As much as I love Andor and it's storytelling, with the way the world is right now, I don't think it's as 'teach people progressive lessons' as it seems.
What I see people talking about is the very obvious, no room for misinterpretation, no need to think for yourself, the lesson is spelled out in bold, simple lettering.
The Empire are *Nazis* - did you catch that? They said ~kinderblock~ which is a *German* word and they wear *Nazi* uniforms. They are the *bad guys*
Bix and Brasso are *undocumented farm workers* - did you catch that? They are the ~good guys~ being harmed by the obviously *evil* empire who are going around tormenting the local population and rounding up *illegals* by checking visas. They even try to *rape* Bix! They are BAD. Our characters are GOOD.
When the show does attempt nuance, I've mostly seen people dismiss it - like with the rebels Cassian runs into who are terrified, just escaped a massive attack (the guy's brother 'went back to check for survivors'), they're hungry, they're average people with no military training who are just trying to fight back against the Empire. They're not ~bad~ people, nor are they perfectly ~good~. They're nuanced.
They're trying to be good, but with the situation they're in, clashes of personalities and the expectation that since they're rebels, they have to be strong and hardened hyper-masculine heroes so the accusation that the guy hid while the attack took place leads to a wounded pride they aren't equipped to deal with in a healthy way, so it comes out as violence to 'regain honor'.
It's messy, it's complicated, it's nuanced, and I don't think the narrative is trying to make it clear-cut and 'obviously this is how you need to feel about this group' like they do with the Empire or Cassian and his friends. And people are missing it and just getting annoyed with the nuance. They want a clear cut - obviously bad guy and obviously good guy - and if they're good, they better be competent or else they aren't actually 'good', I guess.
People are so quick to praise Luthen as 'always justified' because he's on 'our side' even though he's an incredibly nuanced, self-important character whose actions definitely should be questioned. But people have decided he's one of the ~good guys~ so no nuance needed, if he made the decision, he must be right.
So what I'm saying, is I don't think Andor is teaching anyone anything new. It's just reaffirming what people already know and anything new isn't being clocked because people are too busy being proud that they see the parallels between the Empire and our current governments.
Which is why they didn't understand the Acolyte. The Acolyte wasn't interested in making the ~good guys~ and the ~bad guys~ super clear to the viewer. They expected the viewer to use their brains and figure out which ACTIONS were good/bad not based on one side using *GERMAAANNNN* words or wearing *Nazi* uniforms or raping people.
It wanted you to recognize seemingly on-the-line actions (breaking into a group's home, interrupting their religious ceremony, insisting they take the children to test them, questioning the children without a guardian present, becoming violent when it looks like they won't get their way)
and the other group's response to on-the-line actions (children having to be raised in isolation due to oppression, children going through a ritual that marks them, a mind-trick done to scare someone who broke into their house, using magic someone isn't familiar with, holding weapons at the ready when their home is invaded, a child trying to keep her sister from leaving her forever)
And have to actually think about the morality of the entire situation.
Andor is a mirror that reflects our world in a crystal clear, morally obvious way AFTER the fascism has taken root. The Acolyte urged us to recognize the first steps of fascism before it's wearing Nazi uniforms.
The Empire IS the Republic. There was NO 'growing' period after the Republic fell and before the Empire rose. THAT was one of the lessons of the prequels. THAT was the lesson of the Acolyte.
I'm not saying Andor is bad or that type of storytelling shouldn't be done. We NEED to document what is happening - but it's a shame people are claiming Andor is the height of nuanced 'real' storytelling and praising it so highly when The Acolyte is right there with just as much nuance and 'real' storytelling, but those watching need the good guys and bad guys to be wearing labels or else they can't understand a story.
Leftists have been warning Americans about this for a long time. We've been trying to get others to recognize fascism even when it's not wearing a red hat but has a blue 'D' next to it. Let's be a little less reactive only after it's obvious a dictator is in power and a little more proactive when the people wearing the 'good' uniforms start doing fucky shit.
titsay
baratheonpilled
izzy806
discoholicmusic
andulkaphoto
snowghoul
