Lessons from ‘Star Wars’ ... didn’t take.

The dark side of the force is indeed powerful.

In Star Wars, we could tell Darth Vader was a Bad Guy as his preferred color scheme gave film-goers a strong clue. In the Real World, the villains wear white lab coats and are feted as galaxy-saviors.

I’m not as big a fanatic of the Star Wars movies as millions of fans are, but I still really liked the first three Star Wars movies, which still resonate with new generations of fans decades later.

A few citizens might recognize that the plot of the first Star Wars trilogy is eerily similar to events of recent years.

The Evil Empire, led by the evil emperor and his key enforcer, Darth Vader, has (almost) taken control of the entire universe. Totalitarianism is now almost total. 

The only resistance comes from a band of freedom-fighters embodied by Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and their small group of underground fighters.

It seems there’s no way these freedom fighters can defeat the Evil Empire, which is simply too powerful and too ruthless to be defeated. 

The might of the Evil Empire is most-conspicuously displayed via a “Death Star,” which, as it turns out, has one tiny point of vulnerability.

If someone could score a direct hit on this target, he could destroy the Death Star and, with it, give the freedom fighters a major, war-changing victory.

Since this is Hollywood, the Good Guys (Yea, Luke!) do score that direct hit. Everyone leaves the movie theater feeling good that tyrannical forces didn’t win in the end. 

(Call me naive, but I still think if our side could score one direct hit with the right “truth bomb,” all the other litany of Covid lies might quickly crumble).

In observing the Star Wars phenomena, I’m struck by the fact so few fans have picked up on obvious similarities to our times. 

In movies like the Star Wars films, the Bad Guys are often installing, expanding or protecting a ruthless, liberty-eradicating regime. For their part, the Good Guys won’t surrender and display inspiring courage fighting a nefarious enemy that’s seeking greater control.

The analogy that Star Wars fans do NOT get is that the Evil Empire could be equated to the real rulers of the earth today. “The Resistance” might equate to the 10 percent of world citizens who are fighting back in the face of overwhelming odds.

Two questions: Why don’t more people see these parallels to our times? Why don’t more people understand who the Evil Empire really is … and who are really the Good Guys fighting back?

The Bad Guys actually camouflage themselves as the Good Guys …

One obvious answer is that the Darth Vaders of our times don’t wear black armor like Darth Vader did.

It’s hard to identify the true villains when these leaders are, in fact, portrayed as the Good Guys.

In the Star Wars movies, George Lucas never made the point that the Evil Emperor and Darth Vader achieved their power because they were perceived as protecting the people of the universe.

As it turns out, in “the real world,”  the Bad Guys are usually portrayed as the Good Guys. 

In the Real World, according to conventional wisdom, Dr. Fauci, Bill Gates, the WEF, the UN, your local public health officials, all the college presidents and CEOs, the editors and publishers of the big news organization …  are all fighting a heroic battle to save everyone. 

In the Real World, Darth Vader would be awarded Nobel Prizes and be feted as one of the most-admired leaders in the galaxy.

In the Real World, the public might as well be saying: “God bless these people and organizations. Let’s all support them; let’s all do what they order us to do and let’s all fight back against those wacko ‘freedom’ nuts like Luke and Han.”

Anyway, one might think the tens of millions of people who love Star Wars movies might identify with Luke, but they are actually siding with Darth Vader’s program.

Take-away: In the movies, film-goers can easily identify the villains. In the real world, the villains are society’s heroes, the people who get and keep the most important jobs.

Other examples from Hollywood’s film vaults …

And it’s not just Star Wars movies where we see this; it’s numerous classic movies.

My favorite movie is Casablanca. In this film, we have another villain similar to Darth Vader, Adolph Hitler, an actual real person, and his army of Nazi storm troopers (who might symbolized the dark side of the force).

Yet again, film-goers pull for Victor Laszlo, who is leading the resistance or underground forces. Even Rick, the greatest cynic in film history, ultimately joins the fight. 

In 1943, everyone left movie theaters thinking, “We’ve got this. The Good Guys are going to defeat the Bad Guys.”

Maybe half the iconic films in history have a theme where some brave protagonist is fighting back against injustice, evil or the “Bad Guys.” For example ….

In True Grit,  Marshall Rooster Cogburn is a drunkard and does what he wants. But when the chips are down, he does display “true grit.” 

You’ve got it or you don’t. Most people … don’t.

My take-away from True Grit is there’s not many real-world figures who have “true grit.” But, in the movies anyway, we all pull for the person who does.

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest might be a movie that’s more germane to our times.

The anti-hero in that movie is literally stuck in an insane asylum, but he fights back against the evil personified by Nurse Ratched.

The world has become a giant insane asylum …. led by people like this caring nurse. (Note that she’s wearing white).

A more recent take on this theme is The Shawshank Redemption, where Andy Dufresne is imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit and is forced to participate in the scams of an “authority figure,” a corrupt warden. Somehow, Andy never quits fighting the good fight and keeps some semblance of sanity. The theme of this classic is “Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.”

He didn’t commit any crimes, but Andy Dufresne still found himself in prison. Somehow, he kept his humanity and fought back as best he could.

High Noon might be one of Hollywood’s best portrayals of the real world.

In this classic movie, the sheriff, played by Gary Cooper, has to face down a band of outlaws who are terrorizing the territory. Cooper is assured by the town’s key leaders that they’ll support him in this showdown. But, of course, they all desert him when he needs them most and he’s left to fight the Bad Guys by himself.

It’s strange to me that, in the movies, most people pull for the Good Guys who are fighting evil forces …. but, in the real world, most citizens either can’t identify the real bad buys or too many real-world citizens scatter when their help might make a difference.

Here’s what happened to the Star Wars franchise …

I’ll end with this post-scrip. As all Star Wars fans know, the Walt Disney Corporation paid a billion dollars to George Lucas to acquire the rights to the Star Wars franchise.

I argue that, over time, Disney has become one of the most “woke” or captured companies in the world. Every agenda pushed by the Gates or WEF crowd is going to be pushed by the Walt Disney Corporation. 

The most popular attraction at Disney World is the Star Wars ride. Last year, I finally took our two young children to Disney World and we stood in line for two hours to experience this attraction, which I admit is very cool.

Still, I bet I was the only person in that line who was thinking, “Crap. Darth Vader has captured the owners of the Stars Wars franchise.”

In the real world, Luke Skywalker was cancelled years ago. In the real world, Star Wars fanatics are helping Darth Vader acquire even more power.