Just how did Luke Skywalker, a rebel pilot with no formal
training or combat experience, manage to single-handedly destroy the Death Star
during the Battle of Yavin? It is a
question that has plagued inquiring minds for over 35 years now. Obi Won Kenobi would have one believe that boy
did so by way of the force, that mystical energy field that binds all living
things together. Such thoughts are truly
the rantings of crazy old man. There’s
got to something more underhanded, albeit more plausible, afoot. An investigative journalist chooses to dig a
bit deeper. In doing so, he uncovers the
truth behind the single biggest terrorist operation in galactic history.
The new faux mini-documentary Luke’s Change: An Inside Job is a self-described “satirical spoof
of the 9/11 Truther video Loose Change. It supplants the 9/11 terrorist attacks with
the Battle of Yavin from the original Star
Wars. The results are similarly
outrageous (depending on your point of view), but nonetheless hilarious and
even thought provoking. It deviates from
Star Wars canon by taking an alternative and more atheistic view of
events. It does so by, as a friend of
mine keenly observed, taking the Force completely out of the equation. It functions as a piece of imperial propaganda,
not wholly dissimilar to the kind that regularly airs on Fox News. The rebels are
cast as terrorists, and Darth Vader merely as the “Overseeing manager and chief
commanding officer” of the Death Star.
That’s certainly a far cry from “The Dark Lord of the Sith.”
Most startling is how convincing the film’s central argument
is. That’s the joy of it. It makes you see the original film through
different eyes. I can almost imagine Han
Solo buying whole heartedly into this line of reasoning. After all, he was there, and he’s always been
skeptical of the Force. Luke’s victory
was partially his doing, seeing as how he swooped in at the last minute to
provide him with Cover fire. Han returning
to help out his pal in the nick of time couldn’t have been an act of divine
intervention, could it? The mind boggles
at the prospect. I’d love to see one of
these done for every major event in the original trilogy. It’s something that only a true fan could
appreciate.
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