(Jewish Group) "Andor" reflects our ugly ambivalence, trafficking in antisemitic tropes...spoilers

[Behind the Aegis]

"Andor" reflects our ugly ambivalence, trafficking in antisemitic tropes while calling out fascism

The following contains spoilers from Season 1 of "Andor" on Disney+
While Star Wars may be set in a galaxy far, far away, it is and always has been an allegory for our world and its politics. 2016's "Rogue One" built on this by taking the mostly vague anti-authoritarianism of the prior films and bringing it down to earth. Suddenly we weren't watching a black-and-white struggle fought by elites with red and blue laser swords, but average people doing their best in terrible circumstances, in a world that looked an awful lot like our own.

Disney's latest Star Wars television series, "Andor"—a "Rogue One" prequel that follows one of the movie's heroes, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) — picks up this mantle, but swaps allusions to U.S. wars in the Middle East for the rise of fascism. When it's elaborating on the brutal consolidation of power under the Galactic Empire and the complicated struggle to overthrow it, "Andor" handles politics with more verve and nuance than any incarnation of Star Wars before it.

However, the way that creator Tony Gilroy portrays one particular family made some viewers uneasy. Eedy Karn (Kathryn Hunter), a human woman on Coruscant, embodies several antisemitic stereotypes, which is troubling enough. But then her son Syril (Kyle Soller) is also striving to join and serve an Empire meant to evoke the Nazis. Combined, these two depictions not only dilute the impact of the historical parallels that the show works hard to draw but has political implications in the real-world — as any good allegory should — that must concern us.

When we first meet Syril Karn, he's a deputy security inspector for an interplanetary corporation, Preox-Morlana — or the Pre-Mor Authority — to which the Galactic Empire has outsourced the governance of several planets. When Cassian kills two security guards in self-defense, Syril is ordered to "conjure a suitable accident" to cover up the embarrassing loss, but instead decides to investigate and then apprehend Cassian. The incursion quickly turns into a rout with two of Syril's men dead and nothing to show for it. "Take solace in this," Syril is told after he's stripped of his rank. "You will not be replaced . . . As of this morning, the Morlana system is under permanent Imperial authority."

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I enjoyed "Andor" and I did notice some coded stereotypical behavior discussed in the article. Overall, I don't think it is as big a dog whistle as they are claiming. Anyone else watch the show? Thoughts?

[Deep State Witch]

1. Naggy Mothers and Underachieving Kids

I took it as being a stereotypical "naggy mother and underachieving child". Heck, it could have been my own mother, and she was Catholic.

[qazplm135]

2. Good grief that's a huge stretch

Last I checked, no group has a monopoly on overbearing mothers who are passive aggressive.