Posted on 05/21/2005 1:10:25 AM PDT by drew
Jewish World Review May 20, 2005 / 11 Iyar, 5765
W. is the dark side of new ‘Star Wars’
By James P. Pinkerton
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The politics of the "Star Wars" movies have twisted around for the past three decades, but now, in the final episode, director-creator George Lucas has made a bid for critical acclaim — even if it costs him commercial success.
But that's OK. Lucas, now in his seventh decade, has his billions. What he needs now is absolution for past Jewish World Review May 20, 2005 / 11 Iyar, 5765
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
I just saw it and I think this theory is all wet.
I do think the Galactic Senate and the Jedi Council are very good analogies for deliberative bodies like the UN which talk and talk and talk while not actually accomplishing anything.
This is actually a pretty good scenario however Bush is not a good representative of Sidious or however spelled. You must remember no one Suspects Sidious until it is too late...and there Enemys of the Republic...Thus meaning no one would know until it is too late...Hence a Liberal leader...of the country Take away guns and now your all enemys of the "republic". Just my spin on it.
I guess the Jedi are akin to Vigilante, Arm bearing citezins that keep watch over the Republic ....well For my scenario anyway. After war is made upon them and they are gone the rest fall like a house of cards on the San andreas.
Vigilant....Amazing what a simple E can do
Oh, fer cryin' out loud!!!
All this political crapola! I'm going to see the movie because I WANT TO, and I don't give a bloody rip about who the ticket money goes to! It's pure escapist fare to me!
AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
First of all, Pinkerton and the rest of the conservative wingnuts are absolutely out of their minds. There is no way that any sane person watching this movie could interpret it as anti Bush. All they do by repeating this nonsense is convince the broad middle of the country that they are indeed wack jobs.
Second of all, its a good movie (though not great) and it does a decent job of tying up the Star Wars saga.
One line in particular--"Only a Sith believe in absolutes"--was insulting to those of us who believe that there are absolute truths.
I don`t go see movies made by a guy who has blatantly ripped off Star Trek for the past 25 plus years.
I saw the movie and it's magnificent. Yeah, I'll admit the "with me or against me" line was an all-too-obvious sop to the Michael Moore crowd but that was really the only blatantly contemporary blip in the script. The more general theme of our hero's impatience with the inefficiencies of the threatened Republic and his receptivity to the smooth persuasiveness of Palpatine/Sidious who at first seems the heart and soul of a dedicated public servant who only wants what's best for the galaxy as well as his vulnerability to a man who comes across as a father-figure more substantial than Obi-wan are far more universal.
The theme of men selling their freedom for the promise of order at a desperate juncture is one of the overarching plots and any number of history's villans could be drawn on: Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, V.I. Lenin, Adolf Hitler most of all. All those tyrants who thought they knew what was best for everyone and who sabotaged democracy from within.
The Othello theme also figures strongly. Anakin does everything in the name of his love for Padme, yet in the end, in a jealous rage, he does her in.
The indecisiveness of the Jedi Council and the sentimentality of Obi-wan figure heavily in the story. Anakin's going bad was the result of everyone's fatally relaxing their rules: taking on Anakin in the first place in spite of his character flaws, placing him in Obi-wan's charge (a man too inexperienced to play master), failing to kick him out of the order as he breaks one rule after another, all because of his amazing talent and this "chosen one" prophecy.
Frankly, I cannot hold that one line against poor old George Lucas. After all these years of being looked down on by the artsy-fartsy crowd (Sci-fi and action-adventure get no respect) the Cannes/Sundance aristocracy are hoisting him onto their shoulders. Hey, Spielberg had to make "The Color Purple", "Empire of the Sun", AND "Schindler's List" before he could use the "auteurs only" drinking fountain. In today's supercharged political atmosphere, all George had to do was toss in one ambiguous line.
After this, there is just no way in hell that the Star Wars epic is ending here. #'s seven through nine will be made by hook-or-by-crook. Maybe (hopefully) Lucas won't direct them himself but SOMEONE will. This is just too good (and profitable) a franchise to let go of. Besides, this installment is just too terribly sad and dark to allow it to be the final note. We americans won't stand for such an unhappy ending.
