Ewoks, Endor Moon, Empire and ROTJ and the Vietnam War: Just wondering.

Hey, that is my first topic in the Literature forum. There's a thing I'm been wondering. I am sorry if it's the wrong forum to post this thing here.

Now here's the thing.

They aired "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" on CBC on Sunday night. Well, it was a nice film, but the battle on Endor, versus the Empire and the Ewoks made me wonder this...

Is the battle on Endor an allegory of the Vietnam War, with the Empire (America) and the Ewoks and the Rebel Alliance (Vietnamese and Soviet fighters)?

After all, you have the gurellias beating a mighty army with powerful arms, by weak and primitive weapons and by surprise attacks and shock.

If it's the wrong forum to post this thing, well, where should I post this one? Also, sorry if I offends anyone with this thing, it's just something I'm wondering about.

 

Well Lucas did say he based Palpatine on Nixon.

 

A) This would definetly be more suited for the Classic Trilogy forum and...

B) The Emperor is not Ho Chi Minh.

 

No, Chief Chirpa would be.

 

wookieepedian1 posted on 9/4/05 10:47pm

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No, Chief Chirpa would be. [hr][/blockquote]

Egads, you're right! I just automatically connected Palpatine to communists for some reason. [face_tongue]

 

Believe it or not, Lucas actually did cite Vietnam as one of his inspiriations for having the "primitive" natives defeat the more powerful enemy in ROTJ, IIRC...

TC

 

I personally saw the Battle of Endor to be similar to the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

 

Explain the outside assistance (and no doubt tactical advice/leadership) the Ewoks got then.

 

Well, I'm not saying it's a perfect representation, but the idea of...

Imperial trap hoping to lure the enemy out into a direct confrontation and destroy it completely and end a long, costly, and protracted war by offering an oppurtunity too good to pass up and instead get completely crushed is very similar.

 

I totally agree on this theory. In fact it's what has always come to mind whenever someone has started complaining about how easily the Imperials on Endor were defeated by primitives (and the Rebels of course ).

 

I sense a political argument coming...

 

Bring it on, Southpaw!

 

Not 'Nam, Doctor Who. There's a treacherous amount of similarities.

 

Excellence, so what kind of "similarities" we are talking about with "Doctor Who"?

EH_Pilot, you're right. I forgot about that battle between the French and Vietnamese sides. The factor of surprise was important in the Ewoks defeating the Empire.

Quiet Mandatorian (sp?), I guess the Ewoks had some lessons and trainings for a few minutes before the battle.

diablos666, heh, but at least, the Vietnamese had some "modern" arms and weapons, compared to the Ewoks who defeated the Empire.

Mavrick889, nah, I don't intend to turn that into a political discussion. I'm just noticing what I noticed from the film. George Bush said that he based Palpatine on Nixon and some other people in the past, right? Wouldn't surprises me if the battle of Endor is based on the Vietnam war.

 

Ha ha, Fruedian slip.

But yeah the clearest similaries of the Empire was always the Nazi's. The only (IIRC) comparisons of Endor with Vietnam is with regards to the low tech versus high tech and how low tech can creatively counteract the advantages of high tech.

To get a bit political, the US strengths were being hindered by politics... but not by any inherent advantage of the VC or NVA. Note that for the Tet Offensive, morale of the US military improved since there was actually someone to fight instead of months of paranoid drudgery with the occassional surprise attack. It was the political will of LBJ that was broken.

 

It seems natural to me. As has already been mentioned, Lucas based Palpson Nixon and intended the saga to be a critique on Vietnam.

So were the Imperial forces at Endor - Palps deciding not to attack the Rebel fleet at Sullust, Palps allowing the Rebels to get the DSII location, Palps ordering the Fleet not to engage...

 

Crazydan, the mid to late Dr Who episodes show where Vader, the Force, Cereans and some other stuff I've forgoten come from. The Vader resemblance and persona in Monster of Peladon is spot on, I just can't find a damn net pic to holo it.

 

Ah, okay, thanks for the explanation. I only saw the new Doctor Who episodes with Christopher Eccelestorn.

You know, it seem like the Empire thought it would be easy to defeat the Ewoks. Did the Americans thought like that when they went in Vietnam at the start of the Vietnam War?

Also, why the Empire didn't wipe out the Ewoks before the battle?

 

They underestimated the threat they posed.

 

they couldn't wipe them out without sustaining major casualties - the ewok drumming at night drove many a trooper stationed on endor insane.

 

The leader of the Ice Warriors, right?

 

Right! The Ice Warrior commander, Azaxyr. Same helmet and cape, same imperious commanding persona, same rasping breath. Only green, not dark. I swallowed a Protoss when I saw him on TV last year. This was before E4's release.