The Empire Strikes Bush

I saw Revenge of the Sith yesterday or errr this morning (it absolutely rocked!). The one scene that really caught my attention was when Darth Vader tells Obi-Wan, "If you're not with me, you're with my enemy." Obi-Wan's response, "only a Sith thinks in absolutes." Now, I'm not really sure if there is or isn't an "anti-Bush" message hidden in the movie, but I do find it amusing to ponder the possibility.

The Empire Strikes Bush

The Empire Strikes Bush

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, May 16, 2005; 12:48 PM

"This is how liberty dies -- to thunderous applause."

So observes Queen Amidala of Naboo as the galactic senate grants dictator-to-be Palpatine sweeping new powers in his crusade against the Jedi in the final "Star Wars" movie opening this week.

 
It's just one of several lines in "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," that reveal the movie to be more than just a sci-fi blockbuster and gargantuan cultural phenomenon.

"Revenge of the Sith," it turns out, can also be seen as a cautionary tale for our time -- a blistering critique of the war in Iraq, a reminder of how democracies can give up their freedoms too easily, and an admonition about the seduction of good people by absolute power.

Some film critics suggest it could be the biggest anti-Bush blockbuster since "Fahrenheit 9/11."

New York Times movie critic A.O. Scott gives "Sith" a rave, and notes that Lucas "grounds it in a cogent and (for the first time) comprehensible political context.

" 'Revenge of the Sith' is about how a republic dismantles its own democratic principles, about how politics becomes militarized, about how a Manichaean ideology undermines the rational exercise of power. Mr. Lucas is clearly jabbing his light saber in the direction of some real-world political leaders. At one point, Darth Vader, already deep in the thrall of the dark side and echoing the words of George W. Bush, hisses at Obi-Wan, 'If you're not with me, you're my enemy.' Obi-Wan's response is likely to surface as a bumper sticker during the next election campaign: 'Only a Sith thinks in absolutes.' "

Agence France Presse reports that the movie delivers "a galactic jab to US President George W. Bush."

It's been generating "murmurs at the parallels being drawn between Bush's administration and the birth of the space opera's evil Empire."

Are some people reading too much into the movie?

Filmmaker George Lucas insists that the genesis of his story dates back 30 years. But he pointed out that certain themes do seem to repeat themselves, whether here and now or a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Bruce Kirkland writes in the Toronto Sun: "Star Wars is a wakeup call to Americans about the erosion of democratic freedoms under George W. Bush, filmmaker George Lucas said yesterday

it absolutely rocked

Hah I was right! you've revealed yourself, you're the sith lord

Awesome effects and a thankful lack of bad jokes from C3P0, it was definitely a step up from the last two movies. However, I found the plot rushed and jumpy... and the romance was as corny as ever.

DonSpanton The one scene that really caught my attention was when Darth Vader tells Obi-Wan, "If you're not with me, you're with my enemy." Obi-Wan's response, "only a Sith thinks in absolutes."

This also struck a deep chord with me, as I tend not to be able to make sense of transpersonal outlooks that are non-absurd (because they are transpersonal maybe?). I should really force myself to study a lot more political science than what I have. Bush didn’t come to mind, however, since the parallel probably could be drawn either way, if Lucas’ possible intentions are disregarded.

Osiris,
I would be careful in accusing DonSpanton of secretly being a Sith. I have reason to believe that you share a similar dark secret (you look like Lex Luther from Smallville in your Avatar).
Cheers,
Rasputin

Hah I was right! you've revealed yourself, you're the sith lord

Awesome effects and a thankful lack of bad jokes from C3P0, it was definitely a step up from the last two movies.  However, I found the plot rushed and jumpy... and the romance was as corny as ever.

Yeah, the romance was extremely corny. I love you. No I love you. Blah blah blah. [sick] Plus, once again just like in episode II Portman and whathisface had no chemistry whatsoever...

Hah I was right! you've revealed yourself, you're the sith lord

Awesome effects and a thankful lack of bad jokes from C3P0, it was definitely a step up from the last two movies.  However, I found the plot rushed and jumpy... and the romance was as corny as ever.

There's no doubt that this one was light years better than the last two. I'm curious though, did you really think the plot was undeveloped? The movie was almost 2.5 hours long...I sort of liked the rushed feel. It kept the tempo up, which I think is essential for a hard core action movie.

And yes, I do like the "darker" endings, for some reason they seem more realistic to me. Interestingly Pinker discusses this dichotomous movie goer psychology between wanting the happy endings and wanting the dark, tragic endings to keep things realistic. I guess I'm the kind of person who favors the realist side of the equation.

I think there was a lot of anti bush/rightist insinuations in the movie. And the collapse of the republic mirrors a very likely situation we might be facing here. It happened to rome.

I do however disagree with you here:

(it absolutely rocked!)

Because really the absolute only thing it had going for it was special effects. The plot was weak, the characters 1 dimensional, the lines awful, the acting atrocious and it overall made no sense (Anakin runs to the master windu to inform them how they must stop palpatine, and an hour later he is murdering jedi children. Come-on here.)

In one interview George Lucas was talking about how when he made the original he was massively anti-corporate America, but now he himself runs a massive corporation. He stated "In essence I have become what I hated most".

And yes, I do like the "darker" endings, for some reason they seem more realistic to me. Interestingly Pinker discusses this dichotomous movie goer psychology between wanting the happy endings and wanting the dark, tragic endings to keep things realistic. I guess I'm the kind of person who favors the realist side of the equation.

Dark endings are great. That's what makes the empire strikes back the best movie of the series

the acting atrocious

With one exception. The battle between obi-wan and anakin was emotional and taken apart from the ridiculous context of the rest of the movie, quite good. Ewan McGregor's line "you were supposed to be the chosen one" felt very sincere to me.

