Day 5 of 31 - Star Wars, Nothing But Star Wars

This past weekend, the SPIKE channel decided to run all six Star Wars movies, beginning with Episode 1 and concluding (after midnight) with Episode 6.  There is nothing wrong with sitting in front of a very large television and watching these six movies, either.  However, the reason that I'm writing this is because I want to address something that I heard way back when Episode One - The Phantom Menace, arrived in theaters.

Basically, a lot of people didn't like the movie and the sequels because of their political overtones - not undertones - it was fairly obvious that these movies were about politics.  Episode Two - Attack of the Clones, was about politics and what happens when one regime becomes power hungry and uses that power to gain more control.  And while the politics simmered down a little by Episode Three - Revenge of the Sith, by then, people knew the inner workings of the Old Republic government than most people know about their own REAL government.

This was the problem (in some people's eyes) with this new trilogy of movies, but I have come to an understanding with these films and will share that now.  But first, a look at the second trilogy of the saga.

The original trilogy, Episode Four - A New Hope, Episode Five - The Empire Strikes Back and then Episode Six - Return of the Jedi, were about a new group of heroes, trying to rebel against the Galactic Empire to not only defeat the evil in the galaxy, but to also restore peace to it.  However, if you're  an uber nerd like me, you would know that peace is never possible in the Star Wars universe - read the several dozen books and you'll see what I mean.

But then again, why are they rebelling?  Against an extreme government?  Against a group of people that want to tell you what to think?  Yes.  But isn't that why the thirteen colonies rebelled against Britain?  Isn't that why the South wanted to cede from the Union?  Oppressive governments have been around for the entire history of mankind and will continue to be here, but that's not to say that some of the rebellions have been worth it.

All in all, the newer trilogies may be mired in political duties and the original trilogy may has action beyond compare, the saga as a whole makes sense when viewed in proper order.  This allows someone to understand exactly why the rebellion was needed and why the Galactic Empire was so evil.

Until tomorrow.