"Stay on Target..."

Several bloggers, including my good friend WillyShake, have discussed George Lucas' recent comments in Cannes that he sees parallels in the rise of the Empire in his movies with the current American political scene. I had thought that these concerns were a little overblown --but when I saw the movie last night, I found that there were indeed a number of potentially explosive political themes that made me wonder if maybe they weren't right after all!
[WARNING: The following comments may contain spoilers for the movie Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. So, if you aren't aware that one of the major, whiny characters is going to turn into Darth Vader, you might want to skip this post.]

Lucas seems to be implying that abortions should be used to solve all the galaxy's problems. When Padme finds out she's pregnant, she never even discusses ridding her body of the parasitic fetal matter; this despite the fact that an abortion would calm Anakin's fears that she will die in childbirth (which serves as a springboard for his switch to the Dark Side). Also, in this galaxy, we see that working mothers are apparently discriminated against; Padme fears she'll lose her job if her pregnancy is revealed. Also, this "Republic" apparently doesn't provide pre-natal medical care for women without documented marriages; they can build amazing replacements for light-sabered-off limbs, but she can't even get an ultrasound to determine that she's carrying twins!

Lucas also reminds us that the military is always looking to launch coups against progressive leaders. The Chancellor, who talks during the entire movie about how much he wants peace, finds himself under attack by his own military leadership! It's clear to me that Lucas' agenda is to warn against the military leadership ("Jedi Council" being a not-very-well disguised stand-in for the "Joint Chiefs of Staff") gaining too much power. (Yoda even looks a little like Rumsfeld!) [Update: I just noticed that "Jedi Council" and "Joint Chiefs" are both abbreviated "JC"... even more incontrovertible evidence of Lucasian linkage!] The progressive leader, who has had his religion vilified in the press as "The Dark Side" by the military oligarchs that are the Jedi, is able to overcome the military coup leaders by standing up for himself -- a lesson I'm sure Lucas is trying to pass on to today's progressive Democratic leadership.

There are many other plot points in the movie that could be interpreted as support of progressive politics (adoption being used to rip families apart, clones eliminating would-be military dictators, the dangers of heterosexual marriage, etc.) but I think we all can see through Lucas' thinly-disguised attempts to change the political beliefs of all innocent movie goers.

I urge all right-thinking Americans to show their displeasure with Lucas and his attempt to brainwash the movie-going public by only going and seeing the movie like four or five times, instead of the seven or eight you were probably planning on. I, for one, aren't planning on seeing again until Monday...

Update 2332 22 May: Skippy-San posts his thoughts on the movie.