Explaining this movie through a terrorist/Arab lens in my anthropology class was like the only cool thing I ever did for my students. Loved seeing their faces when they realize the young man radicalized by an old religious fundamentalist to attack a military installation is our hero
and consider the timing; the fall of Saigon happened in April 1975 and the movie started filming in 1976
It's certainly not a perfect allegory lol. Still much better than 98% of Hollywood schlock though.
Yeah I’m saying that’s why Americans instinctively identify with Luke and root for him. Because he’s white.
If Luke was brown or an alien Star Wars would have never resonated with the population or gotten popular
Maybe superficially. Star Wars still taps into WW2 shit hardcore- so American CHUDS saw Americans being white 50's American heroes against white 50's germans in aesthetics only and nothing else.
Despite being deeply flawed, I'm more into the prequels, showing a westernised political system supporting the 'good guys' being slowly (then very not slowly) turned into warmongering psychos. This system attempted to solve things through diplomacy until being coerced into utilising war powers. Of which they couldn't be wrestled out of letting it go.
G W Bush references are rampant, and it fucking owns that Palpatine, as his stand-in is being portrayed so ludicrously evil. His speeches are so obviously fucked, but it is so vicious and violent that subordinates people gladly applaud because they're winners. On top of the creation of a pseudo war purely made to rise to power is super hectic. One of the many reasons I think people are slowly turning sour on the sequels is the fact none of the political environment is really elaborated on/resets to a copy of ANH status quo rather than talking about what a formation of a new republic might be.
