the Star Wars Prequels are not just pop and meme culture, but a rigorous warning
The Star Wars media franchise is not only just some dumb space movies for kids, it is so much more than that. Its one of the biggest film franchises in the industry and arguably has one of the biggest fanbases ever. Besides the famous Skywalker saga, there are comics, books, and TV shows set in the Star Wars universe and with all the new content coming, it is getting bigger by the minute. I am a huge fan myself and while preparing for Star Wars day, I once again watched some of the films and came to a realisation.
It is no secret that George Lucas intented his masterpiece to be very political. After all, the basis of the Skywalker saga is interplanetary conflict in the Galaxy far, far away. Every piece of Star Wars media sheds a light on a different topic, on a different era of political chaos, on a different sort of political structure and concept. The original trilogy is a story of rebellion and fascism. That is clear, undisputed and established. Anakins redemption also shows us that no matter how dark things get, there is good in everyone.
The Prequel trilogy is not only the story of the downfall of Anakin. It is the basis of it. There are several problems portrayed in the Prequels. For one, the Jedi council isn’t really subject to any kind of accountability. That gets even more clear while watching the Clone Wars series. The show is intended for kids, yet there are violent and bloody moments, many war crimes. But the Jedi council gets away with everything, despite being the leading authority of the figures commiting said war crimes.
Anakins fall can also be blamed on the one concept of the Jedi that resembles toxic masculinity within the patriarchy: The supression of emotion. Every Jedi is supposed to be humble and not form attachments. Anakin, falling in love, completely disregards that rule by marrying the love of his life. He cant show his love for her, making his reaction to her potentially dying all the more sudden and extreme. Had he been allowed to be with her and show his love for her openly, he might not have gone so far in trying to save her. But that is just speculation. We will never know what would have happened. Nevertheless, specifically Revenge of the Sith does a good job in showing the harm that is done through constant emotion surpression and stoicism.
And now on to my most recent realisation: The entire trilogy happens to be a big warning that church and state must be seperated completely and properly, otherwise it ends with the destruction of both. The Jedi council and order are heavily intertwined with the Republic’s, specifically, Chancellor Palpatine’s errands. Him turning out to be the Sith Lord the Jedi have been looking for is only significant because he turned a member of the “religion”. That way, Palpatine aka Darth Sidious can take care of the “democratic” aspects of destroying the Republic itself — and Anakin is responsible of making sure the Jedi are wiped out. Anakin obviously had a bond with Palpatine before — and that should not forbid him from thinking critically about the chancellor, yet apparently that does (Padmé would not approve!)
Ultimately, all this had to happen for Anakin to turn. I would also like to make clear that despite all these factors playing a role in my opinion, Anakin still made a choice. He decided to join the Dark side, without anyone forcing him to. It was not a good decision, but it was his in the end.
Nonetheless, all those topics and themes in the Prequels serve as a warning. And while most of them probably weren’t intended to be a warning, all these aspects can be applied to real-life politics and societal patterns. Our govermental systems are far too complex for one figure to completely turn the whole world into an authoritarian dictatorship. But we see that some countries don’t need a genocide first to be ruled by leaders disregarding human rights. The Original trilogy shows us that we need widespread (international) cooperation and accountability, if diplomacy fails.
