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Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Imagine a legion of angry, mostly white males, hell-bent on upending an establishment they feel has become too powerful and out of touch. Left behind by a government that championed free trade and globalization —policies they blame for their lack of opportunities— these radicalized populists unite and, fueled by rage, seek to make their nations great again. I’m speaking of course about the Rebel Alliance from the Star Wars films. However, if you interpreted that description as referring to the alt-right movement that recently propelled Donald Trump to the presidency, then you wouldn’t be alone. The similarities between the two are both numerous and troubling, and it would be wise to study the Rebel Alliance from the ever-expanding Star Wars universe to explain the rise of Trump and the alt-right.

At the heart of the alt-right movement is a belief in race-based nationalism. The Rebel Alliance, overwhelmingly consisting of white males, similarly adheres to a belief system based on white human supremacy. At the heart of the Rebel Alliance are the Jedi, who enforce a strict eugenics-based class system. We first become aware of this in Episode I: The Phantom Menace when it is explained that the Jedi only accept those with a sufficient count of midichlorians in their blood. The Jedi use this genetics-based discrimination to separate children they deem genetically superior from those they consider filthy subhumans (in fact, Obi-Wan, disgusted by the mere presence of Jar Jar Binks, refers to him as a “pathetic life form”). The system the Jedi use to train and cultivate children with desirable genetic traits is not unlike the Hitler Youth, whose stated goal was to create future “Aryan supermen” trained as soldiers to serve the regime. Similarly, the modern alt-right movement draws much of its white nationalist based beliefs from this Nazi/Jedi ideology.

The next example of the overlaps between the alt-right and the Rebel Alliance comes from the shocking prevalence of Holocaust deniers among the ranks of the alt-right. In the exact same fashion, many among the Rebel Alliance and their apologists have done much to cover up and deny one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Star Wars saga: the Ewok holocaust on Endor. In Return of the Jedi, after the Rebel Alliance terrorists detonated the Death Star, billions of tons of metal, debris, and radiation rained down on Endor, burning and crushing Ewoks — collateral damage from the Jedi jihad. While the air would be thick with smoke and the smell of burning teddy bear fur, the real danger would be all the greenhouse gases and radiation going up into the atmosphere, resulting in a nuclear winter that would destroy any Ewoks unlucky enough to have survived the initial rain of hellfire. In the same way that Trump dismisses climate change as a Chinese conspiracy, the Rebel Alliance deny overwhelming scientific proof put forth by numerous astrophysicists and planetary scientists about the Ewok Holocaust. One such source is the planetary scientist Dave Minton, who concluded in a white paper that “The Ewoks are dead. All of them.” In this brazen denial of a holocaust, yet again the alt-right and Rebel Alliance demonstrate how very similar they are.

In the same way that Trump dismisses climate change as a Chinese conspiracy, the Rebel Alliance deny overwhelming scientific proof put forth by numerous astrophysicists and planetary scientists about the Ewok Holocaust.

Perhaps the closest association that can be made is that between the way Donald Trump and the Jedi view the world and the use of power. Jonathan V. Last, a scholar of the Star Wars films, has written on the Jedi and their penchant for extralegal executions. Last describes a scene from Revenge of the Sith thusly:

After they’ve subdued Palpatine, here’s what happens:

Mace Windu: “I’m going to put an end to this, once and for all!”
Anakin Skywalker: “You can’t. He must stand trial.”
Mace Windu: “He has control of the senate and all the courts. He is too dangerous to be left alive!”

Trump shares the Jedi’s enthusiasm for executing the innocent with his repeated calls for the execution of the Central Park Five, despite them being exonerated and with DNA evidence proving their innocence. This refusal to accept facts and force one’s own narrative is an intrinsic characteristic of Trump and the Jedi, both of whom use lies, both brazen and outrageous, to accomplish what they want to get done. In Episode IV, A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi needs to rapidly radicalize Luke Skywalker to do his bidding, and so tells the blatant lie that Darth Vader killed Luke’s father, setting Luke off on a bloodthirsty quest for revenge. Perhaps no one is more famous for accusing people’s fathers of murder for their own gain than Donald Trump; as you’ll recall, during the Republican primaries Trump put forward the story that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This ability to Jedi mind meld people into believing what he needs to accomplish his goals is a powerful tool in Trump’s arsenal, and one that he repeatedly employed during the election. Just like the Jedi, Trump is a master of deception and utter ruthlessness.

As can be seen from the Rebel Alliance’s white nationalist roots and holocaust denial —traits it shares with the alt-right— as well as Trump’s Jedi-like zero sum approach to power, much can be gleaned from the Star Wars films into how radicalized groups can rise to power. Guided by a eugenics-based class system and eschewing facts and science, the alt-right has adopted the same means to unite and control a disaffected group that the Rebel Alliance used. If we are to protect ourselves from sharing the same fate as the benevolent Empire who succumbed to the terror-fueled hate campaign of the Jedi, we would do well to recognize the signs of danger that were so clear to see in the Star Wars films.

RELATED: The Radicalization of Luke Skywalker: A Jedi’s Path to Jihad

Comfortably Smug is a government relations professional with a focus on the financial services industry. He can be found on Twitter with his musings on all things finance and politics at @ComfortablySmug

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