Star Wars, politics have always gone hand in hand even before The Last Jedi

When Star Wars and politics meet

Hello Greedo claims that the political undertones have scaled back tremendously from the original trilogy, prequel trilogy, and even the recent Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series — which I wholeheartedly agree.

George Lucas himself admitted without reservation that the Emperor is based on a President Nixon and his regime when asked if the Emperor was a Jedi back in 1981.

"“No. He was a politician. Richard M. Nixon was his name. He subverted the Senate and finally took over and became an Imperial guy and he was really evil. But he pretended to be a really nice guy.”"

The Vietnam War heavily influenced the plotline and characters for the original trilogy, says George Lucas.

"“It was really about the Vietnam War… which got me thinking historically about how democracies turned into dictatorships.”"

For “the Maker’s” sake, I’m glad Social Media wasn’t around back in the day. They would have swallowed him alive within a Sarlacc pit of hatred.

During commentary of the special edition of Return of the Jedi, George Lucas states that the Ewoks symbolized the Vietcong warriors, ones who were outnumbered by a more potent military arsenal.

If you think George Lucas was blunt with his original Star Wars films, the prequel trilogy pushed the limit even further. He has this to say about the inspiration for Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the Dark Side of the Force.

"“Anakin Skywalker is a promising young man who is turned to the Dark Side by an older politician and becomes Darth Vader. George Bush is Darth Vader, Cheney is the Emperor.”"

That’s not subtle in the slightest and makes total sense now, having this newfound perspective. Even Padme’s response to Palpatine’s rise to power, mirrored in Revenge of the Sith, is taking a shot at the Bush Administration — which is nothing new in Star Wars.