“Andor” Has a Message for the Left: Act Now
theintercept.com
The “Star Wars” series shows a rebel movement struggling to be born but has a clear lesson for fighting rising fascism.

STAR WARS HAS always been political, no matter what the MAGA types who cosplay as Imperial agents and scream about Disney shoving diversity into “their Star Wars” say.

The original trilogy showed a band of anti-imperialist fighters going up against a vicious pan-galactic state — based, according to its creator George Lucas, on the Vietnam War, with the Viet Cong “rebels” going up against the United States “Empire.”

The prequels showed the transformation of the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire of the original trilogy. In 2018, during Donald Trump’s first administration, James Cameron interviewed Lucas about Star Wars’ anti-authoritarian messaging, highlighting a line spoken by Senator Padmé Amidala as Emperor Palpatine declares that the Republic is now an Empire: “So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.”

Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney in 2012 and hasn’t been involved in production since then, but Andor, the new series set in the universe, doubles down on its anti-authoritarian roots, focusing on the creation of the revolutionary Rebel Alliance. In the process, it gives us a glimpse into the messiness and conflict that often accompanies building a movement on the left, as activists fight over which political philosophies and strategies work best.

  • HeyJoe@lemmy.world
    0·
    16 days ago

    I fell into the category where I just stopped caring about all these Star Wars projects and never watched it. When the 2nd season came out, I realized a lot of friends had said it’s actually really good and decided to give it a shot. I absolutely loved it. I loved the themes and thought this did a way better job portraying just how dire the times were in this universe. I am also a sucker for spy and espionage movies, and this was up there with the best.

    I am so glad I ended up giving it a shot, and I’m sad that I think there’s a lot more people like me who won’t end up watching it due to not trusting the content coming out anymore.

    • Miles O'Brien@startrek.websiteEnglish
      0·
      16 days ago

      I ended up finally giving it a shot last month, and I recall having seen stuff about season 2.

      I finished season 1 in 2 days, and then found out season 2 hadn’t quite come out yet.

      Then I did what I always do and waited for all the episodes to come out… I got halfway through season 2 before my last month I’m paying for streaming services ran out.

      So now I will indefinitely be halfway through season 2.

      I should have started season 2 the day the last episode was released.