Please, PLEASE Stop Comparing Republicans to Obi-Wan Kenobi
First, let’s just clear the air: No Republican ever has been or ever will be Obi-Wan Kenobi so jot that down. Last year, Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart decided to state that Liz Cheney was comparatively Obi-Wan Kenobi to Trump’s Darth Vader and god why do you all make me so angry?! But Capehart was far from the only person to equate a Republican with a Star Wars hero.
Recently, former prosecutor Francey Hakes went to Fox and Friends, where she quoted Obi-Wan Kenobi saying: “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” She was using the quote to say that for Trump and his supporters, getting indicted will mean they “become more powerful than they can imagine.”
When Capehart made his comparison, he was invoking the exact same quote on PBS News Hour, in reference to Cheney vs. Trump and I have to ask: Does everyone know only one quote from Star Wars?! Or just one Obi-Wan Kenobi quote? There was a whole prequel trilogy and an entire television show that featured Obi-Wan Kenobi (and that’s just the live-action stuff). You can’t use another quote? Granted, I don’t want you using any Obi-Wan quote to relate to a Republican but like … this quote in particular is weird!
Because now here is the thing: That line is about Obi-Wan Kenobi becoming a Force ghost. So like, in theory, he’s saying that if you strike him down he’ll … become a ghost. So if you want Trump’s base to become a ghost and perish? That works for me! But just know that that is what Obi-Wan Kenobi was talking about. And it leads me to what I think is a very important thing for all of us to stop doing, myself included.
Stop using Star Wars to explain things!
Look, I’ve been known to use the franchise as a barometer for whether or not someone understands its own fascist aspects, and, by extension, those of our own society. Because if you recognize that the Empire is a fascist organization in the midst of your love for Anakin Skywalker, then at least you understand what you’re watching. But there are some people in this world who do not understand that Star Wars is a commentary on politics at all. Which is funny given the fact that wars is in the name.
But the political aspects of Star Wars aside, us talking about how Donald Trump is like the Empire has led to … well, this. Look, I don’t think anyone is Obi-Wan Kenobi in this situation because no one taught Donald Trump. (He was not Cheney’s Padawan.) And more than that, it just is an annoyingly bad way of looking at this franchise as a whole to say that anyone who is a Republican would be Obi-Wan is … well, the nerdy side of me is livid.
And it just makes me really wish we’d stop talking about movies and pop culture in relation to politics as a whole because all it leads to is people fundamentally misunderstanding what they’re referencing and making me frustrated as a result. So no, Liz Cheney is not Obi-Wan Kenobi and neither is Donald Trump. Please stop trying to use Star Wars to make a point when you don’t understand the franchise. Thanks.
(Featured image: Lucasfilm)
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