26 years after Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
, Star Wars fans are beginning to figure they may well owe George Lucas an apology. George Lucas always insisted Star Wars is for kids, but let’s face it; that makes some of his decisions absolutely weird. I’ll never forget doing a double-take when I first watched the opening scroll of The Phantom Menace, which starts by talking about tariffs and trade wars – hardly the most exciting thing kids want to watch.
Star Wars fans are beginning to admit the whole thing feels a little different now.
Tariffs and trade wars are about money, and money is power. Lucas – who always knew Star Wars is as political as real-world conflict – understood that. Now, 26 years later, Star Wars fans are beginning to get it.
Tariffs Were Political Back In 1999 Too
Here’s the really odd thing; tariffs were actually political all the way back in 1999 as well. On March 3 of that year, President Bill Clinton risked a transatlantic trade war with the EU when he imposed duties of 100% on $520 million worth of European products, including Waterford crystal and Italian pecorino cheese. This was Clinton’s response to an EU decision over banana exports. Yes, you read that right. Of course, what’s going on today is quite a bit bigger in scale.
I admit, back in 1999, all the talk of tariffs went over my head. All I knew was that the Trade Federation were bad guys who threatened to overthrow the Republic, and they’d allied with a Sith Lord.
OK, We Get It Now George
The timing of all this is rather amusing, though. Over in the MCU, Marvel celebrated Trump’s inauguration with a TV show about a crime boss becoming Mayor of New York and a movie in which the President turned into a rage monster with brightly-colored skin. Star Wars will continue this through Andor season 2, which is basically an exploration of the battle against fascism. I can’t help wondering whether Disney would have greenlit all this if they’d known Trump was going to win the election.
Still, one thing’s for sure; Star Wars fans really do owe George Lucas an apology.