Revenge of the Sith – Political Review
There has been a lot of discussion about George Lucas’ politics, statements, and the content of Revenge of the Sith lately in the blogosphere. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I thought it was time I gave my own point of view on what I saw. My take is going to be a little different than what you’ve seen elsewhere.
If you have NOT seen Star Wars – Revenge of the Sith, and do not want to have the story spoiled for you, read no further. This entry is bound to be full of spoiler information. You have been warned.
Is Revenge of the Sith an anti-Bush movie? My answer is a resounding NO! I think you can get from the movie what you want. Some of the same things that others saw in the movie as anti-Bush or very liberal, I saw as the exact opposite. Instead of a commentary on conservatism, I saw a strong commentary on modern liberalism. Since this bears some explanation, read on.
The basis for this explanation is in the two sides of the battle. The Jedi and their allies represent the people, Democracy, and freedom. The Sith, on the other hand, are the liberals.
Wait, the Sith are the liberals? Isn’t that a pretty strong statement? That’s a horrible thing to say, don’t you think? Isn’t it obvious that Lucas intended the Sith to represent something altogether different?
Lucas probably DID intend the Sith to represent something altogether different. I am making a strong statement. Is it horrible? I don’t think so. Movies, as with any art, leave the interpretation in the eyes of the beholder. Lucas can make any movie he wants, but he can’t control what I, as the viewer, see with my own eyes. My eyes saw something unique, that no one else in the theater saw. We watched the same images, heard the same sounds, and followed the same dialogue. What I’m conveying is my own interpretation of this work.
Palpatine, the Sith Lord, tells Anikin Skywalker, “Good is a point of view.” As with modern-day liberalism, the concepts of good and bad must be twisted to draw someone to the dark side. If one believes in the concept of absolute good and absolute evil, the lure of evil isn’t as strong. When I look at modern-day political belief structures, I only see this moral relativism coming from the left-of-center political divisions.
Later, Palpatine tells Anikin, “If one is to understand the great mystery, one must study all its aspects, not just the dogmatic, narrow view of the Jedi. If you wish to become a complete and wise Jedi leader, you must embrace a larger view of The Force.”
If you replace “Jedi” with “Christian” and “The Force” with “The Universe,” you’ve got one of the great anti-christian liberal arguments of the day. In Star Wars, “The Force” is often presented as a religion. The Jedi are presented as the preservers of order and justice in the galaxy. The parallels to the modern battle between liberalism and faith are obvious. I have real trouble seeing how this could be interpreted as anti-conservative. Quite the contrary, this makes the Sith look more and more as the great liberals of the galaxy.
“If you’re not with me, you’re my enemy.” This line was spoken by Anikin Skywalker after his conversion to the Sith. This is being seen as strictly anti-Bush in nature. I’m not so sure. Yet again, this is the point of view of modern liberalism, much more than conservatism. I see the modern conservative movement criticizing liberalism on a case-by-case basis across the issues. To conservatives, the difference between left and right is visible through the issues. Liberals are defined by their views on taxes, crime, abortion, international affairs, individual rights, property rights, and so on. Liberalism, increasingly, tends to generalize. Conservatives are bad, not by their responses on individual issues, but because they are not liberals. This can be demonstrated through their reaction to George W. Bush and the current Congress. As the Republicans in Congress move further toward the center, liberals paint them as more extreme. As President Bush reaches out to the left, even having prominent Democrats such as Kennedy and Moynihan author large parts of important bills on education and Social Security, the left lambasts him on those same issues.
Let me be clear on this. George W. Bush had Kennedy write much of his education bill. Liberals blasted Kennedy’s work as evil, right-wing extremism. Patrick Moynihan led Bush’s team to develop his Social Security Reform. Those same reforms are blasted as right-wing extremism. While the Republicans are reaching out to work with the Democrats, the Democrats are screaming about how partisan the Republicans are being. It isn’t true, but truth is not the way of liberals, or the Sith.
Later in the movie, The Emperor gives “Order 66″ to the Clone Troops. Order 66 can best be described as the great liberal protest sign, “We support our troops when they shoot their officers.” The clone troopers set out to kill their commanders, the Jedi that have been protecting the Republic, and Democracy.
The clincher? Anikin Skywalker goes to the Jedi Temple, and proceeds to kill the young children who are being trained as Jedi. When I look at the “right-wing,” I see many faults. One fault I do not see, though, is the need or will to kill young, innocent children. Indeed, that is one urge virtually limited to the left-wing in the United States of America. When I see a newborn child, I know that there is a small minority in the world that could care less whether that child lived or died. Abortion is the child sacrifice demanded by the modern religion known as liberalism. To liberals, a child can be killed in the womb simply because it has the potential to be a problem. Anikin’s murder of the “younglings” in this movie was for the exact same reason.
Had it not been for Obi-Wan, Anikin and Padme’s children might not have lived. Had Padme been left behind and discovered by the great, wise, liberal, Sith Lord Palpatine, it is likely that her children would have died with her, or even in the womb before she died.
Indeed, I believe that this movie should be seen as one of the great anti-liberal statements of modern cinema. George Lucas should be applauded. When Padme asks if this is how freedom dies, my thought is, “Yes.” Freedom dies when you let liberals gain too much power.
Comments
15 Comments on Revenge of the Sith – Political Review
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Decision '08 on
Sun, 22nd May 2005 12:46 am
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PoliPundit.com on
Sun, 22nd May 2005 11:13 am
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jason on
Mon, 23rd May 2005 11:43 am
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Fri, 27th May 2005 4:53 pm
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Lockjaw the Ogre on
Sat, 28th May 2005 3:53 pm
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Wed, 15th Jun 2005 5:06 pm
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Sun, 2nd Sep 2007 3:34 am
The Flip Side of Rich…
…we have the way-too-cutely titled ‘Darth Vader’s Family Values’ by John Tierney, who finds Revenge of the Sith to be a battle between the People’s Romance and Adam Smith’s invisible hand. For another political view of Revenge of the Sith, see this…
Political Movie Review
I haven’t seen the new Star Wars movie. If I do see it, I will do so primarily to see the special effects on the big screen. Lockjaw has seen it though, and he has written a political review of the movie that might surprise some.
UPDATE: Jim Ros…
i didnt think you could stretch a movie to this extreme, but i guess you showed otherwise.
“Replace ‘Jedi’ with ‘Christian’”
if you can’t see the logic flaw in that, i feel sorry for you
You, sir, are pathetic. Utterly pathetic, and barely worth trying to reason with. Reason is clearly beyond you. You live in the comforts of fantasy. You speak of children. Ever think of the innocent children of Iraq?
Wow, that’s a good attempt at an insult. Rather than try in any way to argue my point with clear, reasoned points, you simply start throwing insults. While saying reason is beyond me, you clearly show through your own writing that you are the one lacking in the ability to reason.
Feel free to try again sometime. Perhaps you can disprove my current belief that you’re just an annoying, knee-jerk troll.
to Jason: You mean the innocent children of Iraq whom may now live out their lives free of tyrany or threat? The children who don’t have to worry that their fathers may not come home because of a mispoken word? The children who won’t be gassed by their loving leader? Yeah… I thought those were the children you were talking about.
To Lockjaw the Ogre: You hit the nail right on the head!!
Curious that you’re anti-Christian and clearly a conservative at the same time, when they are essentially the same thing. Abortion is no more child murder than cutting of a finger. It’s not a “child” until it’s out of the womb. Bush having “Faith-bases initiatives” hardly resounds of reaching out to the left. Honestly, Lockjaw, you’re really reaching here. Maybe you should have someone clone you some longer arms.
Curious that you think, somehow, I’m anti-christian. Apparently, you haven’t been paying attention.
There were extremely excellent and the best scenes in the movie “Revenge of the Sith”.
Good originality and great imagination, great story in this movie!
Here’s Photo gallery for Hayden Christensen(Anakin) of this movie. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0159789/photogallery-ss-0
I love Star Wars series the most!
I just happened upon this page when I was looking up Star Wars quotes, and I am extremely impressed. Whether you agree with the author’s statements or not, it is pretty clear that Revenge of the Sith is a VERY good movie, simply because you can derive so many different interpretations of what is being said. George Lucas is a genius.
Now, to that pathetic individual who said that killing a fetus is like cutting a finger- to quote Obi Wan Kenobi in the same movie, “you are truly lost”. I cannot believe that a rational, thinking person could put a paper cut on the same level with the INTERRUPTION OF LIFE. Quit eating up what the liberals spoonfeed you- to talk about “when life begins” is to completely miss the point. The point is, unless you actively stop a pregnancy, there will be a life in this world who will make a contribution, for better or for worse. What gives you the right to say whether or not that person deserves to be here? I myself am the son of a mother who was adopted. If her natural parents said “eh, its just a paper cut”, then I would not be here today. Neither would my siblings, and who knows how else the world would be different. I wouldn’t speak for myself, but I will say that my siblings are the finest human beings that you would ever hope to meet.
The lesson in all of this is this: quit thinking 2 dimensionally. Try thinking beyond yourself and your petty concerns, and look at the bigger picture once in awhile. You’ll be better off, I promise. So will the rest of us.
Do we really want to live in a world where a government can tell me that I have to keep my child just because they don’t want to see it aborted? I happen to be very aganst abortion and would personally never make the decision to go ahead with one. However I get really upset by someone telling me that it is not my choice. The government did not conceive that child. The government should not be able to tell me that I must keep it. That is when freedom dies.
“Ever think of the innocent children of Iraq?”
Those are not the people we are fighting over there moron. We are fighting the terrorists that threaten YOUR freedom. What an idiot. Have you ever served? Have you ever been to the Middle East? Probably not. And yet you assume to know everything. I scoff at your all-assuming type.
“Abortion is no more child murder than cutting of a finger. It’s not a “child” until it’s out of the womb.”
Hey Sal- Try looking up penal code section 187 smart guy. “The unlawful killing of a human or a fetus.” A FETUS- That means it is not out of the womb yet. You should really try to know what you are talking about before you start talking, that way you won’t make your self look stupid.
Terrific post! Very insightful!
And as to the abortion issue….
You can confirm a person’s identity by examining the DNA. Therefore, if a child in the womb has the same DNA as you do, it’s really just part of your body and you may do with it as you wish.
If on the other hand, your child has different DNA, it’s not “your body” as so many liberal bumperstickers proclaim. Thus it has rights. And since DNA forms the instant of conception, those human rights orignate at conception as well.
Common sense you silly liberals! Use it for a change.
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