Writer-director Leslye Headland’s new series takes a nuanced approach to representation.
Nazis Parade in Manhattan (in 1939), Imperialists Fight Dirty (1934), Calling a Fraud a Fraud (1989), Vaccines Save Lives (1954), Outlawing Child Labor Isn't Easy (1919), Keep Calm and Carry On (1939), Hitler Takes a Slap on the Wrist (1924)
Andor actually shows why the Empire is terrifying. We see the Empire’s strategy over and over again: Extract resources. Displace indigenous populations. Partner with corporations for profit. And when all else fails, suppress dissent — increasingly, as the show progresses, by any means necessary.
Star Wars: Andor's first episodes on Disney+ eschew the familiar signs of the Empire in favor of some private corporation - which is part of the plan.
The social media harassment of Kelly Marie Tran was abominable, but it’s not fair to say that racism is baked into the epic franchise’s core
We get a crash course in how the bounty-hunting system works, complete with the Bounty Hunters Guild taken extremely literally as an actual unionized workforce of bounty hunters. There are labor disputes over clients refusing to pay guild rates.
There is probably no greater illusion in the field of national security than the idea of credible missile defense.
On the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the author takes aim at the narrative that socialism crumbled in the Soviet Union under its own weight, brought about by inherent weaknesses and contradictions of socialism. Instead the case is made that a concerted and relentless 10-year secret war by the Reagan Administration so weakened the Soviet economy and Soviet psyche, along with missteps by the Soviet leadership, that socialism was overthrown.
Perhaps the Dump Star Wars story could be described as “silly.” But to deny the politics of Star Wars is to throw the franchise’s rich history under a bus the size of an Imperial cruiser. Star Wars may not overflow with civics metaphors in the fashion of “Star Trek,” but the sci-fi films did not exist in a political void.
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