Love it or hate it, whichever comes first Star Wars the film now lives with the subtitle “A new hope.” This refers to the fact that after years of ruling under a fascist, evil empire, a young person has emerged who could maybe, just maybe, turn the tide for the galaxy. From there, Star Wars has become quite clearly a story of good versus evil. The underdogs triumph over a supreme power. Light overcomes darkness.
If you spend your life on the Internet, it’s possible that you’ve been feeling a little upset about it in recent days. During this period, many right-wing thinkers attempted to co-opt Star Wars as the opposite of what most people think it represents. The gist, which we detailed here, was the idea that Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader because he didn’t get a fair shake as a white man. “This is what they stole from us,” Elon Musk posted on X, followed by a fake image of Anakin and his wife Padme ruling the Empire.
The implication, of course, is that the Imperials were the good guys. The Empire represented order. Stability. Obedience. And if you’ve lived in most of the world in the last decade, you’ll often feel like that’s reality. The rich are getting richer and richer. The poor become even poorer. Jobs are lost, health deteriorates and everything becomes more expensive. It’s pretty much terrible.
But on Tuesday evening in the United States, things went like this: Star Wars. Young and dynamic heroes have emerged from regions long under the yoke of opposition. A majority of people came out to vote and, with their own version of the lightsaber, they delivered an undeniable message. We are tired of this. Tired of wars. Fed up with high prices and the way things are going. It’s time for a change. It’s time to have new hope. Will these potential heroes be able to stand up for everything they say? We’ll see. But at least now their journey can begin.
And yes, we know that Star Wars“A new hope» was followed by “The Empire Strikes Back“, and actually, that might be where we’re headed, but let’s worry about that when or if it happens.
In the United States, Tuesday evening, the idea that Star Wars These are the bad guys who were handily defeated. And, once again, we can look to the franchise as the beacon of good that it has been for almost exactly 50 years.
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