Apparently, there's been a lot of talk about George Lucas and gratuitous political statements in and around Revenge of the Sith. Personally, I can't imagine what would give anyone that idea.
For all you liberals out there, the number 3 represents Dale "The Intimidator" Earnhardt. Lord Vader of the Sith, known to enjoy a good race himself now and again, obviously has a fine sense of history.
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Having seen the film (which I enjoyed tremendously) I have to say that the whole idea that there's an ingrained anti-Bush message is one of the most artificial controversies I've ever seen, based largely on Lucas's remarks to an overwhelmingly politicized and anti-Bush audience at the Cannes and the ramblings of a number of film critics. There's one line by Anakin Skywalker that can be interpreted that way and that's it. Most of the reviewers who were swooning over it got Obi-Wan's response wrong too, which is: "Only a Sith Lord deals in absolutes," which is a little different (and makes a great deal more sense) than what they thought he said.
I still maintain that Palpatine is almost unquestionably intended to parallel Hitler and the descriptions of his consolidation of power in Labyrinth of Evil as well as the "Revenge of the Sith" novelization make him sound far more like Castro than anybody else. If you're a die-hard lefty who thinks that Bush is Hitler, maybe it'll make sense to you, otherwise ...
Last night, someone dressed as Darth Vader robbed a movie theatre in Springfield, IL. No weapon was presented, just jedi mind tricks (grab and run).
What is the socio-political context in which we should analyze these events? Was it an anti-war gesture or has the Bush administration unleashed dark forces that are just now coming to the fore?
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If he said "Your money or your life give me", we're all in trouble.
Interesting reflection. I remember seeing the original movie and there was no Bush administration on the horizon at the time. As I recall, I also connected DarthVader and the EvilEmpire with communism, but very loosely.
Power corrupts and abosolute power corrupts absolutely, can't remember who originated this statement, also predated the Bush administration. The reason for it is that it is true, and history tends to illustrate and confirm this as true.
If you understand the conspiracy theory of the TinFoil hat New World Order bunch, from Alex Jones to Cynthia McKinney and Chomsky ...
IE, the manfactured war " with a clone army placed on order 10 years before (and ready just in time) by the same creature who commissioned the death star from the federation.
Its all the doing of the unseen illuminati puppet masters, so the theory goes... Bush is a puppet front for the hidden rulers of the world etc ..
And Both Kerry and Bush are skull and bones, so it didnt really matter who won, interchangable puppets and so on ...
I donno if Lucas is a full devotee, but there are elements of both the left and the right in the kook club, the left being larger, and even reasonable sounding people can flip from conventional politics into this tinfoil zone like they have a toggle switch wired between two realities.
It makes it harder that there actually is some of those that mildly fits their theory, Lugar and his LOST treaty, and others that want to hand over the authority for the UN to overide American voters by entangling us in treaties.
All that Clintonista newly declared park land was to be eventually handed over to the UN as eternal "Heratage" areas, out of the reach of American voter being able to change it back etc..
Where they go wrong is they imagine them more powerfull and in greater numbers than they actually are. We can spot these one world govt new Communist Internationale Guys like Marice strong.
And Ken Lay pushing for the USA to adopt Koyoto, so that the USA economy is placed under UN control.
But Koyoto is failing, and the left is all in a panic because the UN the EU et all is failing in discredit before leftist-lock-in was obtained.
They are in a panic because Bush wants to put conservative Judges that will block the Cultural Marxist program thats been forced on the public by the courts ...
The open southern border is part of that program too, with the plan to basically erase it, the cafta treaty etc ... but the public is refusing to accept the open border concept.
The globalist project even with its earler gains, now looks to be losing to me.
The time around, I remember reading several articles claiming that the Rebel Alliance symbolized the Confederacy, with Darth Vader & Co. representing Abraham Lincoln and those radical 'Blishionist Republicans.
On the other hand, with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing playing villians, the whole series could be a metaphor for Hammer Films Vs. Hollywood. Go, Hammer!
This is my interpretation: The first Star Wars film was genius, and the first twenty minutes of the second one was promising. After that it degenerated into a cheesy merchandising campaign, and now it dabbles in idiotarian politics in its senile old age.
This has been the epic story of Walt Vader and the Rise and Fall of the Disney Empire.
Glen, your humor upsets my refreshment tanking cycle. some day, you will pay.
The fact movie mogul George Lucas finds it good business to call Bush 43 Darth Vader, and a Pepsi exec can allege the US gives the finger launched this Quillnews post that ruminates about the fact that free people – the real empire – are at war, will win and will hold corporations and their directors to account. http://www.quillnews.com/main/2005/05/the_real_empire.html
Mystery solved. German Yoda is.
Rev. Sensing has the scoop!
Ouch, that movie was so bad it defied even the worst reviews. Horrible lines, convoluted action, no human interest. Nothing I read prepared me for how far short that film fell from the first three released (This film makes Return of the Jedi look like the Empire Strikes Back)
Anyone silly enough to find parallels to GWB should be happy the message came in such a craptacular vehicle. Akin to Ann Coultier delivering the "Joe McCarthy was actually right about the commies" bit: partially right of course, but not when she says it-- really.