I was listening to a podcast and the guy was making a point that the Jedi were just like the janissaries of the Ottoman empire because they “stole children” and I just… got so annoyed that I couldn’t listen to it anymore, even though I kinda wanted to due to the other host.

I know where the argument about the Jedi comes from, which comes from the days of the old EU and Karen Traviss and all that stuff, but I just sort-of had a flash of anger. It’s just a pop culture franchise, right? It’s literally just a story. Hell, The Acolyte was pretty rough on the Jedi’s portrayal and I enjoyed it.

Anyway, I just found it pretty dumb, but for some reason, I found that I couldn’t continue. It’s like I had a mental block.

I paused for a moment but then the Spotify episode remained paused.

I wasn’t even that angry, but I… just found myself not interested in this spiel even though I’m normally interested in the podcast.

It just makes me feel so… Idk, silly? Thin-skinned?

To be fair, there were a few things in the podcast that annoyed me; they berated a person that asked a question in good faith, or so it seemed, and they never seemed to challenge each other all that much.

I don’t even like the Jedi that much! By the Clone Wars era, they had clearly grown dodgy and conservative. Mind you, Anakin Skywalker is or was an abuser who killed Indigenous Tuskens, but, well, you know, some of the rules and how they were implemented in the Jedi Order probably didn’t help his mental state either, though that’s probably more the Council’s doing.

Anyway, I don’t know what came over me and why my anger “paralyzes” me sometimes. I haven’t watched it in a few weeks but might again. But I feel somewhat ashamed because it seemed so, err, small.

  • CicadaSpectre@lemmygrad.ml
    2·
    2 days ago

    Star Wars is an especially contentious subject that every “enlightened centrist” and lib manages to project onto history in some offensive way. Really, it’s more like a mirror for backwards education of history, so they can just go “when Star Wars does X, it reminds me of how I was taught such-and-such people did stuff.” Perfect example being the Ottomans “stealing” children (neglecting the fact many parents offered their children to the devshirme because it could increase their status).

    Another example, one that upset me, was some YT video about the Clone Wars episode where the Pantorans claim an ice moon and the Chairman is trying to kill the indigenous alien species, and ultimately Senator Chuchi makes peace with them by respecting their sovereignty. Somehow, someone argued that the aliens were little better than animals, brutal savages, and Chuchi betrayed her people’s interests by letting them keep their planet (which didn’t even have significant resources). His defense of that was that it wasn’t racism, because these are aliens. I’ve seen other scifi videos where they justify using flamethrowers on bug people (Geonosians); and a “pro-human” speech for the movie Avatar where the villain conflates humanity with building wonders, not primitive connections to nature.

    I guess what annoys me to where I can’t listen is where people find a way to be racist by using proxies so when you point out “that’s racist”, they just roll their eyes like you’re too sensitive and tell you it can’t be, because it’s an alien.

    • Makan@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      Yeah, Chuchi was genuinely a good person and fought for the Clones after the war. Also, the flamethrowers was deliberately meant to, over time, showing the Republic lose their way.

      And yeah, for real, you say “that’s racist” and they post that dumb “that’s racist” meme (well, I’ve been seeing that less lately but that’s barely any progress in my book).