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FullMetalPatriot on Obama Photobombs History
Revenge of the Lucas
I just got back from seeing Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. My two friends and I were discussing things we liked, disliked, etc, when we came upon the really heavy-handed political message in the film. There’s a scene where Anakin says “You are either with me, or you’re my enemy,” in a none-too-veiled jab at George Bush’s similar line against terrorism, “You’re either with us or against us in the fight against terror.” Right after Anakin says that, an even more pointed remark comes from Obi-Wan Kenobi in reply, “Only a Sith sees things in absolutes.”
Ok, so now he’s set us up to see George Bush as a Sith lord and a master of evil.
But wait. Let’s look at what Emperor Palpatine says earlier in the movie. When he’s trying to woo Anakin to the Dark Side of the Force, he uses a kind of moral relativism that essentially says you must study good and evil in order to be a powerful person. You must take a broader view, not the narrow dogma of the Jedi. Nothing’s really bad, literally “it’s all good.”
Sounds an awful lot like what you hear coming from the Democrats. Just replace Jedi with Christians, Republicans, or Conservatives and you’re pretty much there.
If moral relativism is what marks a Sith and a Liberal, then it’s the Jedi who sees things in absolutes. Right or wrong, good or bad.
So what we have here is a good old-fashioned contradiction.
Which one is it, Mr. Lucas? Is it the Sith who should be spouting the “for us or against us”, or should the Jedi be saying it? Based on everything we see about the Sith, they’re the ones who are the relativists, for whom nothing is ever truly wrong as long as it’s something that makes them more powerful (or, in our world, something that makes you feel good). It’s the Jedi who should be taking the stand, “for or against.”
Anyhow, when Anakin does his Bush impersonation, Lucas should have resisted the temptation to preach further and just had Obi-Wan say something else. But by bonking us on the head with his anti-Bush message, he stepped all over his own mythology. Honestly, why not just keep the movie’s themes in the general good vs.evil that marked the first three movies (Episodes 4-6). Revenge of the Sith was a pretty good movie, it really didn’t need this kind of political crap.
It’s almost as bad as Jar-Jar Binks. Almost.
Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT
