A Saga Journal-Inspired Thought...
Apr. 4th, 2008 08:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
krpalmerWith another new month under way, there's a new update at Saga Journal. In looking at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
reihla's new essay, though, I found myself stuck facing memories of having run several times into an old complaint sparked by the concept of "slavery": that while Shmi and Anakin Skywalker might have been slaves on Tatooine, "they lived in an awfully plush dwelling..." Even my own brother has mentioned that point before, if more just observing it than trying to turn it into a complaint.
On one level, I can see this as just one example of the millions and millions of attacks thrown at every single aspect of The Phantom Menace; something about the sheer bulk of those attempts perhaps does help me to not take them quite as hard as I might. As for the specific complaint, though, I've found myself wondering about way to address it. It seems easy enough to connect slavery with miserable conditions and the degradation of both owner and owned... but it also seems that should owners be humane, there's still the unobscured issue of people's destiny taken out of their hands. After all, Shmi and Anakin might have had a "plush dwelling," but they couldn't go far beyond it without being blown up... and while that may not seem subtle on the surface, I suppose at times I wonder if some people simply refuse the whole concept of thinking about things in Star Wars instead of making quick judgements.
reihla's new essay, though, I found myself stuck facing memories of having run several times into an old complaint sparked by the concept of "slavery": that while Shmi and Anakin Skywalker might have been slaves on Tatooine, "they lived in an awfully plush dwelling..." Even my own brother has mentioned that point before, if more just observing it than trying to turn it into a complaint.On one level, I can see this as just one example of the millions and millions of attacks thrown at every single aspect of The Phantom Menace; something about the sheer bulk of those attempts perhaps does help me to not take them quite as hard as I might. As for the specific complaint, though, I've found myself wondering about way to address it. It seems easy enough to connect slavery with miserable conditions and the degradation of both owner and owned... but it also seems that should owners be humane, there's still the unobscured issue of people's destiny taken out of their hands. After all, Shmi and Anakin might have had a "plush dwelling," but they couldn't go far beyond it without being blown up... and while that may not seem subtle on the surface, I suppose at times I wonder if some people simply refuse the whole concept of thinking about things in Star Wars instead of making quick judgements.