Yes, I know. Now is not necessarily the time you want to hear about a galaxy far, far away.

When is? But, there are times when the epic saga and universe beyond tell tales stronger than the space-fantasy genre: it is built on the epic tropes of the hero’s journey, and, as anthropologists and all sorts of other professorial professions could tell you way better than I can, these tropes seem to be hard wired into the bedrock of cultural narratives, even in cultures that seem from a long time ago, far, far away.

And yet, as here is the Star Wars universe, devastatingly close to home.

Consider this script of original George Lucas writing, perhaps at its finest.

Unfortunately, this Lucas gem, whose story credits include its diverse array from Indiana Jones to Willow, but whose script writing repertoire is limited to the legendary American Graffiti and, duh (dun dun duuuu dun!), Star Wars, does take place in Star Wars (hardly renown for its stirring dialogue), and (even worse!) in Star Wars Episode 1: the Phantom Menace

First, a little bit of context. This scene takes place right after the queen from a tiny pastoral and peaceful planet (that’s all you have to know about it) named Queen Amidala (you don’t really need to know her name, but it is in the script) land on the capitol planet (“one big city”) to plead to the Galactic Senate for help (due to a worsening interplanetary crisis). Senator Palpatine is the Senator who represents that tiny pastoral and peaceful planet.

PALPATINE: …the Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good. I must be frank, Your Majesty, there is little chance the Senate will act on the invasion.

AMIDALA: Chancellor Valorum seems to think there is hope.

PALPATINE: If I may say so, Your Majesty, the Chancellor has little real power… he is mired by baseless accusations of corruption. The bureaucrats are in charge now.

AMIDALA: What options have we?

PALPATINE: Our best choice would be to push for the election of a stronger Supreme Chancellor. One who will take control of the bureaucrats, and give us justice. You could call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum.

AMIDALA: He has been our strongest supporter?

PALPATINE: Our only other choice would to be to submit a plea to the courts…

AMIDALA: The courts take even longer to decide things than the Senate. Our people are dying, Senator… We must do something quickly to stop the Federation.

PALPATINE: To be realistic, Your Majesty, I think we’re going to have to accept Federation control for the time being.

AMIDALA: That is something I cannot do.

I pause for a moment because this is, beyond the special effects that still hold up to the time of technology, one of the greatest allowances that George Lucas has to justify his galaxy’s commercialization and show its true worth to the value of the American Narrative Schema.

The trope is similar in American literature, even cinematic texts: the good of the many is threatened by an elusive yet strengthening, power hungry individual. Lord of the Rings. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. …Avengers. … House of Cards…

And yet this example must be the greatest and most American of that same Narrative Schema: the popular overthrow of democracy- that is, through the will of the people, the democracy is overthrown. That is democracy’s greatest threat. The power is given to the people, and the people, manipulated, can give that power away.

So here’s the crux of this first movie of the Skywalker Saga in two minutes in order to save you a lot of time yet still add to my argument:

The peaceful planet, those peaceful parts of the imagination that remind Americans of a nostalgia for a reality that never actually existed on our shores (or did it? Notice the complete segregation that the reigning locals keep (they’re all white and speak Kings English) and their known disdain of the under-swamp locals of (sigh:) Jar Jar Binks (I just can’t right now) — then became the kindling ground for a larger galactic debate of world/state sovereignty. The big government and big commerce: the Galactic Trade Federation: was violating the world/states’ rights of the peaceful planet all just to advance their own commercial expansion. A progressive leader of the government sent two special agents (Jedi Knights) to get to the bottom of any plot. Plot-plot later, and some really cool laser sword fightings (the colors of the light saber used to have meaning…) the two knights rescue the representative of the reigning locals (Queen Amidala) to bring her to testify before the Galactic Republic pleading for help. The two knights also find a kid who has remarkable abilities (a nearly inconsequential fact to the entire movie…) and his name is Anakin Skywalker (spoiler: yes, Luke’s father). They arrive at the capitol and Queen Amidala is consulted by her local senator, Senator Palpatine, and plot, plot later, Queen Amidala makes the winning motion to oust the progressive leader of the Republic, the one who sent the knights, thus setting the stage for Senator Palpatine’s election to leader. Plot, plot later, a big laser tank battle occurs on that small peaceful planet, and the peaceful planet mounts its ground defense (made entirely of the under-swamp locals’ army… as in, the under-swamp locals save the whole thing and are given zero credit) while that little kid from earlier accidentally flies a spaceship fighter into the hanger bay of what turns out to be the enemy command ship and blows it up, disabling the evil robot army on the peaceful planet below, thus becoming the hero of the day, completely overlooking the losses of locals on the ground and the invaluable time they bought for that little kid who didn’t know what he was doing, and, apparently, neither did the other reigning locals who were up in the Air Force of spaceships. A little kid made them look good. Celebrate. Thats where the movie ends. That’s it.

A seemingly joyous victory and rise to republican greatness is actually the start of its fall: while the true local heroes are overlooked, a leader with a populist message plants the seeds of doubt needed for his ascension, not to leader of the Republic Senate, but to Emperor, able to destroy entire planets at a whim, and who ends up disbanding the Senate with a declaration to rule by fear.

But it is Queen Amidala’s last line from that excerpt of the first movie, Episode 1, that now strikes a true note.

“That is something I cannot do.”

She says it in response to Senator Palpatine inferring that she must accept defeat. Palpatine practically urges her to consider that her pastoral planet must accept the way of the new world and its bureaucrats overlooking Amidala’s small population in order to fill the greed of the larger conglomerates. Her Senator, her elected representative to the Galactic Senate, doesn’t offer paths forward, but instead, sows doubt over the system itself. He is elected, yet he infers that there is no faith in elections.

When Amidala calls for a vote of no confidence in the republic’s leadership, their is loud agreement for a stronger leader. The pastoral public needs it. The galactic senate agrees.

And then, some 300 minutes of Star Wars later and some seven years of plot, the new representative of the pastoral planet (none other than Representative Binks) makes the motion to deliver to the new, stronger leader, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, direct control of the government and a new clone army all with emergency powers, in order to deal with a now blooming civil war. The entire senate erupts in agreement.

This time, Amidala’s tone is different, and perhaps said with foresight that reflects on the American Narrative that has now become the American present: “So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.”

Plot-plot later, let’s just focus on Baby Yoda.

Thanks for reading.