Did Star Wars Make Us Woke?
I love Star Wars. It was a huge part of my life growing up. I was nine years old when the original film was released and my mum let me walk to the picture house (that is what we called the cinema in the olden days) with my friends for an early evening showing. Kids' lives were different back in 1977.
I have a dirty little secret, I was still collecting and playing with Star Wars miniature figures during the third film. Nothing wrong in that you may think, except I was fifteen years old. I feel shame that I was still a child at this age. It is easy not to grow up when you are surrounded by loving females with no father figure to guide you.
The film blew me away like it did to the rest of the world. It was a classic tale of good against evil, light over darkness, the weak overcoming the strong. In this film's narrative, it is the unforgettable plucky rebellion fighting the tyrannical empire.
Did this film inadvertently create the mindset for woke ideology to flourish? Victim and Oppressor. Majority is evil and minority is good. Technology brings forth tyranny. Multi-species on one side, only white males on the other. I thought this would be an interesting question to ponder.
George Lucas is the creator of Star Wars and is American. It is built into American folklore that rebellions against empires are automatically good for it is exactly what they did to gain independence from the British Empire. Like all nations, they do not see the hypocrisy of their own actions. Vietnam. Afghanistan. Iraq.
If empires are bad, then people fighting against them must be good. This thought process contributed to the already existing anti-British Empire feeling in the UK among intellectuals. Did Star Wars plant this seed subconsciously in the masses who had no interest in history and academia – the silver screen is a powerful educator.
Did this lead to the most beneficial empire ever to exist, The British Empire, to be turned into a monster in the minds of the populace? All monsters need fighting.
In the film, the evil empire is headed by a white man. All the soldiers are dressed from head to toe in white – reminiscent of the KKK. The Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces is Darth Vader who dresses in black, but underneath this disguise is a white man. I cannot recall any non-white male humans officially employed by the empire on a PAYE-type basis. Of course, they exploit non-white male humans to do their dirty work for them. Such as bounty hunters and organised crime bosses: Boba Fett and Jabba The Hutt.
This brings me to the good guys. Ben, Luke, Han and Leia.
Obi-Wan 'Ben' Kenobi is a wizard-type hermit living on an isolated planet. He is a master of a mystical power that surrounds us and binds us. He is the lost knowledge of a time before technology when the universe lived in peace and did not abuse nature. A mixture of Gandolf and Greta Thunberg with Native American ancestry sprinkled on top. He feels the pain of a whole planet as it is destroyed by the Empire.
Luke Skywalker is our innocence. Young and naive. He is the perfect student and follows Ben immediately based on an ideology - The Force. Like all ideologies, it is far too simplistic but perfect for the young and stupid to understand. He is deceived and has important information kept hidden from him, such as the identity of his real father. Luke also represents Queerness, especially when he develops a sexual interest in his twin sister and kisses her on the mouth. Love is love.
Han Solo is a maverick and is only concerned about Han Solo. But through interactions with the right kind of people, he changes his outlook and embraces the struggle of fighting injustice. He is the alpha male that all social justice movements need if they are to be successful. How do they recruit him? Through a woman. Like all men, he falls in love (euphemism for wanting sex) and will do anything for her (to get sex). A lesson here for all the fat, tattooed, blue hair feminists.
Finally, we have our female superhero – Princess Leia. She eventually drops her royal title and becomes simply General Leia. She may be small, petite and vulnerable, but has the spirit and mental strength to push back against blatant misogyny whilst leading men into battle. She is the only person to insult Darth Vader to his face and mocks a Stormtrooper while lying on her prison cell bed. Let us not forget that she is also a spy, when we first meet her she is smuggling the stolen Death Star plans. And like many feminists in our society, she ruins her marriage and raises a dysfunctional child.
What of the two droids? R2D2 and C3PO. They represent the everyday person in Marxist ideology; powerless, ignored and invisible. Yet, these slaves to their masters have a huge impact on the outcome of the struggle. If slaves, droids and the uneducated masses could break their programming, and realise their strength when organised they could achieve greatness if directed correctly - a utopia could be built. The message is clear: Break your chains and join a cause today to save the world!
Is my analysis what you remember when you watched the film for the first time? As a nine-year-old, I have to admit that the hidden social justice meanings in the film went above my head. I was so naive and unaware of the persecution around me – I jest.
We must remember that this was an American film, written and directed by an American. Their memory of Empire is still alive in their culture and imprinted onto their DNA. I remember when Frank Bruno was challenging an American for the heavy weigh boxing title, it was promoted as The Empire Strikes Back. Frank was painted as an invader wanting to reclaim what was rightly American by birth.
Are empires always a bad thing? A film that dealt with this topic more thoughtfully was one called Hero starring Jet Li. It is a good film if you have not seen it.
It is set in China at a time when an emperor was attempting to unite all the regions under one ruler. Achieving such an outcome requires brutality and death. To cut a long story short, Jet Li is about to slay the evil emperor when he is educated on why unification is needed and beneficial. The emperor explains that the only way to stop the centuries of regional warfare is to unite the land under one ruler so peace can finally be achieved. Jet Li suddenly understands and gives his life so the emperor can continue in his quest.
The real difference between these American and Chinese empire stories is the American one portrays the British incorrectly as a foreign power, whereas the Chinese story acknowledges that everyone involved is Chinese.
The history of Empire is complicated. Empires can bring peace and harmony after the initial destruction and carnage. On the whole, they reduce death and suffering for the majority. They are by no means benevolent entities, but preferable to the status quo of inter-tribal warfare that never ends.
I wanted to write this article to show how easy it is to seek proof to support any idea we may have. The rereading of history through a modern-day lens can twist any story to fit any idea or ideology. All you have to do is want it to fit.
History needs to be understood in the round. Accepting only a slice distorts your view of the past, present and future.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana
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