New Star Wars Movie Raises Questions on U.S Policy

[wyldwolf]

Without Michael Moore and "Fahrenheit 9/11" at the Cannes Film Festival this time, it was left to George Lucas and "Star Wars" to pique European ire over the state of world relations and the United States' role in it.

Lucas' themes of democracy on the skids and a ruler preaching war to preserve the peace predate "Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith" by almost 30 years. Yet viewers Sunday and Lucas himself noted similarities between the final chapter of his sci-fi saga and our own troubled times.

Cannes audiences made blunt comparisons between "Revenge of the Sith" the story of Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side and the rise of an emperor through warmongering to President Bush's war on terrorism and the invasion of Iraq.

Two lines from the movie especially resonated:

"This is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause," bemoans Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) as the galactic Senate cheers dictator-in-waiting Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) while he announces a crusade against the Jedi.

"If you're not with me, then you're my enemy," Hayden Christensen's Anakin soon to become villain Darth Vader tells former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). The line echoes Bush's international ultimatum after the Sept. 11 attacks, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20050515/111618582000.html

[nytemare]

1. I was watching "Episode 2" last night

Where the counsel voted to give the Chancellor power to create an army. Reminded me an awful lot of the senate bill to give Bush authority to use force in Iraq. In the movie, he said he would relinquish the power as soon as needed.

Funny thing was, Episode 2 came out before we went to war in Iraq.

[liberalpragmatist]

2. Episode II is quite underrated, IMO

Certainly there were flaws. And I do think some of Palpatine's machinations in both Episodes I and II are a little bit too complex - in trying to weave a broad conspiracy, Lucas has somewhat detracted from the story b/c it makes it a bit too mundane and parts are hard to follow. Also, the love story is really poorly handled and Lucas needs to have learned years ago that he can't write scripts.

That all being said, I found myself plenty entertained by the story. And Palpatine's rise is a really good portrayal of the rise in tyranny.

Now, I'm not someone who thinks Bush is some dictator-in-waiting. And I roll my eyes at any Hitler reference. But even so, the parallels are important to note. Bush need not be a dictator-in-waiting for him to be using unethical tools that parallel the tools of dictators. In doing so, he's undermining democracy, by equating patriotism with unyielding loyalty and loss of freedom with security.

[nytemare]

3. I see some Hitler parallels

In the use of Propaganda, especially. There are many quotes by Hitler that could easily be said today. If they overthrow the filibuster, there won't be much of a checks and balance system left to dispute whoever he would want to put in the supreme court. That concerns me. More and more, though, it seems the tide might be going toward a Democratic win in the 2006 congressional election.

[wyldwolf]

4. the power of nytemares...

..speaking of propaganda...

(Couldn't resist the play on your name.)

The Power of Nightmares: Baby It's Cold Outside

In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares.

The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these nightmares.

In a new series, the Power of Nightmares explores how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion.

It is a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/3755686.stm

[nytemare]

5. Ty for the article

I bookmarked it, for when my brain isn't fried.

The "nytemare" comes from me working nights, being a gal, and driving a mustang.

:)

[wyldwolf]

6. I have a younger sister-in-law we call NyteMary

Her name is Mary, she's a race car driver - and her car is black.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Well, whaddaya expect from a "Marin Hot Tubber"

like George Lucas.

:toast:

[rndmprsn]

8. from the mouth of mr lucas...

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2005-05-15-cannes-lucas_x.htm


..."This was written during the Vietnam War and Nixon era, when the issue was how a democracy turns itself over to a dictator — not how a dictator takes over a democracy," he said.

Pushed further on the current Internet chat about the war in Sith being akin to the current Iraqi war, Lucas said, "When I wrote this, Iraq didn't exist. We were just funding Saddam Hussein and giving him weapons of mass destruction."

But, he added, "the parallels between Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable."

Lucas said Darth Vader's saga is about how a good man turns himself into a bad one. "Most of them think they're good people doing what they do for a good reason."