The Politics of Star Wars

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It would seem that one cannot enjoy a good movie today without it becoming entangled in partisan politics. “Million Dollar Baby,” was mutated from story about the relationship between a man and his daughter into a strictly a movie about euthanasia. The Drudge Report targeted “Sin City,” as anti-catholic because the main villain was a cannibal priest. Drudge even had the audacity to imply that the creators of “Sin City,” purposely debuted the movie around the time of the Pope’s passing. Of course we all remember the brouhaha caused by Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” and how it’s specific purpose was to impact the forthcoming presidential election.

With the release of Lucas’ final Star Wars installment, “Revenge of the Sith,” there have been a bevy of stories drawing parallels from the fantasy world to our own political arena. For example, the New York Times reported that Moveon.org was preparing to spend $150,000 to run advertisements on CNN comparing Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, to Chancellor Palpatine. Apparently changing the rules on filibusters is the same as fabricating a civil war for the sole purpose of creating a galactic empire.

Conservatives are just as bad. Some sites are accusing Lucas of taking potshots at President Bush vis-à-vis the War on Terror when Anakin, on his way to becoming the evil Darth Vader, warns, "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," which is reminiscent of Bush’s post-9/11 ultimatum, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." In addition to that nonsense there’s a site called Pabaah.com that has opted to boycott Lucas and his films because apparently in their eyes Lucas in the next Jane Fonda.

There is no doubt that Lucas is a peacenik as are most Hollywood types and most assuredly he would have a bias against perceived American imperialism. He’s stated that he had first devised the "Star Wars" story during the Vietnam War. "The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable," he told an audience at the Cannes Film Festival. All artists draw from what they see around them and it’s going to irrevocably framed by their inherent biases. That is perfectly normal and I personally don’t hold that against Lucas. While Lucas may have weaved a thread of underlying liberal ethos into the arc of the Star Wars story, it certainly wasn’t the primary message and it’s not even very noticeable unless you purposely look for it.

This sudden urge to use “Sith” as weapon between political ideologues to bludgeon each other strikes me as a bit absurd. By Lucas’ own admission, when he made Star Wars, it was a tribute to the action adventure serials of yesteryear. This was pirates, wizards, knights, princess’ and evil sorcerers but in space. While he wrote the Empire as a militaristic institution, his overall purpose was to make a kids fairytale, not to editorialize the Vietnam War or in this case, the Iraq War.

Much has been made of a line whispered by Padme toward the end of the movie. "This is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause," bemoans Padme Amidala as the galactic Senate cheers dictator-in-waiting Palpatine while he announces a crusade against the Jedi. Whatever. Nearly the entire series paints democracy pure as the driven snow and the Empire as not having a single positive element to it. If you were to apply that theory to actual countries, say France and Saudi Arabia respectively, you’d find yourself with severe gaps in the argument.

At the end of the day, this is purely a work of fantasy. It is candy to be enjoyed by young and all alike. The whole idea of fantasy is to allow people to escape from real life and life in this magical world where physics and logic cease to exist. What made Star Wars work most of us as children was that it was just a fun movie. The characters were entertaining and action was exciting. Were there underlying messages about religion and politics in the narrative? Sure. Did most of us youngster’s care at the time? Absolutely not. If you were to ask children today what was there favorite part of, “The Phantom Menace,” you’d be hard pressed to find a kid that answered, “I thought the economic underpinnings of the Trade Federation blockade of Naboo were a fabulous metaphor for today’s use of blockades and trade sanctions.” Most would just say they thought pod race kicked ass and that the double bladed lightsaber was the coolest thing ever.

The liberal politics are there simply as a garnish. It’s extra to give the plot, good versus evil, some substance. I think people need to stop running everything through the prism of George W. Bush and just learn to enjoy the simply pleasures in life.

May the force be with you. Boba Fett in ’08!