No. They're an official body and work for the Senate. Think of them as UN Peacekeepers. And they're just as crap at it for the Galaxy as the UN is for our world.
Regards, Ivan
Regards, Ivan
Great article that. I had not remembered a lot of those details. You know, it's never actually spelled out that it was Count Dooku who paid the Kaminoans to create the Clone Army, but I guess he was the only one with the fortune to have done so. I could never see how the Kaminoans could do such big business if they were so secretive.
It always got me that the Jedi could have simply left Anakin's mother to her fate like that. Then again, when then-Queen Amidala's ship was stranded on Tatooine I and many others have always wondered why she didn't simply "pull out her interstellar ATM card and make a withdrawl".
I saw the movie too ,but the with us against us, was a bit obvious.
Her money was in Republic credits. Apparently that currency isn't worth much outside the Republic. Sort of like say, an IOU from the UN.
Regards, Ivan
Movies in this genre are best when they stick to pure entertainment that give us a sense of escapism without making political statements based on current affairs. Adhere to entertainment Lucas, we get enough politics in real life.
I haven't seen a star wars movie either, except for bits and pieces on TV. Thesre was no way i would have gone to see this one either, even before Lucas's political motive was exposed.
Why is it these old billionare ecentrics become so detached from reality? I guess they have only one thing left to aquire, and that is to be a mighty ruler of the world. They develop God complexes.
In the end, he will wither up and die, just like everyone else. All his billions will be useless to him, and won't buy him a seat at the table in God's kingdom.
LIke I said, the political themes were timeless (save for that one line). If Lucas is going to the Bad Place it will be for turning the first two prequels into two-hour toy commercials.
> One line in particular--"Only a Sith believe in absolutes"--was insulting to those of us who believe that there are absolute truths.
Also kind of dumb, since the whole "good side" and "bad side" of the force is the core of Jedi thinking anyway-- pretty absolutist. All of the dialogue was goofy, in the theater I saw it people actually laughed at times at the stupidity of some of the script. It was painful to see good actors trying to make that tripe sound like stuff people would say. Harrison Ford (back in the day) used to balk at ridiculous Lucas-written lines and refuse to say them-- boy do I miss HIM.
The political take on this is pretty silly if you ask me. These movies are pure eye candy and typical adventure serial in space opera clothing, if Lucas (or anyone else) thinks he's producing something deep he's delusional. All-in-all the movie was okay, but as usual it was not up to the first two made. Not even close.
It all started to be stupid when Lucas trotted in the galactic teddy bears--- eccch
Further, the final showdown battles are taken directly from the book of Revelation.
If God wanted a lawyer, He could sue Lucas (and every Hollywood screenwriter and director) for plagiarism and win.
It is not surprising that secular, lost, and self-absorbed liberals twist a movie depiction of the good in real life as evil as good. It is predictable.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20
A couple of other lines:
ANAKIN: "You are either with me or you are with the enemy"...
MACE WINDU to ANAKIN:"Let him stand trial? He controls both the Senate & the Courts!"...
it's a friggin FANTASY.
You know, I have heard people MAKING FUN OF CONSERVATIVES over this stupid, inane and illogical theory. Let's give it a rest shall we?
Coming from a PC geek, I need to state that the two PC based RPG Star Wars "Knights of the old Republic" and "The Sith Lords" are deeper, better written, far more entertaining and the former contains one of the best "plot twits" in recent gaming memory. If you enjoy Star Wars, you would absolutely LOVE these games and moreso the story behind them.
The SW universe is alive and well in the hands of talented and creative writers. Lucas is not among them. "Jar-Jar Binks"... WHAT was he THINKING?!?
Your right. Mace Windu's line was far more specifically anti-Bush.
