This is nonsense. Terrorism is about inciting fear in the masses, rather than (or in addition to) military victory. It is defined by targetting civilians. Which the Empire does – e.g. Alderaan. The Rebel Alliance targets military installations, like the Death Stars. The Empire rules through terror; the worst the Rebel Alliance can be accused of is violent resistance instead of peaceful protest, and using guerrilla tactics. The mobile headquarters of an organised crime syndicate which acted as a de-facto tyrannical government, which was destroyed in a rescue mission? That barge? It's worth noting that, while the Rebel Alliance aligns itself with the Jedi, the Jedi and the Force play a very small role in the Rebellion itself. The average Rebel appears to care a great deal about freedom, and not really that much about the Force and the Jedi religion. Disaffection is not the same as terrorism. Ghandi was disaffected. The US Revolutionaries were disaffected. There is such a thing as legitimate resistance against tyranny. People make specious arguments like this all the time for clicks. I remain unimpressed. If you want to write your own story in which the Empire are the good guys, go for it. I liked Wicked too. But don't try to paint Lucas' Rebels as terrorists. They're not.when he blows up Jabba’s barge, killing every man, woman, and child on board
Yoda, an extremist cleric who runs a Jedi madrasa on Dagobah.
Luke is just the kind of isolated disaffected young man that terror recruiters seek out.
For me, the curious observation has always been about how the most popular franchise in Hollywood history is about a religious cult that overthrows a secular trade group. Even the Samurai movies that Star Wars was originally based on were about feudal warfare, not jihad.
Off-topic, but I'm curious: just how unlikely people think it is for someone not yet to know that Luke Skywalker is some kind of an evil in the new movie? I'm waiting for a proper Blu-Ray release, and yet twice already I'm seeing pretty clear notes on the nature of the character on the Internet, in places that most often avert spoilering things.
When December 17th rolls around the latest installment in this terrorist propaganda machine disguised as a "beloved family franchise," will be shown in theaters across the nation. I expect that this event will be remembered for generations as the spark that ignited an explosion of grassroots terrorism in our beloved country, as little jihadi Janes and Joes start to pop up in unsuspecting communities with unprecedented frequency and vigor. It's the Harry Potter/witchcraft fiasco all over again. God help us all...
Not a bit of sarcasm. There has been a massive increase in witches ever since those Harry Potter films and the same thing will happen with terrorists! ...Okay, yeah it was sarcasm. But, I'm surprised that you've met people carrying on that sentiment about Star Wars. I'm pretty sure the author of the article was joking, there were a couple lines that had me doubled over. Not a fleeting internet chuckle, but like honestly guffawing out loud. I've heard people attack the news, video games, television, or movies for somehow encouraging domestic terrorism through violence. But never the Star Wars franchise in particular.
Good. You've restored some of my faith in humanity then. It's not that I've know of anyone firsthand that are fired up and believe that Star Wars = Jihad. But, I have a good friend that is a public middle school administrator and had recently dealt with a parent convinced that her school likely had an Isis terrorist cell hiding within. This parent became irate and gave my friend an earful as his daughter was "bullied" at school when she asked the name of an obnoxious girl in the school lunch line. The obnoxious girl replied, "My name is Isis!" and pretty much went on her way. Turns out this parent then did contact the local police department to deal with his perceived terrorists. He was quickly rebuffed, but still, my friend spent a sizable portion of her afternoon dealing with this nut. As a public school educator, I have also, but rarely, come across the Harry Potter hater's too. They're an odd lot. The Star Wars jihad thing is funny, but based on my experience, I wouldn't be surprised to hear about someone actually buying in to it.