pretty damn selfish, inconsiderate, deeply unspiritual omission on George's part.
So, there's George. Decent guy, wrote great tunes. But a spiritual example to us all? Nah. Don't think so.
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