> PC based RPG Star Wars "Knights of the old Republic" and "The Sith Lords" are deeper, better written, far more entertaining [than the movies]
I believe it. Lucas is no sci-fi writer, and his bloated view of his own talent has hurt every film from #3 on.
Fortunately I get most of my sci-fi from other sources. There's a lot of great authors out there, and as for film/TV the new Battlestar Galactica's pretty good too.
I had read this, but deliberately did not tell my very conservative, politically savy, son or nephews about what I read about it (they are in college and still wearing their Bush/Cheney wristbands to class everyday, so they are very pro-Bush.)
They came home from the movie and I asked if they thought George Lucas had a hidden message, or agenda in the movie.
They thought a minute and then came up with the analogy of Sidius, but the point is, until prompted they didn't see it, and even after mentioning it, they thought it was a lame analogy. So if it's not obvious to politcally involved folks, it will go right over the head of most people.
Good link and all correct. Bookmarking.
Thanks, Ivan.
I'm not really that concerned at this point in seeing what happens after episode VI. What I really want to see is Episode III.V, where we'll meet the young Han Solo and find out how he and Chewbacca became such close partners, and where we'll see the formation and growth of the Rebellion. I'd LOVE to see the Han Solo/Lando Calrissian card game that resulted in Han winning the Millenium Falcon from Lando.
Don't get me wrong - the stuff that happened after VI is really interesting and I do want to see those movies made one day, but there is also a big chunk missing between these two trilogies. Maybe the TV show will address some of it.
The theme of good (W) vs evil is timeless and can be seen in tales.
BTW I chose the Dark Side. Does that make me a bad person?
Won't see the movie...don't care.
Could you list a few examples?
Right. every science fiction story rips off Trek
i notice that too. and the one other line that i thought was pure political is when they mentioned the "senate AND COURTS" under the control of one person.
since when have "courts" ever been mentioned in a star wars movie?
then there was the "if your not with us..." line.
there were definitely some political jabs in the movie but it wasn't overbearing at all. but it would be just as applicable to whatever party was in control at the time so it didn't bother me that much.
I was having a bad morning at the office yesterday and decided I needed a distraction so I went to see ROTS at a nearby theater, lucky for me it was not crowded, picked up a hot dog and a coke went in and got myself a nice seat. Had a very nice 2-1/2 hours as the movie was everything I had hoped it would be, well almost. If GL is making a political statement, so what. He is not going to change my politics or how I feel about things except offer some entertainment in the form of a movie that helped me forget a rather bad morning at work.
Please my friends forget about all the politics and go see the movie. Take your wife, kids, girlfriend, friends. Forget about everything else and just enjoy the movie, it's great entertainment. I walked out of the theater feeling much better than I went in. I have 4-day weekend Next week and I intend to take my kids to see it.
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!
I've always considered it more of a rip off of Dune than Star Trek.
That was a bad line, and it directly contradicts Palpatine's moral relativism earlier in the film.
"W. is the dark side of new ‘Star Wars’"
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
It's the difference berween a dream and a dram.
It's the difference berween a dream and a dram.
I'm not going to see the new Stars Wars. It has nothing to do with politics. My record of never seeing any Star Wars movie must continue.
I saw the movie too ,but the with us against us, was a bit obvious.
Yea, Jesus said it, too, in both Matthew 12:20 and Luke 11:23. Ooooh.....Luke...Luke Skywalker....I sense a conspiracy or something......
I just got back from seeing it. It more than makes up for the first two bombs. Is it political? Of course. It is about politics! If someones wants to see the President as one of the characters, it tells you more about that person than it does the movie.
BTW, for all those complaining about Anakin's line: You are either with me, or you are my enemy..." Please put it in the context of the scene.
Anakin: Don't make me kill you!
Obi-Wan: Anakin my allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy.
Anakin: You are either with me, or you are my enemy!
Perfect acceptable in the context of the scene as he is giving Obi-Wan an ultimateum.
Yancy
Ya know for all of you hyperventilating about the politics of the film just take a cue from MST3K:
Just repeat to yourself "it's just a show," you should really just relax.
Yancy
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