The Star Wars franchise has always been one with a political undertone, with the current projects like Andor carrying forward a legacy started in the original and prequel trilogies.
The new Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prequel series was set to be the most politically-inclined project since the prequel trilogy, bringing alive several current day, real world situations. The show is certainly keeping up with the expectations on that front.
Actor Genevieve O’Reilly, who reprised the role of Mon Mothma in the Disney+ series, reflected on the realistic voice of Andor in a recent interview with Filmfare. She promised that viewers will get to see quite a bit of “deeply human” political themes that the world is currently struggling with.
"“You will recognize a lot of the political themes. They are deeply human and I’m sure you will pick up on things that we are wrestling with at the moment. From my perspective and from my character’s perspective, how important is a space for a diplomatic voice? How important diplomacy is and how crucial it is to advocate for solutions around rebellions or war? I think undoubtedly, through time, art and culture reflect our reality.”"
She had words of praise for show maker Tony Gilroy as well, who has previously delved with “intricacies of the real world” within the spy genre. Gilroy has famously directed a number of The Bourne movies.
O’Reilly further added that the different planets in Andor (and possibly in the larger Star Wars universe) are a metaphor for difference cultures in the real world.
Lead actor Diego Luna previously called Andor the journey of a migrant, while Gilroy compared the Galactic empire’s reign with the western world’s colonialism. Between that and Maarva Andor actor Fiona Shaw bringing up “Trumpian world“, the show has received its share of criticism for being “too political”.
However, Andor is only staying true to its roots, given that George Lucas has repeatedly explained how Star Wars was influenced by the Vietnam War and Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious was largely based off Richard Nixon.
“[The Emperor] 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.” - George Lucas, #ReturnOfTheJedi story conference, July 1981 #StarWars pic.twitter.com/5hVzM2pXmQ
— Phil Szostak (@PhilSzostak) September 29, 2019
Watch the ‘Andor’ trailer below: