"So anyway, I orchestrated that apprentice's death and built an empire fuelled by greed and corruption."
- Darth Sidious
this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2025
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A french YouTuber (Bolchegeek) calls that the Magneto syndrome : the writers make the bad guys make actually good points when criticizing the supposed "good guys", but then proceed to completely discredit their character by making them do something obviously evil. He argued that it's a way to pretend like you're making a progressive movie that questions society, while still reinforcing the status quo, and to basically say "Don't be fooled by those radicals, they may seem convincing but they're actually just out for blood"
“Don’t be fooled by those radicals, they may seem convincing but they’re actually just out for blood”
I think this is the entire underlying propoganda in Batman villains and that only the rich good guy by choice can save us!
#PoisonIvyDidNothingWrong
Capeshit in general is inherently right wing, though, if you stop to think about it. The foundational premise is the notion that if only this Great Man™ steps up to punch problems away the world will be a better place for it.
Depends on the target age demographic and how organized the Heroes are. In the MCU, the Avengers were operating investigation and acting in foreign countries without consent. I was in agreement that Sokovia Accords were reasonable and if a hero had an issues with "taking an order they disagreed with", they thought they would be forced to compile when every civilized military has a conscientious objector clause. In Justice League Unlimited, I pissed off a lot of fans when I said that Waller was right to be concerned that the JL were operating a space laser that could be used on the earth. I don't like how writers always give her really bad plans though.
Justice Gang stopping an invasion? Now that was cathartic to see.
Some writers understand the rightwing problem with superhereos and either avoid it or address it. Some people give Batman some billionaires to fight. Other times, they reinforce the rightwing problem with whatever the fuck Frank Miller was doing.
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Those true evils often hide their motivation behind a "justifiable evil". It's basically modern politics. Most often in display in the US, but infects many, if not most, governments around the world.
Just because someone presents a supposedly logical and rational argument, doesn't necessarily mean either that they believe it, or that the argument is actually based in factual analysis.
Pop-Culture detective also has a good video essay about this too: Marvel: Defenders of the Status Quo (based on work by David Graeber, I believe)
That's also how the real world works. Trump is often quite good at identifying real problems with society, but all of his "solutions" are some combination of evil, stupid and/or insane.
Just because someone is good at criticizing doesn't mean they have good intentions or the wherewithal to architect a better society.
Trump just regurgitates what his base wants to hear. I doubt there's a single independent thought in his head anymore.
What? I’ve only heard Trump say shit like crime is out of control when statistically it’s the opposite.
I rarely if ever hear him address real problems.
It's kind of a broken clock / twice per day situation. He says so much shit that some of it inevitably ends up being right. Some years ago he said something along the lines of quarterly business reporting requirements being a major cause of short sightedness in publicly traded companies. But then he never did anything with that, and he said like 10 other fucked up things that day.
xmen97 played this well. Magneto was angry but otherwise good. And then he snapped. But it wasn't a long con, he was reformed. And then someone tried to genocide his adopted nation and he snapped. Can't really blame him for that.
Yeah, this has always felt like propaganda to me. Present really solid arguments and then attach it to the character that murders toddlers or something to discredit the concept.
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Let's not forget the empire vaporizing multiple inhabited planets
There were rebels there using the rest of the population as human shields.
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So, you know, maybe institute term limits instead of going full fascism. Star Wars is so unrealis...oh.
But Dooku didn't help the slaves...
Not uncommon for sith to get into it for theoretically noble reasons they fail to live up to; it's easy to talk about the good you'd do with that power when you don't have it
Username checks out.
Or, hear me out: He's a liar and manipulator
hE sUpPoRtS gEnOcIdE! I aM vOtInG fOr PaLpAtInE…
Does the Republic have any actual power in the Outer Rim where the slavery was happening? I thought that was Hutt space and the Hutts are not part of the Republic. It's why Mos Eisley is a haven for pirates and other criminals looking to evade the law; the Republic has no authority or jurisdiction there. It's why Republic credits are no good there.
Star Wars government makes a lot more sense if you've read Foundation. The Republic was not in good health when Palps took over (very much according to his designs.)
you mean like what they did to the Gungans?
When were the Gungans shown to be slaves? Nobody even seemed to know they existed except Amidala.
I'm not famiar with any EU content tho, so maybe I'm jist ignorant of some details found outside the movies.
i think i am mistaken. i was going for them being coerced via the force to fight for Naboo where they otherwise would have been neutral, but my memory of the event is wrong
Unless using Republic credits gets you shot, there should at least be a privately run currency exchange somewhere, even if the rates are terrible. It doesn't make sense that there's no currency exchange anywhere on the planet.
Am retired pirate with big booty, have bright idea to open currency exchange in Mos Eisley.
Find discreet junk shop, shoot owner dead, set up shop.
Opening day: nothing.
Days 2 to 5: nothing.
Day 6: sick looking alien stumbles into shop, vomits everywhere, dies.
Days 7 to 12: nothing.
Day 13: dude looking like a poorly disguised Republic citizen walks in the door (finally, a client!), gets shot in the back, dies. I pilfer his belongings, finally some profit.
Days 14 to 27: nothing.
Day 28: shady looking droid walks in, asks for all my money; I ask for the equivalent amount of Republic credits in exchange; it produces a gun and shoots me in the tentacle, and asks again for all my money. I give it the money.
Am broke, and bleeding.
Day 29: tentacle falls off.
Day 30: bunch of official looking Gamorreans show up demanding tax, tribute, bribe, and gratuity. Have nothing to give them. They grab me and throw me into a sarlacc, where I'll be digested for a thousand years.
Maybe it wasn't such a bright idea.
Yoda is like an establishment neoliberal
I mean, it's pretty on the nose. Blue lightsabers vs red lightsabers. Meanwhile the more esoteric, wiser jedi wield green lightsabers.
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Reboot Star Wars but the Sith are anti-slavery freedom fighters against the Jedi liberal empire
“We came here to chew bubblegum and free slaves. And we are all out of bubblegum.”
And keep religion from state, especially ones that take children from their parents to indoctrinate at a young age.
This has to be peak Lemmy.
Relating to the sith and thinking they are the "good guys".
Lol I like villains, always have
This has to be peak Lemmy.
"It's just me and my world of enemies..."
Before it was hurr hurr reddit, now it's hurr hurr lemmy.
When are you not in the attacked righteous minority?
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ACAB includes Jedi 🤓☝️
I’ve heard this take before, but my head canon includes this as why Yoda went into exile. He knew he fucked up, and couldn’t really face it for a while.
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Wanna hear what it sounds like when the blood pressure of 1000 nerds spikes all at once?
Ahem, "Grey Jedi are how you fix Star Wars"
Interesting that you have willingly opted out of the social contracts known as human rights over this but okay
Malgus did nothing wrong.
Star Wars needs more Jolee Bindos
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Just another point on the laundry list of reasons the prequels fucked everything up.
I mean they certainly fuck up a lot, but I think they, in larger narative strokes, do a good job of touching on how the failures of neoliberalism decay into fascism as complacent systems fail.
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I'm not a fan of when writers let the baddies point out plot holes and inconsistencies brought about by other writers. At that point it's really just the writers undermining each other.
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