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May 18, 2005
Star Wars Picture of the Day
You know Vader would not vote for that Kerry weenie.
That site also contains a link to one of my favorite columns of all time by Jonathan V. Last: The Case for Empire. Last argues that from what we know (from the movies alone) the galaxy was better off under the rule of the Empire than it was under the Republic or later rebellion. The rebels never bother to explain what they are fighting for, just what they are against.
The best part is Last's defense of Tarkin's destruction of Alderaan:
The destruction of Alderaan is often cited as ipso facto proof of the Empire's "evilness" because it seems like mass murder--planeticide, even. As Tarkin prepares to fire the Death Star, Princess Leia implores him to spare the planet, saying, "Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons." Her plea is important, if true.But the audience has no reason to believe that Leia is telling the truth. In Episode IV, every bit of information she gives the Empire is willfully untrue. In the opening, she tells Darth Vader that she is on a diplomatic mission of mercy, when in fact she is on a spy mission, trying to deliver schematics of the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance. When asked where the Alliance is headquartered, she lies again.
Leia's lies are perfectly defensible--she thinks she's serving the greater good--but they make her wholly unreliable on the question of whether or not Alderaan really is peaceful and defenseless. If anything, since Leia is a high-ranking member of the rebellion and the princess of Alderaan, it would be reasonable to suspect that Alderaan is a front for Rebel activity or at least home to many more spies and insurgents like Leia.
Posted by Pete at May 18, 2005 06:14 PM
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