“They’re not taking me without a fight.”
“You can’t win, but there are alternatives to fighting.”
I’ve written a version of this sentiment before, regarding Star Wars being an antiwar story. But, given the protests rising across the country in response to ICE raids and an Administration that has no regard for American lives or freedoms, I thought it was worth a quick reminder that our favorite pop culture myth is, at its core, about non-violent resistance to tyranny.
At first glace, that statement might feel entirely absurd. It’s a story that features quite a lot of violence. We see Han Solo shoot stormtroopers, Princess Leia choke Jabba the Hutt to death, Luke Skywalker fight his father over and over, learning to use a sword. Dogfights buzz by, bombs are dropped, explosions explode, punches and kicks are thrown, flamethrowers abound. It appears, on the surface, to be a story about fighting back against those who oppress you, using the very weapons of the enemy to defeat them.
But, in fact, the heroes of Star Wars do not win with strength, but with peace. They make peace with allies, like the Ewoks; they make peace with each other and join as friends; they make peace within their enemies hearts.
Think about the final confrontation between Rey and the Emperor. The Emperor demands Rey kill him, strike him down, something that one might think is exactly what she’s come all the way to Exogol to do. But when the moment comes, she realizes, this is now how she defeats him, but how she would become him. And even when she does destroy him, she does not cut him in half, she holds fast against his dark lightning, stands firm, until his own power consumes him.
Think about Luke Skywalker’s victory over Kylo Ren, one that uses the idea of Luke’s presence to confound and frustrate and delay Ren’s efforts to destroy the Resistance. Luke’s victory: the Resistance escapes. He does not physically harm Kylo Ren, not once, not ever.
Think about the Clone Wars, and the hours and hours of storytelling committed to them. What is the story about? That fighting in the Clone Wars was losing the Clone Wars. That the war was an excuse to oppress, and nothing more.
Think about Luke’s ascension to becoming a Jedi, which he achieves not with power, but with a refusal to fight. He throws down his weapon, and in that moment, he has won the battle with the Emperor, and for his father’s soul.
Even in Andor, where we see the most cutthroat version of the Rebellion, it is the growing sentiment that the Empire is dangerous that drives people into the ranks of resistance; not the promise of military victory. War is a last resort, something to resort to only when all other options have been exhausted.
I hope we can all keep this in mind as we go out and stand against the Imperial nature of our current administration. Remember, we’re not there to fight ICE, but to offer up an alternatives to fighting, as Obi-Wan Kenobi says.
We’re not there to overpower the military, to be stronger than the police, to show force; but to protect the innocent, with our belief, our example, our bodies, and our voices. We protest with love, not anger; to show compassion for our fellow human beings, in defiance of the dehumanization displayed by our wrong-headed leadership.
That’s how we’ll win.
By having friends everywhere.
Amen to that.