A Discussion on the necessity of the Rebellion and portrayal of the Galactic Empire

[lars573]

The thing that annoys me about Star Wars politics isn't the fact that it is totally absent, but that it sorta tries to be a kinda semi-political film, but it fails UTTERLY. For example, take the Separatists. What are their goals, other than to separate. Nobody knows. It's a complete mystery. Other than the fact that they kill Jedi, we have no idea that these are bad guys. This doesn't just fail from my political-nerd viewpoint, but it completely fails to produce any kind of emotion when we see the Confederacy getting battered (the fact that they're droids doesn't help). What kind of other film would we consider good when we do not care at all about whether who we are told are the bad guys triumphs or not?

The Separatists (public) goals is to make a new pan-galactic state that is free of the problems the Republic had by 33 BBY* Corruption in the galactic Senate mostly. And they're not all bad guys. The Clone Wars cartoon has about 7 episodes that deal with the political side of things. The social and economic upheavals that the clone war either caused or made worse. That some of the seperatists were snarling supervillians but others were good people fed-up with the Republic bull-crap. However the snarling supervillians are in on the gag that their really there to give Palpatine a bogey-man to give him the leverage to total control of the Republic's government.

Likewise, for Palpatine to mastermind his entire political ascendency and plan without ever once being suspected of treason is so ludicrously fantastical as to be far beyond the political abilities and cunning of Pericles, Cicero, Tokugawa, Gladstone, Bismarck, Stalin, FDR, De Gaulle, Nixon and Chirac COMBINED and IN SPACE. It is so annoying watching Palpatine rise up on his elevator of evil, whilst the stupidest and most obtuse "politicians" that have ever dared to be scripted on to the silver screen remain oblivious to his ascent. Even Yoda, allegedly the wisest Jedi evarrrr doesn't even guess a thing!

However all those politico's never had one VASTLY important advantage that Palpatine had. The Force. You know that thing that let's it's users see the future, read minds, control weaker minds, and throw lightning from your hands, and let a 65 yearold man wipe the floor with Samuel L. Jackson. Any question you could ask about how Palpatine could pull off making the entire galaxy his butt-monkey can be answered simply with, the Force. In otherwords, best McGuffin ever! Also the Sith were purposefully hiding themselfs from everyone.

As well as a whole host of other things, such as why didn't everyone in the universe freak out when Order 66 was implemented and how the hell did anyone let Jar Jar pass the Military Creation Act in replacement of Amidala, who had been leading the fight AGAINST the act.... Good god. Star Wars politics make me mad.

Because Palpatine was a smart dictator. He sold the massacre of Jedi as a just action for their rebellion against the Republic.





*Before the Battle of Yavin. The accepted way to recon time in the Star Wars universe is the destruction of the first Death Star in Episode IV became the new year zero.