Darth Queenan

I was in a book store last night and idly perused a tattered copy of this book.  I opened randomly to this passage in the essay by Joe Queenan:

It is the Empire, not the Rebel Alliance, that offers the best hope for the future of the [human, presumbably] race.  The set-to between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance is a textbook example of what happens when a feudal society crosses swords with a modern one...  On the one hand, people living in the twenty-first century typically exhibit a knee-jerk sympathy for colorful aboriginals with their primitive weapons, garish attire, and unsophisticated economic system. On the other hand, these same modernites secretly admire efficient, ruthless, well-dressed leaders with cutting-edge technology and terrific organizational skills.

I have very little to say about any Star Wars movie after the original, but I will admit I showed up for Return of the Jedi.  And I thought this was the least-inspiring scene ever:


In particular, that guy in the beard is trouble, a platitude-mouthing civil service specialist of exactly the type that let Palpatine get out of hand in the first place. The Republic needs iron (examples here and here) if it is to survive, and I see precious little iron here.