STAR WARS HAS always been political, no matter what the MAGA types who cosplay as Imperial agents and scream about Disney shoving diversity into “their Star Wars” say.
The original trilogy showed a band of anti-imperialist fighters going up against a vicious pan-galactic state — based, according to its creator George Lucas, on the Vietnam War, with the Viet Cong “rebels” going up against the United States “Empire.”
The prequels showed the transformation of the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire of the original trilogy. In 2018, during Donald Trump’s first administration, James Cameron interviewed Lucas about Star Wars’ anti-authoritarian messaging, highlighting a line spoken by Senator Padmé Amidala as Emperor Palpatine declares that the Republic is now an Empire: “So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.”
Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney in 2012 and hasn’t been involved in production since then, but Andor, the new series set in the universe, doubles down on its anti-authoritarian roots, focusing on the creation of the revolutionary Rebel Alliance. In the process, it gives us a glimpse into the messiness and conflict that often accompanies building a movement on the left, as activists fight over which political philosophies and strategies work best.
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Joke’s on Andor.
The US doesn’t have a “left”
The US certainly does have a left. The left just isn’t in power. There are many leftist organizations and individuals outside the halls of power.
Eh, do we have a left in the US? Technically, yes, but it lacks all rigidity and strength.
The left is caught in a cycle of self canabalization at the moment, and anyone that I’ve seen attempting to pick up the flag and carry it forward is torn apart. People are too concerned with being ethically and morally pure so that when we’re all sitting in the gulag, they can say, “Well, at least I never compromised my values.” And I’m not saying those values aren’t important, but to have the opportunity to address those, we have several prerequisites to tackle first.
Progress is messy, and if you’re not on board, you’re holding it back.
People are too concerned with being ethically and morally pure
I’m sick to death of the idea that actually wanting the party to be better and quit sliding to the right for no gain is somehow purity testing from unreasonable people.
The people who paint progressives as throwing tantrums when they don’t get 100% of everything they wanted have had 100% of everything they wanted in every single presidential election since 2008, when they hated the idea of a Black president so much that they formed a PAC to support his opponent.
I am wondering if i didn’t convey my point well enough?
Im a progressive and as left as they come. I think we should aim for perfect, but be ok with better or good. What i have a problem with is seeing the front runners of the progressive left(AOC snd Bernie) being called out, by people who claim to be leftist, because they don’t say something out loud or often enough. They’ve been very clear on where they stand. They don’t need to keep reaffirming that, especially when it halts momentum, which we so desperately need yesterday.
And yet I see those leftists(not neo libs) say that AOC isn’t the future or anywhere near it, So if not them, then who? Who checks off all the boxes that’s not a milque toast moderate dem?
What i have a problem with is seeing the front runners of the progressive left(AOC snd Bernie) being called out, by people who claim to be leftist, because they don’t say something out loud or often enough.
Yeah, that’s stupid when AOC and Sanders are about the only ones even trying.
But then you have people who expect the left to accept biden as a progressive.
I fell into the category where I just stopped caring about all these Star Wars projects and never watched it. When the 2nd season came out, I realized a lot of friends had said it’s actually really good and decided to give it a shot. I absolutely loved it. I loved the themes and thought this did a way better job portraying just how dire the times were in this universe. I am also a sucker for spy and espionage movies, and this was up there with the best.
I am so glad I ended up giving it a shot, and I’m sad that I think there’s a lot more people like me who won’t end up watching it due to not trusting the content coming out anymore.
It’s great because it hardly resembles Star Wars. There’s no chosen one (OK, season 2 sort of makes Andor into someone chosen by The Force, but it’s vague enough that maybe it’s just saying it’s around him because of what he’s done/become), no lighsabers, barely any of The Force, there’s mass murder of civilians on screen, and I’m pretty sure they even included an anologue for Walt Disney himself as a master of propoganda assisting The Empire, just like the real Walt and Fascists.
It’s good because they have a passionate team, and they seem to have been given almost complete freedom. Disney isn’t breathing down their necks telling them what to or not to include. They just want to tell a story about rebellion in our world, but use the Star Wars backdrop to trick people into watching it and agreeing with it when they maybe wouldn’t initially if it were using imagery from our world.
BTW this is why us old lore fans got so pissy when Disney reset everything. While Andor is probably an improvement on its old lore equivalent there are entire books and comics dedicated to this type of shit.
And Disney just reset it again by stopping Andor at season 2.
Given it’s supposed to lead directly into Rogue One, no they didn’t.
