Revenge of the Canadian Conservatives?
To you, the Empire was the United States of America, and if that's the case, then the brave rebels could only be all those people around the world fighting the American Empire - the Castros, Che Guevaras, Ho Chi Minhs, Pol Pots, and by extension, the Brezhnevs and the Mao Tse Tungs of this world. You, of course, live in the Free World, and as such you have the right to believe that your country is the most powerful force for evil operating in the world. But just for the sake of completeness and historical accuracy, can I just mention that whatever the sins of the United States - and I certainly understand well enough that no country is perfect - your rebels, both when fighting for power and when finally in power, ended up being responsible for the death of tens of millions and enslavement of hundreds of millions; the Luke Skywalkers and Han Solos of the last century gave us gulags and re-education camps, terror famines and political prisons; they institutionalized cults of personality, stifled every human freedom and impoverished whole nations.
Can you not understand that the Star Wars analogy can apply to both the Communist regimes and the Bush regime - and any other corrupt government for that matter?
Finally, Mind of Mog says "Geesh!" Enough with the political back-and-forth. "People need to get a life," says the Arizona blogger. "Or at least complain about something of importance. Let us enjoy the movie."
Dan, you clever linkster. It's not sporting to make fun of Canadian politics. It's like shooting mooses in a barrel.
I can't decide whether to laugh or cry out loud at the way people adopt the Star Wars story for their own political needs. And I must give Lucas credit: he set out to make the monomyth, and he has done it so powerfully, that EVERYONE sees themselves in his movies. The only thing that annoys me in any of this is the childish way in which organizations that I like/dislike try to hijack the plot for themselves, sounding more like shrill advertisers hawking action figures than political action committees. Lucas was writing these stories and their scripts LONG before Bush won either election, before Sept. 11th, and certainly the fact that there's a corrupting force in the Senate has as much to do with Rome as it does with anything going on in Washington this week. As for me, I'm going to see Episode III tonight, and I plan to forget about politics for 2.5 hours or so.
Few things here: 1) How does standing up to toltarian communism give inspiration to the Empire and Richard Nixon being the emperor? Was it the millions of people who died at the hands of the commies post-Vietnam War? I don't think aging hippies/liberals have ever come to terms with how horribly wrong they were in the Vietnam era. That doesn't mean we could have won, etc., but they really need to face facts. 2) Have you ever noticed how the Sith in the original trilogy never lied? And the Jedis would bend the truth? 3) "If you aren't with us, you are against us." That is true. If you aren't with a tolatarian regime, you are against them, by their very nature. 4) "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." Obi-won is saying that absolutely only a Sith deals in absolutes. That's just common bad moral logic found in society akin to "that can be true for you but not for me." Whatever Obi-won.
*SIGH* It is just a movie, set in a galaxy FAR, FAR AWAY! The catch phrases here are: galaxy and FAR, FAR AWAY. Jedi's do not exist, Jedi mind tricks only work in the movie NOT on planet Earth, and there are no such creatures called Wookies! If the french and political pundits want to see the movie because of perceived political jabs, then they are viewing the wrong movie! If you are looking for a movie rife with political innuendos and the ever popular "run away from Iraq" message. Reserve a seat for Kingdom of Heaven. Kingdom of Heaven is the story of Christian zealots inciting a war against the innocent Muslims because their bloodthirsty God wants them to kill infidels. Or as historian Jonathan Reily-Smith summarizes the movie as Osama Bin Laden's version of history. *Sigh* May the force be with us!
anyone who thinks Lucas is slamming President Bush or any other conservative is a complete idiot. All six (actually nine) stories were written long before even Reagan was elected.