So, after many years in the fandom, I finally dipped my toes into the Star Wars Youtuber bubble by watching a couple of videos by Star Wars Expained, hailed as the greatest of them all. Iām sure they are, but after a couple of videos, I am just absolutely stumped and very disappointed by what I saw/heard.
The worst offender, and the reason for this post, is the video āThe Point of the Clone Wars - The Genius of Palpatineās Planā. Itās an insane back and forth of accurate takes followed by bewildering conjecture that is the clear result of buying both the in-world and irl propaganda that the Jedi are at fault, actually. Yes, Palpatine is evil, but so are the jedi, DUH! One could argue that SWE only did this to reinforce the brilliance of Palpatineās scheming, buuuut he espouses those very same views in his other videos, so thatās not it. This is a clear example of someone who looks at the propaganda, seems to understand it, and buy into it anyway because thatās critical thinking for you. This is just me ranting in defense of the jedi, so be warned.
So, the topic starts alright, but then the following things are said:
@1:15: SWE quotes Lucas regarding his statements about autocracy. This will be relevant in a minute. He spends a few minutes rightfully pointing out that the Jedi didnāt have a choice in joining the war, again, very objective/factual for now. Donāt worry, it gets worse.
@2:16: āOver the course of three years, we see Mace Windu change from a man who does not want to be a soldier to someone who is willing to execute the Chancellor with not trial because HE deems him too dangerous to be left alive.ā
BECAUSE Palpatine told him āI AM the Senateā, because Mace himself says (for the benefit of the audience, which is you) that āHe has control of the Senate and the Courts (you know, like an AUTOCRAT might?), heās too dangerous to be left alive.ā Have you no knowledge of the literal precedence GL used and based Palpatine on? You LITERALLY quoted him earlier, have you read all the other stuff he said? How can you be so close to the truth and then take such a hard turn into bad faith conjecture? Autocracies work BECAUSE one person is in control of everything, assuring their continued power. Palpatine NEVER would have had a fair trial, he only would have had a trial to keep up the pretense of a just and upright leader. All for the sake of theater most citizens eat up because complacency and silence is always easier than standing up for whatās right, to oppose without any real reward except upholding democratic principles.
@2:40: SWE mentions the Dooku assassination plot and says āTheyāre willing to win at any cost.ā if THAT were true, the Jedi would have just outright murdered the separatist leaders instead of taking them in as prisoners. If that were true, the Jedi would not have taken the time to help other planets with their issues that have nothing to do with the war (see: assorted episodes of The Clone Wars, thereās a lot of them). Again: why such a bad faith reading on a group of people that is trying to do good and being actively played (and criticized/accused) because of it?
@2:41: āPalpatine warns Anakin that the Jedi will try to take control and heās not wrong. They discuss taking over the Senate if the Chancellor doesnāt set aside his emergency powers. I want to believe that they were as good as their word, that they would only do so to ensure a peaceful transition and then they would step aside as well, but I donāt know that I fully believe that thatās true and thatās the point.ā
YES. THATāS THE POINT. Why are YOU buying it? They discuss it, but donāt actively decide it during that discussion because Yoda himself mentions that this is a dark path and that āGreat Care, we must takeā. Itās a decision that they clearly donāt want to make. Hell, the parties in the Senate that still believe in democracy see what Palpatine is doing (without outright saying so, still giving that bastard, the literal incarnation of evil, the benefit of the doubt) and petition him, only to be lied to. The senatorial opposition being fooled and too late to change things is something that never gets brought up, but is extremely relevant. Palpatine fooled EVERYONE. Itās cynical to blame a victim for being fooled instead of condemning the root cause. To say that there is even an inkling of canon proof that the Jedi wouldāve held on to power instead of immediately transferring it to the next Chancellor is absurd.
CONDESCENDING VENT INTERLUDE, CAUTION!
Palpatine has eroded the audienceās trust in the democratic institution, which, over the years, somehow has turned into utterly eroding the audienceās trust in the good guys, the literal guardians of the galaxy. Which is EXACTLY what Palpatine wanted, congratulations for falling for the obvious propaganda, yes, youāre so smart, arenāt you! Look at you, depicting the aggressor and the victim as equally bad because youāre SO objective and enlightened, Iām in awe of your brain power, and so impressed! Itās even more impressive that you came to these conclusions by clearly never opening, let alone reading, a history book! This is for the 95% of reddit randos with sith/empire-based flairs, youāre just SO cool!
CONDESCENDING VENT INTERLUDE, OVER!
