Darth Bush?
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A powerful leader moves to suspend civil liberties to defend the republic during a time of war. The subject of political debate in Washington? No, it's the new "Star Wars" movie.
"Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" has barely hit screens, but political activists are already drawing heated comparisons between Darth Vader's battle in a galaxy far, far away and President George W. Bush's war on terror.
George Lucas's sixth and final offering in the classic film series is stirring up a hornet's nest of controversy in the United States, whether or not the director intended to bring modern politics into his sci-fi allegory.
"If you're not with me, you're my enemy," Anakin Skywalker, who goes to the "dark side" as the evil Lord Darth Vader, tells his onetime mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi in one scene in the film that raked in a record 50 million dollars on its opening day in North America on Thursday.
The phrase eerily echoes Bush's warning to the world following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on US targets: "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
In another scene that has annoyed conservative groups and delighted liberals, Chancellor Palpatine exploits war fears to consolidate his power and turn the Republic into an empire ruled by him alone.
Senator Padme Amidala, played by Natalie Portman, watches the scene, played out during a legislative session, and says with disdain: "This is how liberty dies: with thundering applause."
Some liberals are comparing Palpatine's actions to those of Bush in persuading US legislators to adopt the Patriot Act that critics say imposed limits on civil liberties in the name of the war on terror after September 11.
And the conservative group Pabaah is calling for a boycott of the film that it has branded unpatriotic.
But Lucas insists that the film's dialogue was written long before the war on terror or conflict in Iraq took centre stage in US politics.
"Those lines were written a very long time ago, well before George W. Bush took office," LucasFilm spokesman Lynn Fox told AFP.
Lucas himself, whose original 1977 "Star Wars" movie was a parable about the US war in Vietnam and the scandal surrounding the resignation of disgraced US president Richard Nixon, said at the Cannes Film Festival last week: "When I wrote it (Sith), Iraq didn't exist."
But he did draw a parallel between the US wars in Vietnam and Iraq and said that throughout history leaders had used threats from outside as a means of wresting greater control over their country, dimming democracy.
"I hope that situation never arises in our country," Lucas said. "Maybe the film will awaken people to this danger."
Political activists needed no encouragement in comparing the dark doings of Darth Vader and Chancellor Palpatine to the US leadership.
As "Revenge of the Sith" opened on US screens, the grass-roots liberal group Moveon.org launched a campaign of television advertisements featuring the "Star Wars" characters as US Republicans.
In a pamphlet entitled "Revenge of the Frist," the group slammed Senate Republican leader Bill Frist for trying to ram through changes to the nominations procedure for top officials to prevent the opposition from blocking appointments.
"Weirdly enough, the plot of what will undoubtedly be one of the biggest films in movie history revolves around a scheming senator who, seduced by visions of absolute power, transforms a democratic republic into an empire," Moveon.org said of the parallels between US politics and the attack of the Sith.
The conservative group Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood (Pabaah) lashed out at Lucas over his perceived modern-day political allegory.
"George Lucas and his intergalactic empire have now been added to our official boycott list," the group said on its website. "Sad ... but necessary. Our country is at war and Lucas spouts off this crap?"
The editor of the conservative weblog "Libertas," Jason Apuzzo, also slammed Lucas' alleged injection of modern-day politics into his timeless story, accusing him of taking "gratuitous cheap shots at Bush and Nixon."
But popular culture expert Leo Braudy of the University of Southern California said the rival political groups were seeing political messages in "Star Wars" simply because it is "the most visible film" of the day.
"Any film can be interpreted this way, especially when films deal with conflicts," he told AFP.
"Some academics in the future will look at films of today and how the political events are reflected in fiction and find parallels with 'Star Wars', but also with 'Kingdom of Heaven' or 'Troy,' he said.
"Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" has barely hit screens, but political activists are already drawing heated comparisons between Darth Vader's battle in a galaxy far, far away and President George W. Bush's war on terror.
George Lucas's sixth and final offering in the classic film series is stirring up a hornet's nest of controversy in the United States, whether or not the director intended to bring modern politics into his sci-fi allegory.
"If you're not with me, you're my enemy," Anakin Skywalker, who goes to the "dark side" as the evil Lord Darth Vader, tells his onetime mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi in one scene in the film that raked in a record 50 million dollars on its opening day in North America on Thursday.
The phrase eerily echoes Bush's warning to the world following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on US targets: "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
In another scene that has annoyed conservative groups and delighted liberals, Chancellor Palpatine exploits war fears to consolidate his power and turn the Republic into an empire ruled by him alone.
Senator Padme Amidala, played by Natalie Portman, watches the scene, played out during a legislative session, and says with disdain: "This is how liberty dies: with thundering applause."
Some liberals are comparing Palpatine's actions to those of Bush in persuading US legislators to adopt the Patriot Act that critics say imposed limits on civil liberties in the name of the war on terror after September 11.
And the conservative group Pabaah is calling for a boycott of the film that it has branded unpatriotic.
But Lucas insists that the film's dialogue was written long before the war on terror or conflict in Iraq took centre stage in US politics.
"Those lines were written a very long time ago, well before George W. Bush took office," LucasFilm spokesman Lynn Fox told AFP.
Lucas himself, whose original 1977 "Star Wars" movie was a parable about the US war in Vietnam and the scandal surrounding the resignation of disgraced US president Richard Nixon, said at the Cannes Film Festival last week: "When I wrote it (Sith), Iraq didn't exist."
But he did draw a parallel between the US wars in Vietnam and Iraq and said that throughout history leaders had used threats from outside as a means of wresting greater control over their country, dimming democracy.
"I hope that situation never arises in our country," Lucas said. "Maybe the film will awaken people to this danger."
Political activists needed no encouragement in comparing the dark doings of Darth Vader and Chancellor Palpatine to the US leadership.
As "Revenge of the Sith" opened on US screens, the grass-roots liberal group Moveon.org launched a campaign of television advertisements featuring the "Star Wars" characters as US Republicans.
In a pamphlet entitled "Revenge of the Frist," the group slammed Senate Republican leader Bill Frist for trying to ram through changes to the nominations procedure for top officials to prevent the opposition from blocking appointments.
"Weirdly enough, the plot of what will undoubtedly be one of the biggest films in movie history revolves around a scheming senator who, seduced by visions of absolute power, transforms a democratic republic into an empire," Moveon.org said of the parallels between US politics and the attack of the Sith.
The conservative group Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood (Pabaah) lashed out at Lucas over his perceived modern-day political allegory.
"George Lucas and his intergalactic empire have now been added to our official boycott list," the group said on its website. "Sad ... but necessary. Our country is at war and Lucas spouts off this crap?"
The editor of the conservative weblog "Libertas," Jason Apuzzo, also slammed Lucas' alleged injection of modern-day politics into his timeless story, accusing him of taking "gratuitous cheap shots at Bush and Nixon."
But popular culture expert Leo Braudy of the University of Southern California said the rival political groups were seeing political messages in "Star Wars" simply because it is "the most visible film" of the day.
"Any film can be interpreted this way, especially when films deal with conflicts," he told AFP.
"Some academics in the future will look at films of today and how the political events are reflected in fiction and find parallels with 'Star Wars', but also with 'Kingdom of Heaven' or 'Troy,' he said.