05/23/05

Some neocons have expressed their dismay that the new Star Wars movie seems so antiwar, saying it was perhaps even rewritten as an anti-Bush diatribe. This cold desperation comes as no surprise, but it also strengthens my appreciation of Lucas' decision to make episodes IV, V, and VI before I, II, and the now-completed III. This establishes first the generally agreeable premise that it's right to overthrow oppressive government, before bringing into focus something more discomforting -- that the corrupt tyranny referred to is our own. The story being told this week was written over 30 years ago, as Lucas has explained. Star Wars 'was really about the Vietnam War, and that was the period where Nixon was trying to run for a [second] term, which got me to thinking historically about how do democracies get turned into dictatorships? Because the democracies aren't overthrown; they're given away.' I suppose that explains why Supreme Chancellor Palpatine works out of an oval office, and why his aide looks so much like Henry Kissinger...

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/horton.php?articleid=6041

from AntiWar.Com, by Scott Horton


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp