The Star Wars Holiday Special and the Banality of Evil

Last updated on: December 31, 2015 at 12:57 am by Tom Swiss

The Star Wars Holiday Special and the Banality of Evil 2015-12-31T00:57:10-04:00 Tom Swiss

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

TV Guide ad for the special. Via StarWarsHolidaySpecial.com, fair use

The Star Wars holiday special aired only once, in 1978. It is widely — and justifiably — known as ridiculously bad. After an introductory scene of Han Solo and Chewbacca piloting the Millennium Falcon and Han promising to have Chewie home for the Wookie celebration of “Life Day”, we cut to Chewie’s family for ten or fifteen minutes of Wookies grunting at each other unintelligibly. And it mostly doesn’t get better from there, with the Wookie grunting as the frame story around musical and comedy bits and short scenes with the actual Star Wars cast — some of whom are rumored to have been on serious drugs for the filming. (It was the 70s…) The high point is the cartoon that introduces Boba Fett, which isn’t bad.

Even for the badfilm connoisseur, sitting down deliberately to watch the whole thing would probably be too much. But with the recent Star Wars hype it struck me that it wouldn’t be too terrible to have on in the background on Christmas Eve while wrapping presents.

And so I was reminded that apart from the Wookie grunting and the musical and comedy bits bizarrely shoehorned in, we get a glimpse of everyday life in the Empire, the banality of evil behind the oppression citizens face. And it has some disturbing resonances with life in America today.

In Star Wars we see the Death Star blow up the planet Alderaan; but it’s an atrocity too big to really register, it’s just a special effect. And within the Star Wars universe such an act of mass destruction would probably find its defenders just as the nuclear massacres in Hiroshima and Nagasaki find theirs.

We see the charred corpses of Luke’s Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, but it’s a fait accompli; the stormtroopers are long gone by the time Luke get back to the farm. Apologists for authoritarian tactics might claim Owen and Beru were armed — they might even claim they deliberately burned themselves up in a siege.

Similarly it’s implied that Princess Leia is subject to some sort of torture during her captivity on the Death Star, but it happens off-screen. And “enhanced interrogation” is an accepted practice these days — no one has even been charged over the US’s use of waterboarding.

Oppressive policing in the Empire. Via StarWarsHolidaySpecial.com, fair use

But in the Holiday Special we see stormtroopers ransacking Chewbacca’s family’s home, throwing items off shelves to the floor and tearing apart a kid’s stuffed toy in apparent glee. It’s a scene that in the 1970s was meant to show the evil of the Empire, but to anyone who’s studied the militarization of American policing over the past few decades it looks like a kinder and gentler version of how police routinely act today — trashing the homes of citizens, not to actually catch criminals but to demonstrate the power of the state and keep the people properly cowed.

And another scene has the Empire announce a curfew and shut down a Tatooine nightclub. It’s a scene that will hit all too close to home to those affected earlier this year by the illegal Baltimore curfew, especially those in the restaurant, bar, club, and theater businesses who lost a week’s wages while the Empire tightened its grip.

“Due to increased activity among subversive forces, we are placing a curfew on the entire Tatooine system effective immediately. All inhabitants will return to their homes at once. This order will remain in effect until further notice.” — Imperial Officer, Star Wars Holiday Special

“The Mayor finds that a public emergency has been created as a result of rioting within the City of Baltimore, creating a serious and substantial menace to the public peace, safety, health and welfare of the Citizens of Baltimore….Beginning at 10 p.m. on April 28, 2015, this General Curfew takes effect. These Curfews remain in effect until May 4, 2015 unless rescinded or extended by Order of the Mayor….(i) no person located within the City of Baltimore may be in a public place during the Curfew Period, whether in a vehicle or on foot; (ii) no person within the City of Baltimore may engage in a march, parade, assembly or demonstration on a public place, whether during the Curfew Period or during Other Hours unless the event has a previously issued permit…” — City of Baltimore Emergency Curfew announced by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, April 28, 2005

Over the past few months several commentators — some overtly satirical, others of more ambiguous tone – have suggested parallels between the Jedi and jihadists. As the Jedi were agents of a Republic and never forced their mystical/religious practices on anyone, that’s a heck of a stretch.

But what makes the parallel seem credible is that in many ways, in its authoritarian domestic policies and its brutal and domineering foreign policies, the United States has become the Empire.

“Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battlestation.” — Grand Moff Tarkin, Star Wars: A New Hope

“What we want to do is to create in the minds of the Iraqi leadership, and their soldiers, this Shock and Awe, so they are intimidated, made to feel so impotent, so helpless, that they have no choice but to do what we want them to do, so the smartest thing is to say, ‘This is hopeless. We quit.’ ” — Harlan K. Ullman, principal architect of the “Shock and Awe” or “Rapid Dominance” strategy employed by the US in its 2003 attack on Iraq. (Quoted in Air Force Magazine, November 2003

You can keep up with “The Zen Pagan” by subscribing via RSS or e-mail.

If you do Facebook, you might choose to join a group on “Zen Paganism” I’ve set up there. And don’t forget to “like” Patheos Pagan and/or The Zen Pagan over there,
too.

Religion & Politics

Seasonal Musings

Star Wars

Previous Post

December 17, 2015

The Gifts in Hotei's Bag -- And In Yours

Next Post

January 1, 2016 The Creative Spirit and "Fun a Day": "Black Hole Susan"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2017 52 Makeup 2020 52 Makeup Always Roaming With A Hungry Heart Art Because I Could Not Stop For Death Caught On Video COVID-19 Culture Discordianism Ethics, Virtue, and Right Living History Magic(k), Ritual, and Mysticism My Blogging Life and Times Philosophy Podcast Poetry Random Wednesdays Religion & Politics Seasonal Musings Techno-Pagan Theology Uncategorized Warrior Path Zen

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 June 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive"" mean in the Lord's Prayer?

Select your answer to see how you score.

We should forgive others Hold grudges Ask for wealth Pray for revenge