I agree with elrond, the jump from telling windu that palpatine was the sith lord to killing jedi children was absurdly fast... a more convincing love between anakin and padme might have fixed that.

           
With one exception.  The battle between obi-wan and anakin was emotional and taken apart from the ridiculous context of the rest of the movie, quite good.  Ewan McGregor's line "you were supposed to be the chosen one" felt very sincere to me.

I didn't think the acting was as atrocious as in the first two. Along with the action and SE, it was enough to keep me amused. And I would also say, out of all of the actors in episode III, McGregor was the most skilled. I've always thought he was a solid performer.

I agree with elrond, the jump from telling windu that palpatine was the sith lord to killing jedi children was absurdly fast... a more convincing love between anakin and padme might have fixed that.

No argument from me on this one, Anakin's turn to the dark side was rather abrupt.

Just another take on the transparent "Sith=Bush" jab in the latest installment of the saga.

Debra Suanders Opinion

Let me credit Lucas with this much. "The Phantom Menace" produced complaints that he engaged in facile racial stereotypes that demeaned Asians, Arabs and Africans. Since then, it is clear, Lucas learned that there is only one facile stereotype that is safe in Hollywood: Republican equals evil. Bush bad.

Think of Lucas as one of those muddled liberals who think George Bush is evil, while Saddam Hussein is a piker. In an act that should be, but isn't, campy self-parody, the left-wing fanatics at Moveon.org have produced a new TV spot that depicts Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist "as a hooded villain who seeks absolute power over our courts." (Need I remind you, gentle reader, that if conservatives compared blocking the filibuster for appellate court nominees to mass annihilation, talking heads in tweed coats would be dismissing the analogy as dangerously over the top?) To round things out, let me add that Lucas' view on the very bad is analogous to conservatives whose darkest fear isn't Osama bin Laden, but Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Osiris,
I would be careful in accusing DonSpanton of secretly being a Sith. I have reason to believe that you share a similar dark secret (you look like Lex Luther from Smallville in your Avatar).
Cheers,
Rasputin

If I was a sith lord I wouldn't need to be here, I'd already have the power to stop death...

If I was a sith lord I wouldn't need to be here, I'd already have the power to stop death...

Yes, but how do we know you're not here looking for a potential apprentice?

Yes, but how do we know you're not here looking for a potential apprentice?

He would have found me by now. [tung]

If I was a sith lord I wouldn't need to be here, I'd already have the power to stop death...

It was unclear whether Palpatine was saying the truth about his master having discovered a way to defy death or whether he was manipulating Anakin's fear of losing his wife as he lost his mother..

Only a Sith thinks in absolutes.

Isn't this in itself an absolute statement and thus if said by an non-sith a false statement?

P.S. The film was absolutely fantastic, IMO

Only if you throw logic out. A statement about how one "thinks" is not a statement about "statements."

Granted, many do not cater to logic or even rationality in that respect. Ah, pervasive is, the dark force.

I don't understand. Doesn't Obi-Wan think in absolutes if he thinks that, either you are a sith or you don't think in absolutes?

Just who are the Jedi? They say "May the force be with you" as if there is only one force. Those who cater to recognizing the "dark force" seem to see more than one force to which to claim allegiance. Is there one "force" that all should align to? How about the life force? Might longevity be enhanced if humans aligned with the life force? Is there such a force and does it have a singular directional guiding principle that we might learn and use to enrich our lives superlatively?

The "dark force" is actually the dark *side* of the force.

I have never really understood the saying "May the force be with you". As I understand it the force is everywhere.

Yikes, this is getting pretty geeky.

Okay, you don't understand. Maybe there is something wanting you to find this as "geeky" as something you do not want to understand?

I do want to understand. Why do you think there is something wanting me not too? That seems odd to me.

In context, Darth Vader states "If you are not with me, you are my enemy," no qualifications, no compromise, a true absolute dogmatic statement or thought. From strict logic alone, it can be seen as irrational. If you do not understand Obi-Wan's statement in that context, I'm afraid you will accept the duplicitous nature of things as in the absolute "The 'dark force' is actually the dark 'side' of the force."

I do understand what Obi-Wan was trying to say. I was just wondering why he would state that it is *only* Sith who thinks in absolutes when "from strict logic alone, it can be seen as irrational".

Regarding my "duplicitous" statement about the force: I was just pointing out that the dark force is just another way of using the force. At least that is how I see it. I was not trying to be deceptive.

The reason I think its pretty geeky is because we are discussing an imaginary force depicted in a movie. That is unless you are using it as a metaphor for something in our nature or technology which your last post seems to allude to. If so, I apologize for branding it geeky.

Edited by lightowl, 24 May 2005 - 06:05 PM.

"I do want to understand. Why do you think there is something wanting me not too? That seems odd to me."

If there is anything of value to the film other than as a money maker for Lucas Films or just entertainment, it is in a quite replete analogy, whether intended or not, that can be discerned quite easily by those who begin to be aware of our common state of affairs on this tiny planet.

Did you think I was making a political defense when pointing out the contradiction in Obi-Wan's statement? If so, I can assure you I too was happy about the obvious attack on the Bush mentality. I was not making a political point, I was just amused over the contradiction in the statement. Perhaps I should have made that clearer.

On the political point I think the movie in it self is pretty black and white. Or perhaps more black against the grey-scales. But I wont try and defend that, I just took the hole thing as great entertainment.

Upon seeing Episode III a second time I also noticed that, while counciling Anakin, Yoda seems to engage in some "pro-deathist" rhetoric. Very typical I guess