The Empire is a Cult
I’ve wanted to write about this for awhile and I guess The Bad Batch kicked that feeling into high gear. I started writing and kept going, so the grammar is probably not great.
Some context: I was raised in a cult. I started the process of questioning and leaving in my mid to late twenties. It took me four years of being a POMI (Physically Out of the cult, Mentally In) to really take the last step of leaving it behind me and becoming a POMO. Since then I have learned a lot about cults and what happens to someone under undue influence.
TW: mentions of a cult, physical abuse, mental abuse, death, undue influence
The Empire is a cult. Whether we look at the BITE Model developed by Dr. Steve Hassan (https://freedomofmind.com/cult-mind-control/bite-model/) or the definition given by Dr. Janja Lalich (https://janjalalich.com/blog/definition-and-explanation-of-the-word-cult/), the Empire fits the definition. There is a charismatic leader who makes demands on their followers so that the followers must do as they are told or be expelled from the group. In the case of the Empire that usually means death (all those Jedi that were killed under false pretenses, for instance) or indefinite servitude (Andor anyone?). Cults control the behavior of members, the information they have access to, they make demands on the kind of thoughts members should have, and they make demands on the emotions that should be felt. Cult leaders view their followers as resources to be depleted. They often look for ways to point out imperfections (real or not) in their followers. Anything that goes right is thanks to the glorious leader and anything that goes wrong, any bad feelings you have, that is all on your weakness as a follower.
And let’s get one thing straight. Born in or not, no one joins a cult. We might use this terminology, but really cults recruit people using lies, manipulation, and sometimes love-bombing.
The leader uses manipulation to get what they want, but they do not start out with the highest demands. They work their way up to those demands. For instance, Palpatine did not ask Anakin to murder the Jedi and join him immediately. He spent a decade whispering doubts at Anakin, pretending to take him into his confidence so that Anakin would feel special, and built up trust. At the end of Revenge of the Sith we see Anakin on his knees crying and saying he’ll do whatever Palp wants as long as he can help him save Padme. This is a classic example of bounded choice. A bounded choice is one that is made using only the information the person manipulating you wants you to know (part of information control). Anakin believed the only way to save his wife was with Palpatine, and while we know that’s not true, Anakin’s choices are muddled with this undue influence. Anakin makes his choice because he sees no other way. Because, surprise, he’s in a cult now and Palpatine has constructed it this way. Once he takes those first steps to turn to the dark side, he’s really in it now, so like most cult members (particularly those given leadership positions) he digs his heels in for years.
Often people like things to be black and white and that’s part of the appeal of cults actually! They offer answers and it ends up being very us versus them. Anakin isn’t totally evil or else he couldn’t be redeemed. There is still good in him. Yes, Anakin made a choice to join Sidious, but that choice was the result of manipulation. It’s not cut and dry. It was awful and lots of people died and the entire galaxy changed for the absolute worst, but ultimately Sidious was using Anakin just as he used anyone else he could. (I’m not saying this totally absolves Anakin. I’m just saying it’s complicated.)
Speaking of using people, let’s talk about the clones. These precious individuals were created so that one man could start a war and he used them as if they were trash to be thrown out once they served their purpose. (Truly, I hate that guy.) Literally created with chips in their head to control them and cause Order 66, The Bad Batch has given us a chance to see what they’re like when the chips are partially effective and then what the clones have to face when the chip comes out and they have to make a choice. Obviously I’m thinking about Crosshair. At this point (Season 2, Episode 5 has aired) we know that he believes his chip has been removed but we don’t know for sure if it has. Did something happen after Bracca but before Ryloth? Anyway, we know Crosshair’s chip was turned up to 11 in the beginning of Season 1 and then he goes after his brothers. Even if his chip is removed at this point, he’s still stuck in the Empire and surrounded by that culty influence. Even without a mind control chip, that does things to the human brain.
