Facing Darth Jar Jar & The Legend of Korra
Mark Hamill jokes, President Darth Jar Jar, a roundtable episode + The Legend of Korra
So, about that Presidential “debate”…I’m going to outsource my response to Luke Skywalker actor, Mark Hamill:
On this roundtable follow up to our most recent episode, “Does liberty always die in thunderous applause?” politicos Nick Dicolandrea and Danielle Adams rejoin Beltway Banthas to discuss the show. The panel grapples with the idea that democracy could die in the United States with barely a whimper, and why the political lessons of Star Wars still remain so poignant. LISTEN HERE!
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough has a new op-ed out today where he looks at the state of our democracy. I’m just gonna ahead and give away the part of it that caught my eye.
“History will reveal soon enough whether Trump is Washington’s Darth Vader or Jar Jar Binks.” - Joe Scarborough, MSNBC
Thought bubble: What if we don’t have to choose between pure villainy and the court jester? After all, we have the ‘Darth Jar Jar’ fan-theory and it’s possible that explains Trump’s presidency even better. Here’s a funny Medium about this from years back.
“Darth Jar Jar, remember, manipulates both people AND systems: he tricks everyone around him, he manages to convince the Galactic Senate to give Palpatine emergency powers (which leads to the Empire), then he later creates and runs the First Order. He is a populist demagogue, adept at playing with emotions (don’t you have an emotional reaction to Jar Jar?), but he is also a technocrat, skilled at administration.” It’s okay to laugh, lol.
I’ve been watching THE LEGEND OF KORRA on Netflix. This is the follow-up series to Avatar: The Last Airbender. I absolutely love it. If you’re familiar with Avatar, this picks up the story two generations later and runs for four seasons with four titular villains. This post from ScreenRant highlights all the ways Korra meshes with Star Wars, and also how each season has a commentary on political systems of government.
“The first villain, Amon, who led the revolutionary Equalist party back in season 1, is representative of Communism. Perverting spirituality and, in so doing, amassing power at the expense of a thriving civilization, Unalaq represents theocracy in season 2, and anarchy is clearly embodied by Zaheer, who attempts to overtake the world's governments in season 3 with a mighty squad of advanced benders. However, for season 4's primary antagonist, Kuvira, The Legend of Korra writers and creators chose to explore a political philosophy that's ever-present within the Star Wars' Galaxy Far, Far Away: fascism.”
If you want to try a new series that goes DEEP on the concept of balance in the universe, dualism and politics….look no further than The Legend of Korra.
Anyways, that’s all this week for Politicize Me. Hope you enjoy the new episode and next week we’ll have a teaser in the email for my conversation with David French about Star Wars and civil war.