@3:05: āTCW series shows us over and over again that the Jedi have lost their way. They betrayed one of their guiding principles and once they do that, itās easier for them to betray more and more of them. More importantly, itās easier for the citizens of the galaxy to believe that they would as well. [ā¦] but he(Palpatine) isnāt completely lying and people buy the story, because they have also witnessed the downfall of the Jedi. Theyāre not guardians of peace and justice, they are warriors and they have been for years now.ā
WHAT downfall? For the sake of āobjectivityā, SWE is arguing exactly like one of those citizens, except we as the audience have the whole story, so thereās literally no excuse for still believing what Palpatine says, to place blame where no blame is due. The fact that people are protesting outside of the Jedi temple doesnāt mean that the protesters are RIGHT. They are misinformed and misguided. And yet, the Jedi leave them be, because they donāt stomp out civilians just because they disagree (like, say, an autocrat might?). Because they DONāT have the ego and desire for power thatās been implied so far. When someone on-screen says that the Jedi are super mean, actually, why do you so easily take it at face value? Just because Ahsoka gets taken in by sob stories doesnāt mean that the Jedi have ACTUALLY lost their way, for godās sake. Nevermind the fact that each instance of where they āso easilyā budge on their principles is discussed with the council and how they so often look for ways to hold ON to said principles. Just because they lost doesnāt mean they didnāt try.
@3:57: āPalpatine forced the Jedi into a lose/lose situation where either choice they made would backfire. The Jedi chose violence. Again, I donāt think there was a right choice for them in that situation, but I do think they made that decision out of fear. Fear of how Dooku, a former Jedi, could hurt them. Fear that their ability to use the Force was diminishing, maybe fear of the galaxy learning that they didnāt need them if they did sit the war out. [ā¦] where making that choice was not only easy, but felt like the right thing to do.ā
Again, laying out how Palpatine operates and what his intentions are is all true, but then WHY make the conjecture that the Jedi chose violence, that they chose out of fear? Why not look at actually canon descriptions/depictions of the Jedi and see that this isnāt how they think OR operate at all? If they HAD sat the war out, the backlash from the public (and Star Wars Youtubers) would have been likely even more severe, because they would have been the boring pacifists/bureaucrats/insultofchoice instead of cool war heroes. It would have led to the same lane and amount of accusations, blame and ridiculing of the Jedi trying to do the right thing, because thatās how Palpatine/Propaganda (synonyms at this point istg) would have wanted you to see it. He would feign understanding for the Jediās choices and yet undermine them in the very same breath, because thatās how Palpatine operates. Itās inSIDIOUS, get it?Calling them cowards and traitors to the Republic without outright saying so (at first. Propaganda always escalates). The public/audience would have eaten it up JUST the same. How do I know? Look at history. Look at literally every single fascist and/or autocratic āgovernmentā and their propaganda.
I canāt fathom why people are still so willing to buy into the glaringly obvious victim blaming. Is it because their darling Ahsoka has some very entitled and arrogant beef with the Jedi after hearing about two tear-jerkers and buying into them to fulfill her own perception of what she (and she alone) thinks is right? Because Filoni has completely lost the plot in favour of āoh, bad guys cool so good guys be bad nowā. Is it because Shin Hati is hot? Is it because Mace Windu is oh so hateable? What is going on?? What pro-fascist hellscape IS this? Iāve now descended into my own flailing conjectures to make sense of the insane, so let me stop and put the most infuriating 4:30 minutes of my life behind me.
I turned to Youtube because I was in the mood for more SW content and had had quite enough from the general consensus on Reddit (where I usually hang out, ikr) that has become a cesspool of Filoni-approved misrepresentations that has not only muddied the waters about what the Force and the Jedi actually are, but has turned into outright mudslinging in favor of the literal fascists. All these enlightened people talking about propaganda without realising that hey have eaten it up and internalized it themselves. That they are literally too uneducated or unwilling to see that Palpatine has done his job so well the audience is willing to buy anything that would justify the victimās loss and the bad guysā continued presence in their favourite media because theyāre so cool!
I suppose there is hardly any point to this post, because the above video is 5 YEARS old. If the perception was like this so many years ago, itās certainly only gotten worse now. It feels so supremely strange, to be on the side of the Light and 90% of the internet telling you that no, the Light is actually equally bad as the Dark, didnāt you know.
Just today, Iāve read a post about how sometimes itās only the fanfiction that keeps you in a fandom. I guess Iāve reached a point where thatās now true for me regarding Star Wars, as well. Iām also supremely glad that George Lucas got out while he still could.
Kudos to you, my man, and thank you for being SO clear on what the Force is and who the Jedi are, because the vast majority of the fandom doesnāt seem to care anymore.
If anyone has any recommendations about Youtubers who are pro-jedi and empire-critical, please let me know. Until then, I know that I have a safe space here, with actually sane people with receipts to back it up.
Small PS: I used the terms autocracy and fascism interchangeably because itās such a slippery slope and Palpatineās rule encompasses both, to different degrees at times.