While Wrecker does eventually have to deal with his chip activating, his chip is removed in short order and the whole time he was surrounded by his brothers and sister. It’s important to note that Crosshair spends relatively little time around his siblings after his chip activates on Kallar and from then on, he’s surrounded by the Empire. Cults always, always, always separate their members from non-members. They make you feel important while simultaneously giving zero shits about you. The only thing the cult cares about is what you can do for them. They will bleed you dry. Literally the top leader of a cult will let the lower-level leaders do whatever they want as long as the cult isn’t imploding and the leader is thriving. Shaming, punishments, physical violence, whatever, are all used by cults to various degrees to keep members in line while telling these same members that this abuse will make them stronger, is for the good of the group and, in many cases, ultimately good for mankind. The Empire is no different. Crosshair is initially surrounded by a bunch of clones saying yes to everything told to them, he’s immediately put in charge post Order 66 so feels he has some special status, and he doesn’t have anyone around him really disagreeing. He’s later spending way too much time with Rampart who is a classic low-level cult leader and a shitty influence. By the end of Season 1, we see Crosshair back with his siblings, trying to send Omega off world for her own good while trying to recruit his brothers. Despite the Empire’s best efforts, Crosshair still cares about his family. This is really the first time he gets to talk to his siblings for any real length of time since his chip was activated. I am 0% surprised that he did not follow them off that platform after Tipoca City was destroyed. He has his doubts about the Empire and he’s torn, but it’s still not enough to counter the undue influence he’s endured since Order 66. Remember, he’s been saturated in the Empire’s messages and it’s hard to undo that quickly.
Hey this kind of thing happens to cult members a lot. You make contact with someone outside the cult, someone you love and who cares about you and they can be the most open, kind, awesome, loving person toward you, and it’s still hard for you to take that step and walk away from the cult in that moment. Most of us have to be able to sit with that knowledge for awhile. In my case, I had spent the first 25 years of my life, that’s right, a quarter of a century, preparing for the end of the world. We had a date, we knew the reasoning, we were certain, no questioning allowed, and then it didn’t happen. And when it didn’t happen, I didn’t reach out to people outside the cult. I didn’t immediately wake up and drop all my beliefs because they were that engrained. Cults can do this in relatively short order too. You don’t have to spend 25 years in something to have those beliefs engrained. According to cult expert Rachel Bernstein (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/opening-the-cult-vault-w-kacey/id1373939526?i=1000595229657) even during positive interactions and interventions, it often takes cult members time to process what’s happened, to start to question, and then eventually leave if they are going to. Like a good cult member, Crosshair waits 32 rotations for the Empire instead of getting on the ship with his family. (Granted, he didn’t know he’d have to wait that long.) Upon his return he is not allowed to be in charge by Season 2 Episode 3 and this is also a culty tactic - the Empire is so incredibly culty - because they’re trying to make him prove his loyalty again for practically no reason. They are putting him on the defense in the relationship. The Empire (like any cult) and its leaders must always be right and those who serve must have their loyalty questioned at least once in a while to keep them on their toes.
Then we see Cody make some really pointed statements to Crosshair. Cody is out and it’s important for a quietly questioning Crosshair to see that. And can’t this guy get some lunch? He’s not sleeping. Look, I know what it’s like to be alone in a group that claims to have all the answers. A group that only offers power to certain members once it sucks them in and then fucks over everyone else trapped in the cult. I know what it’s like to be in a group that surrounds you by people serving the same purpose, and yet feeling so empty and lonely that you want to sob on the daily and worse. Oh but you don’t have the energy to sob because you aren’t sleeping or eating. And then there’s the letdown of things not being what you thought they would be hopefully followed by the immense work of trying to get out and rebuild your life. It’s a process.
I’ll say this though: I am rooting for Crosshair. I am cheering for him to have the courage to leave the Empire and reunite with his family. Because it takes courage. There is still good in Crosshair. He still tries to protect his family in his own way. He’s lost in a maze of lies, but that doesn’t mean he can’t come back.
