Rogue One: Prelude to Resistance

I just got home from seeing the new stand alone Star Wars movie. Wow, I know I can't give any spoilers but what an awesome film! I must say that Episode four was one of the first movies I remember ever seeing and was always intrigued by how it just dropped the viewer into the story with so many unanswered questions. Everyone kind of gets that this film is about the events that led to Princess Leia transporting the plans to Yavin and the interception by Darth Vader of the Tantive IV on its way to pick up Obi-Wan Kenobi. Here is the text of the opening crawl for Episode four:

Episode IV: A NEW HOPE"It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy...."

How did that battle look? What were the circumstances leading to it? Why was Leia's starship alone, unescorted, at the edge of space? These were questions I had been asking for almost four decades, finally answered, on the eve of our own collapse into civil war. We know, more recently from the Star Wars universe, that the core of the Rebel Alliance was formed even as Palpatine announced the reorganization of the Republic into the Empire. We know that two separate attempts were made on Palpatine's life by Jedi masters which failed. However, had they succeeded... then none of this would have been necessary. 

Instead, the Jedi were destroyed along with democracy and the rule of law. An entire civilization turned on its head in an instant, and for the benefit and power madness of one man. Granted, a sith lord and not a toupee-sporting orange-skinned con artist with vengeance issues and no attention span, and Palpatine worked alone. He did not have an entire political party eviscerating democratic norms and the last whiffs of fair-play for the better part of a decade, thus laying the groundwork for whatever tyrant just happened to come along. 

Can we learn anything from the fictional totalitarianism of the Star Wars universe? I may be more flexible than most when it comes to life imitating art imitating life (I once spent the better part of a semester trying to convince a medieval history professor that the Jedi were patterned in part after the Knights Templar, thankfully I didn't get graded on it) but there could be merit in examining the idea of what American tyranny could look like through the lens of one of our most enduring (and profitable) stories. 

First, in the rise of Palpatine and the coming of the Empire it was often alluded to, though never "proved" to my satisfaction, of the presence of intolerable and inflexible corruption in the Galactic Senate. There was unbelievable privilege and luxury in the capitol and resentment in the rest of the galaxy. The scene in Episode one where Palpatine explains the iron grip special interests such as the Trade Federation held over the politicians, presumably by punishing enemies and rewarding allies and then presents himself as the "strong man" who could stand up to those special interests seems awfully familiar doesn't it?

Second is the relentless demonization of ideological opponents. It is hard to gauge public opinion in the Star Wars films but in the expanded universe it was understood, perhaps through a force amplified whisper campaign, that the Jedi were aloof, out of touch elitists who stole babies, never gave anything back and tried to enforce cultural norms among citizens of the Republic. All in an effort to delegitimize the order in the public's eyes and make their eventual downfall something the average citizen did not sympathize with.

Third was the definite current of human superiority in the expanded universe that people on the core worlds and colonies felt they were better than the non-humans of the galaxy. The Empire exploited this by making an all human officer corps and enslaving Wookies. This aspect came through pretty clearly to trump republicans who call themselves the "alt-right" which is just a nice wussified way of saying "we're neo-nazis" when they freaked out about Rogue One and called for a boycott. 

Altogether, it is fitting that Rogue One premiered this weekend given that we are about to pass that window on Monday into de facto dictatorship. Audiences across the nation will see what the future holds. That resistance to tyranny is basically a death sentence. It will not be romantic, it will not be heroic, and the death of rebels will be empty of meaning. If you choose resistance, it will often be lonely and you should expect betrayal at any turn. Most of us will just disappear in the night without even the chance to take one of them with us, whoever the "them" may be. I will say, as the film's slogan states so it's not a spoiler, the the image and impression of hope permeates Rogue one that somehow you have to abandon the now and your own life and happiness to think of what could be.

I have none. I have been betrayed by friends and allies to often to believe in anything anymore. For a moment I felt some spark, when everyone applauded at the end. I looked around later at the audience and felt the horrible sensation that by this time next year, half or even more of them could be deported, in prison, dead, or in labor camps and that most of the trump republicans would celebrate. The corollary of hope is rage and even if you feel no solidarity with most Americans right now, we will have to learn to work together as a team, an alliance if you will, possibly even a Rebel alliance. There is no evil in raging against evil, of hating the machine that crushes freedom and hope. We are not prepared for what is coming but perhaps all Star Wars fans can draw strength from this film. At the very least we can shit on any trump voter who claims to be on the side of the rebels. 

No asshole, you're on the side of the empire, own it.