Posted on 05/26/2005 6:25:58 AM PDT by voletti
Is the United States in danger of becoming an empire ruled by military force? Star Wars creator/director George Lucas and some of his fans appear to think so, judging by the content of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, which opened in cinemas across the world last week.
The question is, if Star Wars is an allegory of our times, who is the emperor and who is Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader? When conceiving the notion of the democratically elected chancellor-turned-emperor back in the 1970s, Lucas initially wanted audiences to identify with a contemporary figure and had then-US president Richard Nixon in mind.
Nonetheless, in the original Star Wars trilogy the empire clearly resembled totalitarian states such as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, with its emphasis on sheer military power, reflected by its drab, grey colors and fascist uniforms. On the other hand, in the early 1970s when Lucas was working on his early Star Wars' drafts, the Vietnam War was very much alive. By 1983, when the last instalment of the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi, was released, Lucas appeared to have drawn parallels between the simple-but-primitive Ewoks' (bear-like aliens) defeat of the all-powerful empire on the forest moon of Endor with the US defeat in the jungles of Vietnam.
Yet, despite Lucas' apparent pro-liberal fears about current trends in US foreign and domestic policies, which many Americans will find exaggerated, his Star Wars saga nonetheless contains very conservative messages that will resonate with people on the desert planet of Texas and in Middle America - and indeed many other parts of the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at atimes.com ...
(Chorus sings:) "And also with you!"
Intended or not, the original had a strong religious allegorical side to it. I'm sure that played well in the blue states. (Although, back then I think the blue states were still being colored in red and the red states were being colored in blue, but that another topic.)
TS
Actually, I enjoyed that article a lot. Seemed pretty balanced. I especially like his very last jab at Lucas (last sentence)
Lucas's response to folks saying that E3 is an allegory of the current political climate is to say, in essence, the person making the allegation is nuts.
George Lucas was accused of being a racist because of Ep 1, and is now accused of being a liberal by the other side because of Ep 3.
Uh...no. Neither is correct. Lucas is not political, but he is a religious man. To try to read some sort of hidden meaning into the plot and characters is rather silly.
Given that Lucas wrote most of the story thirty years ago, this is just silly.
This all reminds me of the Beatles' "I am the Walrus". There were huge discussion groups, newsletters, etc. trying to determine the "hidden" meaning. In the end, John Lennon just said is was all tongue-in-cheek. There was no hidden meaning, just random words pretty much. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.