Posted on 05/17/2005 9:08:32 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
CANNES -- Star Wars is a wakeup call to Americans about the erosion of democratic freedoms under George W. Bush, filmmaker George Lucas says.
Lucas, responding to a question from The Sun at a Cannes Film Festival press conference on Sunday, said he first wrote the framework of Star Wars in 1971 when reacting to then-U.S. president Richard Nixon and the on-going events of the Vietnam War. But the story still has relevance today, he said, and is part of a pattern he has noticed in his readings of history.
"I didn't think it was going to get quite this close," he said of the parallels between the Nixon era and the Bush presidency, which has been sacrificing freedoms in the interests of national security. "It is just one of those re-occurring things. I hope this doesn't come true in our country.
"Maybe the film will awaken people to the situation of how dangerous it is ... The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we are doing now in Iraq are unbelievable."
In the latest film, the Palpatine character takes over as ruler of the universe with the co-operation of the other politicians.
"Because this is the back story (of the Star Wars saga), one of the main features of the back story was to tell how the Republic became the Empire," Lucas said. "At the time I did that, it was during the Vietnam War and the Nixon era. The issue was: How does a democracy turn itself over to a dictator? Not how does a dictator take over but how does a democracy and Senate give it away?"
Lucas cited the Roman Empire in the wake of Caesar's death, France after the Revolution and Germany with the rise of Hitler as historical examples of countries giving themselves over to dictators. "They all seem to happen in the same way with the same issues: Threats from the outside; they need more control; and a democratic body not being able to function properly because everybody's squabbling."
Lucas earned applause for his comments and then joined his actors Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, Ian McDiarmid and Anthony Daniels in a free-wheeling discussion of Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, which made its world premiere out of competition. This was before they all scuttled off to the Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship, where the Cannes brass presented Lucas with an awkwardly named honour called "the trophy of the festival."
???? What a load!
I was seriously considering seeing this film despite it's zero stars rating, but no I'm having serious reservations...
Why did he have to go and ruin Star Wars like this?
I may not cause George Lucas any problems by not seeing his latest effort, but he will, by God , not get a dime of my hard earned money. I refuse to be a part of his or michael moores' politics or to support the hollywood elite in any way.
Isn't this episode star wars return of the ho's or something like that.
Wih an attitude like that, George Lucas just lost my movie-goer vote. My ultimate revenge will be to ignore his movie. What I did for the movie "Alexander" and what I have done to Jane Fonda movies, I can do for him.
PING
Star Wars: Homos Strike Back!
I'll wait for a pirated DVD copy to come out and then watch that. Can't be letting any of my money go to Lefty Lucas...
What an ass. I feel for Lucas. It just goes to prove up the folly of talented people: that they believe that a gift in one area of endeavor makes you omnipotent and all knowing.
He turned an object of guilt-free entertainment into some weak afterthought at a political statement of the times ala Tolkein.
Try to imagine what the Patriot Act would be like under Janet Reno. There was no threat and the government was using the military to incinerate women and children in Waco. What about Ruby Ridge ?
On the contrary. Bush is more than welcome in the U.S. Count the votes!
This is just a cheep publicity stunt to get the brain dead Bush haters to buy tickets. It'll work too. It feeds their anti-U.S. hate.
For years we've been oppressed by dictatorial judges who try to tell us what we will like, what we will pay for, how we will educated or raise our own kids, or what we MUST tolerate according to them alone. They even went as far as proposing hate SPEECH legislation to stop us from saying anything negative about any left wing special group!!! They were suggesting we be thrown in jail for disagreeing with the left wing extremist kook factor!
No, Bush is a blessing to America. It's time America took it's democracy back!!!! It's time the left - left!!!
pirated DVD
Maybe you can email me a zipped copy :^)
Hey, I like that! May I use it?
how true. It would be wonderful is some press person could ask this exact question. I wonder how the idiot would respond. What a disappointment. I can only imagine the circle of leftists he hangs with. They have a truly distorted view of reality. The US Frees 50 million Iraqi's and we are defeating terrorists all over and all he can do is down Bush. I wonder how the past four years would have been with Gore?
Wimp bush was president for that little clean up operation.
Of course prime characters in theat graduated to WACO, along with WC Clarke.
"We were just funding Saddam Hussein and giving him weapons of mass destruction. We didn't think of him as an enemy at that time. We were going after Iran and using him as our surrogate, just as we were doing in Vietnam. ... The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable."
In ancient Rome, "Why did the Senate after killing Caesar turn around and give the government to his nephew?" Lucas said. "Why did France, after they got rid of the king and that whole system, turn around and give it to Napoleon? It's the same thing with Germany and Hitler.
"You sort of see these recurring themes where a democracy turns itself into a dictatorship, and it always seems to happen kind of in the same way, with the same kinds of issues, and threats from the outside, needing more control. A democratic body, a senate, not being able to function properly because everybody's squabbling, there's corruption."
2nd Source [sarcasm]
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