Orion Ussner kidderMay 26

Is the Empire, as depicted in Andor, fascist? I'm not convinced. It's authoritarian, totalitarian and bureaucratic, certainly.

But for fascism, you need a leader figure who's the focus of all the propaganda, and the Emperor is not that, and you need designated outgroups: Jews, disabled, trans, etc.

#StarWars #Andor #StarWarsAndor #TheEmpire #fascism #colonialism #totalitarianism #authoritarianism

Show threadCris Luengo
@OrionKidder The out group is all the non-human people. But fascism doesn’t require any of that.
May 26 at 8:08pmWeb
Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMay 26

@CrisLuengo I've heard this said--that the Empire is human-supremacist and the Rebels are species diverse--but it's never been brought up in any of the movies or other major productions (like, maybe it's in the comics or novels, but those are pretty far from the beaten path).

Fascists don't hide their hatred of outgroups. They talk about it all the time to stir up the anger and fear of the populace. The Empire doesn't appear to do that, but if there's an example I'm missing, let me know!

Show threadCris LuengoMay 27
@OrionKidder I think Rebels explores that a bit, but you are right, it is not as obvious as it could be.
Show threadOrion Ussner kidderMay 27
@CrisLuengo I honestly am not convinced it's even really there. It feels to me like there are aliens among the Rebels because the filmmakers thought they were cool, the same as why the bounty hunters were aliens and a robot. The Imperials are definitely *English*, but that's a whole other thing.