Monday, May 16, 2005
George Lucas Draws Iraq-Star Wars Parallels
Uh oh. Here we go. Can't enjoy a Star Wars film without idiotic liberal commentary.
I know Nixon broke laws during Watergate, and he was rightly shown the door. But what exactly about Nixon and the Vietnam War inspired the despotic Empire in Star Wars? His refusal to look at voting fraud in Illinois? His trying not to sell out the South Vietnamese to a despotic, evil regime?
In hindsight, he should have patterned his portrayals based off the Communists we were fighting. But children of the 60s have a really hard time looking at the truth/mirror/insert anything that would cause guilt to well up.
Erosions of freedoms during wartime is a concern we should be on guard for. But I highly doubt Bush is secretly in charge of Al Queda. I know kooky leftists may feel differently.
In Vietnam, we were trying to prevent a despotic regime from enslaving millions of people. In Iraq, we freed millions of people. Somehow, I don't think that's the parallel George Lucas is trying to come up with. America was the bad guy in Vietnam for some reason that only makes sense to hippies.
Again, I'm not understanding how America in the Vietnam era inspired visions of a despotic Empire. There is an argument that we couldn't have won. But that's not what Lucas is saying here. Otherwise, Palpatine would just be waging a misguided war.
Democracy is messy. And sometimes freedoms do need to be restricted because of threats. Now, if threats go away, Lucas has a very good point.
But Lucas seems to be buying into a bunch of Patriot Act paranoia.
I'm getting misty-eyed for the days for all the conspiracty stuff was on the right-side of the political spectrum.
Barney Frank and Hillary Clinton would like to thank all the kooky leftists for making them look centrist in comparison.
Star Wars is a wakeup call to Americans about the erosion of democratic freedoms under George W. Bush, George Lucas said yesterday.
Uh oh. Here we go. Can't enjoy a Star Wars film without idiotic liberal commentary.
Lucas, at a Cannes film festival press conference yesterday, said he first wrote the framework of Star Wars in 1971 when reacting to then-U.S. president Richard Nixon and the events of the Vietnam War. But the story still has relevance today, he said, and is part of a pattern he has noticed in history.
I know Nixon broke laws during Watergate, and he was rightly shown the door. But what exactly about Nixon and the Vietnam War inspired the despotic Empire in Star Wars? His refusal to look at voting fraud in Illinois? His trying not to sell out the South Vietnamese to a despotic, evil regime?
"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.
In hindsight, he should have patterned his portrayals based off the Communists we were fighting. But children of the 60s have a really hard time looking at the truth/mirror/insert anything that would cause guilt to well up.
Erosions of freedoms during wartime is a concern we should be on guard for. But I highly doubt Bush is secretly in charge of Al Queda. I know kooky leftists may feel differently.
"It is just one of those re-occuring 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 Vietnam, we were trying to prevent a despotic regime from enslaving millions of people. In Iraq, we freed millions of people. Somehow, I don't think that's the parallel George Lucas is trying to come up with. America was the bad guy in Vietnam for some reason that only makes sense to hippies.
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?"
Again, I'm not understanding how America in the Vietnam era inspired visions of a despotic Empire. There is an argument that we couldn't have won. But that's not what Lucas is saying here. Otherwise, Palpatine would just be waging a misguided war.
Lucas cited the Roman empire in the wake of Caesar's death, France after the revolution and Hitler's rise in Germany 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."
Democracy is messy. And sometimes freedoms do need to be restricted because of threats. Now, if threats go away, Lucas has a very good point.
But Lucas seems to be buying into a bunch of Patriot Act paranoia.
I'm getting misty-eyed for the days for all the conspiracty stuff was on the right-side of the political spectrum.
Barney Frank and Hillary Clinton would like to thank all the kooky leftists for making them look centrist in comparison.
