{"id":129117,"date":"2015-12-14T23:35:26","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T23:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/14\/the-radicalization-of-luke-skywalker.html"},"modified":"2015-12-14T23:35:26","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T23:35:26","slug":"the-radicalization-of-luke-skywalker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/14\/the-radicalization-of-luke-skywalker.html","title":{"rendered":"The Radicalization of Luke Skywalker"},"content":{"rendered":"

I'm not sure what's more amusing: the (satirical) attempt to frame the original Star Wars<\/i> trilogy as the radicalization of a young man (Luke) into a rebellious religious cult (the Jedi), leading to various acts of terror (destroying government defense installations, sand barges, etc.) … or the outraged disgust from some of the commenters about how it's a terrible<\/i> analogy and Luke would never ever<\/i> do something mean and evil<\/i> like that.<\/p>\n

(As the saying goes, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter," and vice-versa.)<\/p>\n

Originally shared by +Yonatan Zunger<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The story of Star Wars<\/i> is a familiar one from an unfamiliar angle. It follows the life of a young jihadi, from his socially isolated teenage years on a hardscrabble farm, through his encounters with local radical elements, through the death of his parents as "collateral damage" in a military operation, through his move to a remote location where he studies under a hard-line mullah, to his involvement in a series of terrorist acts, leaving thousands of soldiers dead in his wake. What's unfamiliar about this story (from a Western perspective) is that we see this story not from the point of view of civil society, the police, or the victims of radical Jedi terror, but from the point of view of the terrorists themselves. That is, this is a chance to see the logic of violent terrorism from the perspective of those participating in it. <\/p>\n

This unconventional angle may make the film politically highly sensitive in these security-conscious times, but with a new installment coming shortly (about the consequences of living in the aftermath of the destabilization of the government by terror and insurrection), I think it may be worth the risk of being placed on watchlists to watch this film and seriously consider its lessons for our day. After all, nobody is a villain in their own eyes. <\/p>\n

h\/t +<\/span>A.V. Flox<\/a><\/span>\u200b<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/a>
\nThe Radicalization of Luke Skywalker: A Jedi’s Path to Jihad<\/a><\/span>
\nYou may find yourself surprised by how much the original Star Wars trilogy’s characters and themes echo the current War On Terror.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I'm not sure what's more amusing: the (satirical) attempt to frame the original Star Wars trilogy as the radicalization of a young man (Luke) into a rebellious religious cult (the Jedi), leading to various acts of terror (destroying government defense installations, sand barges, etc.) … or the outraged disgust from some of the commenters about … Continue reading “The Radicalization of Luke Skywalker”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":135773,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/01\/08\/things-id-like-see-star-wars-movie.html","url_meta":{"origin":129117,"position":0},"title":"Things I’d like to see in a Star Wars movie, too","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 8-Jan-18 1:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"There's nothing here not doable or damaging to the franchise, and lots that would be both cool and, I think, helpful. As the MCU has shown for Disney\/Marvel, it's possible to tell a variety of stories in a variety of tones. The one-shots -- Rogue One, Solo -- are part\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/unnamed.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2652,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/05\/22\/a_long_time_ago-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":129117,"position":1},"title":"A long time ago …","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 22-May-02 8:17am","format":false,"excerpt":"So last night I decided, after waxing lyrical about Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope (a\/k\/a the original 1977 Star Wars flick) the other day, to actually watch it....","rel":"","context":"In "Media & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Media & Culture","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129140,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/16\/movie-review-return-of-the-jedi-1983.html","url_meta":{"origin":129117,"position":2},"title":"Movie Review: "Return of the Jedi" (1983)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 16-Dec-15 1:51am","format":false,"excerpt":"So it's part of the original trilogy, so that's a good thing. But the infusion of excessive cuteness (Ewoks), and broad humor (Han) drag it down, and the psychodrama of Luke facing both Vader and the Emperor never quite gels. In my current) mind, it's the weakest of the original\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Return_of_the_jedi_old5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7097,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/10\/29\/hows_that_for_a.html","url_meta":{"origin":129117,"position":3},"title":"How’s that for a topper?","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 29-Oct-04 3:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, I can imagine some folks going for a Star Wars Wedding Cake Top with Han and Leia on it. Not me, since my geekiness is exceeded only by my...","rel":"","context":"In "Love & Marriage"","block_context":{"text":"Love & Marriage","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/personal\/love-and-marriage"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39638,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/11\/10\/its-yodas-fault.html","url_meta":{"origin":129117,"position":4},"title":"It’s Yoda’s fault","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 10-Nov-13 10:55pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Obi-Wan wasn't responsible for hiding from Luke Vader's relationship to him. \u00a0He was just following orders from\u00a0that little green guy ...Reshared post from +James D.Interesting! \"Rare Star Wars footage shows real reason Obi-Wan kept Vader's identity secret\" - http:\/\/www.blastr.com\/2013-11-6\/rare-star-wars-footage-shows-real-reason-obi-wan-kept-vaders-identity-secret Rare Star Wars footage shows real reason Obi-Wan kept Vader's identity\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7300,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/04\/04\/star_wars_iv_a.html","url_meta":{"origin":129117,"position":5},"title":"Star Wars IV – A New Hope","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 4-Apr-05 1:13pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Watched Star Wars IV with Katherine last week. Since all she knows about SW is (a) somebody brought Phantom Menace to her day care and she thought it was boring,...","rel":"","context":"In "Media & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Media & Culture","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/han.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}