I recently had a chance to watch “Rogue One,” the Star Wars movie that appeared on the big screen around the holidays. The movie came out soon after the election of Donald Trump as well as the untimely death of Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in many of the films. So apparently a lot of Trump’s enemies now identify with the characters in the movie and consider themselves as part of “the Resistance” against Emperor Trump.
So what did you think of the movie, your cynical old man?
Glad you asked. I loved “Rogue One.” It had all the elements of a great, space opera action film.
It had the spunky girl, the handsome rogue, and a motley crew of warriors and mystics all united for the mission. The movie had a great ship to ship combat. It brought back the Grand Moff Tarkin from the dead and added in a couple of other baddies, including Darth Vader.
The film has the most over the top smooch scene in which the spunky girl and the handsome rogue embrace as the planet they are on disintegrates beneath them. It easily topped the screen kiss between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in “True Lies” against the backdrop of a nuclear explosion. And seeing Princess Leia again digitally made younger, was bittersweet.
What about the Trump connection?
Frankly, I don’t see it.
The Donald may be many things, rude, crude, and socially unacceptable, but he makes a poor mustache twirling villain, even if he had a mustache. Neither the Emperor nor Darth Vader could be imagined boasting about grabbing someone’s lady parts. Also, thus far, Trump has only killed bad people, such as when the MOAB was dropped on the ISIS hideout in Afghanistan.
The president has even been known to demonstrate compassion, something that Star Wars villains would never conceive of.
So what is the deal about the ‘Resistance?’
In my opinion, a lot of people are in a science fiction-based Role Playing Game by pretending that they are the rebels doing battle against the Trump Empire. This sort of thing is no way to pursue politics.
People, even those who agree that Trump is pond scum, will think you’re silly.
Here is some advice from someone who has been observing politics first hand since the sixties. First, study the issues. You may find that political issues have more than one side or even two sides. And, above all, know your enemy. Donald Trump is not Darth Vader. He is but a man with certain flaws and gifts who, by an incredible twist of fate, became president of the United States.
