godddd something fucking Excellent about Andor was how much it showed the diversity of experiences and customs among Humans!!! Star Wars is usually so allergic to showing us any meaningful cultural context, to the point where all humans feel very monolithic (with exceptions to the rule like Mandalorians), and Andor said fuck that!!!!
The people of Andor are individuals, yes, but they come from communities with customs and cultures and distinct ways of living that grant them full inner lives, and diverse, wonderful viewpoints that affect their choices at every turn.
Chandrillans have marriage ceremonies that are very culture specific and are not understood or practiced by people outside of the planet! Ferrix has intricate percussive rites and funerary rituals that mix ashes with brick to build the foundations of the city on those who lived in it and loved it!!!! Kenari has its own language, its own colorful clothing and weapons!!! The Aldhani people have a plot-relevant ceremony of celebrating the celestial marvel of Mak-ani bray Dhani!!!!
There's nuances to every group of people! Every heritage has MEANING, it has weight and it colors the lives of the people who it belongs to, and that's so, so beautiful and important to the language of the story!!! It stands apart from the Empire, which forces unnatural order and conformity upon the land and people at every turn.
It's a breath of fresh air that the characters of Andor are given the space to have these rites, these ties of belonging, these beautiful, organic things about them. It creates a backdrop of realistic, diverse experiences across planets, and it emphasizes the cruelty and horror of the Empire's fascism, its spite towards people's homes and clothes and beliefs. It makes a point of rounding out the Star Wars universe in ways that we rarely get to see this much of, and it interweaves that lore into the wider narrative gorgeously!!! I am so so grateful that this show exists
