Politicizing Star Wars: Anti-Fascism vs. Nostalgia in “Rogue One”

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“I’VE NEVER HAD the luxury of political opinions,” quips Jyn Erso, the second scrappy young heroine in the Disney-era Star Wars franchise. Jyn is clearly no Luke Skywalker: she isn’t born with Force powers, she doesn’t hate the Empire as a matter of course, and for her, joining the Rebellion isn’t some kind of Call to Adventure. Instead, her words set up a provocative narrative of political awakening that makes this “Star Wars Story” more than just a profitable and spectacular elaboration of an existing franchise; it is also — and most importantly — a film that is topical, politically charged, and even, perhaps, a little bit radical.

Rogue One’s appeal is hard to resist as we skim fearfully through the daily headlines and appear to witness a rising tide of global fascism. In this context, a Hollywood blockbuster in which a ragtag team of minorities embarks on a seemingly hopeless mission to disrupt a white supremacist superpower plays directly into a leftist political sensibility. And when proto-fascist commander Krennic gleefully quips that the Death Star’s genocidal terror is necessary to “restore order,” the narrative’s resonance with the coded racism of the Trump campaign is difficult to ignore."

more in the analysis by Dan Hassler-Forest

Politicizing Star Wars: Anti-Fascism vs. Nostalgia in “Rogue One” - Los Angeles Review of Books: