In the Empire's Defense

I didn't watch Star Wars when it was released. I wasn't even born. By the time we popped the cassette tape in the VCR, it was at least 15 years old. But I liked the movie all the same. It was not my favorite film by any means, but it was memorable. The first time you see Darth Vader appear on screen, you know this villain is not going to be easy to defeat. "Villain" because no one needs to tell you who the good guys and bad guys are in this movie. The visuals, the voices, the music, everything tells you that Darth Vader and the Empire are up to no good.

Now I get to watch the movie with my kids. I quickly pointed out to my sons that this is the bad guy. Stating the obvious. One of them asked, "Why is he the bad guy?" I had to pause for a second to come up with an explanation. I didn't have an answer. Instead I said, "Because he is mean as hell!"

They fell asleep before the movie ended. I think they enjoyed it. But I really couldn't tell you exactly why Darth Vader was the bad guy. This is just a thought experiment, don't go telling the world that I am pro-Galactic Empire, OK?

I'm not digging into the lore of Star Wars. I did that already with the Galactic Timezones piece and it was exhausting. What I want to do is draw some parallels with real life. First, I think if a real-world government behaved like the Galactic Empire, they would clearly be the bad guys. But in real life, we don't have good guys or bad guys.

I want to focus on just one aspect. The Empire's goal is to maintain order, or at least to try to. And the rebels are clearly creating chaos, with their freedom and what not (bear with me).

Imagine what it takes to develop a system that keeps several star systems all in sync. The political process to elect senators, not just from different races, but different species. And then some religious zealots want you to throw everything you've built aside and just "feel" the force. You want to expel them as far from the system as possible.

“Can one ever be too aggressive in preserving order?” — Syril Karn

The rebels sabotage missions, attack army bases, and create chaos. On the surface, these rebels are clearly disruptive. I can already hear politicians calling them names and requesting additional funding for their "ally" to eradicate the threat. If the rebel attacks were broadcast on TV, even citizens of the many worlds would agree that the rebels need to be dealt with.

Writers would write poems on the supposed virtues of keeping order as Kipling did in "The White Man's Burden". All they are doing is bringing railways, law, and civilization to chaotic planets.

Just think about rebels carelessly destroying a base on a remote planet whose only purpose was to track and sync time across a multi-star time zone system. Madness! But then I watched Andor.

If you watch Star Wars as an adult and don't suspend your disbelief for a second (contrasting it with real life) then yes, the rebels are the bad guys. Which is exactly why Andor was a fantastic addition to the Star Wars universe. A more grounded show that I watched without my kids, and thoroughly enjoyed for how it depicted the inner workings of the Empire. Rather than focusing on the Empire as a whole, Andor zooms in on a small faction, the ISB, and shows how ordinary people end up joining the rebellion.

The rebels are no longer just David fighting Goliath. Instead, you see the individual faces of people suffering at the hands of the Empire. You see the surveillance, the strong-arming, the unfair treatment, the killings. You see innocent people caught in the crossfire, labeled terrorists at the first sign of dissent. One man's rebel is another man's freedom fighter, and the Empire controls the broadcast. And the rebellion is not a single organization with a single leader. Anyone oppressed and frustrated with the Empire is a rebel in their own way.

It's not good guys versus bad guys anymore. It is power exerting a crushing weight on its subjects. To hell with keeping time in sync, fight back! To hell with keeping order when all it means is blind obedience or else. Bring back those Jedis, the so-called religious zealots.

But alas, it's just fiction. Real life is not the same. In our world, the Empire wins every time. Ask the Indians. Ask the so-called independent nations of West Africa. My sons, when I try to speak French with them, tell me that they are not French and neither am I. They are right, because the Empire won.

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