I don't agree with the point of view being indirectly expressed by this Star Wars analogy, but it is clever and amusing.
On the other hand, I have grown tired of the ideology of "American Exceptionalism" (as has the blogger in the immediately preceding link) and the empire that feeds off that ideology. I'm perfectly happy to have the United States be a world leader through its ideas and innovation, becoming one of many successful and civilized societies on earth, and not an egotistical bully intent on maintaining global dominance no matter what the cost in lives, freedoms, and values.
The Jedi weren't terrorists and the US has never committed genocide as the Galactic Empire did with Alderan. But the empire creaks under its own weight nonetheless.
7 comments:
It actually was pretty brilliant, and surprisingly in line with Star Wars canon. Though I disagree that one can (totally) compare the United States to the Galactic Empire, I will say that some of the satires expressed in the piece were actually quite spot-on.
It was definitely worth the class time taken to show us. :D
HAHA.
I definetally have to agree with Vincent there, but one of the things I enjoyed about it is how it gave a different perspective on the whole situation. We cheer for the rebel alliance as they take on the seemingly evil empire, but if we ourselves are an "evil empire" of sorts in the eyes of the rest of the world, then should we change our ways? What do you people think about the parallelism between the empire and us?
Honestly, this is brilliant and fits fairly well. Yes, I'm aware that the United States-Empire connection and the Al-Qaeda-Rebels connection is pretty fuzzy, but considering that this is attempting to equate a Sci-Fi movie series, with such a current event, I think that they did a great job. Also, the likeness to the New York Times website definitely adds to the effect. If you think about it, the U.S’ search for Ben Laden did have many similarities to the Empire’s search for Ben Kenobi (especially the initial lack of success). I don’t care what anyone says, this is awesome :).
Or the search for the hidden Rebel Base on Hoth.
I love this! An awesome piece of satire.
I didn't connect it with American exceptionalism when I read it, but I can totally see how that conclusion can be drawn. I, too, am sick of that pernicious doctrine. America is blessed with power, but that does not give us the right to lord it over the less fortunate or impose our way of life on them. And indeed, we are not morally superior to the rest of the world.
Morality in real life, of course, is not black and white the way the movies are. We must not keep thinking of ourselves as the "good guys" and the enemy as the "bad guys". That doesn't mean that we shouldn't make moral judgments, but we should remember that the American empire has done much to deserve the enmity of the less fortunate in the world.
Although I completely agree with everything that Jack has to say and do believe that this an entertaining piece of satire, I feel like it loses its efficacy to a certain extent due to its utter detachment from reality. Surely, the scathing nature of the piece adds to its satiric effect, but the fact that it so thoroughly mischaracterizes the nature of the ongoing conflict and likens the likes of Bin Laden to Han Solo leaves much to be desired. Is it funny? Yes. But brilliant satire is not built upon only a foundation of clever humor.
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