Star
Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones, as expected,
features a lot of high-tech violence due to traitors and treachery.
"Politicians are not to be trusted" we hear early
in the film. The story begins ten years after Episode
I with an attempted assassination of Senator
Padmé Amidala (played by Natalie Portman), whereupon
jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor) and apprentice
jedi Anekin Skywalker (played by Hayden Christensen) are assigned
the responsibility of escorting her back to her home planet,
where she is to be protected from any more attempts on her
life. Kenobi, however, decides to track down the culprits,
leaving Any to guard the Senator, who does not seem surprised
that Kenobi is disobeying Federation orders. Any has had a
crush on the Senator for the last ten years and is eager to
have the opportunity to guard her as his first solo assignment.
Although he professes his love for her, the Senator indicates
the impracticality of such an amorous relationship, as they
could never live together because jedi do not marry. After
a bad dream one night about his mother, Any in the morning
declares that he must save her from some sort of danger, and
he is even willing to disobey his order to protect Senator
Amidala, who then agrees to accompany him in his quest for
his mother so that technically he will still be protecting
her. By the time he locates his mother Shmi (played by Pernilla
August), however, she is dying, so he at least can hug her
before she breathes her last. Afterward, however, he slaughters
everyone in the encampment that had kept his mother prisoner,
including women and children, and Amidala accepts his remorse
as sufficient to excuse his genocidal rampage. Meanwhile,
Kenobi locates a jedi traitor, Count Dooku aka Darth Tyranus
(played by Christopher Lee), and is arrested. Any and Amidala
join Kenobi, break free from their bondage, but they are overpowered
until Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) and his clones come to their
rescue. After the battle has been won, Any and Amidala marry.
But the war is not over, and the marriage presumably will
somehow be kept a secret, leaving filmviewers hungry for the
sequel. How does Episode II differ
from Episode I? Evidently, director
George Lucas was stung by criticism that Any left his mother
without so much as a hug to join a violent gang in Episode
I, so he reverses course and brings in a somewhat
syrupy dose of family values, repudiating the film's tagline
"A Jedi Shall Not Know Anger. Nor Hatred. Nor Love."
But Lucas's antidemocratic bias remains unchanged. There is
a short debate about democracy, with one Senator arguing against
loss of democracy. However, because of a threatened secession
from the Federation, the Senate decides to give emergency
powers to the Federation head, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine
aka Darth Sidious (played by Ian McDiarmid), though he does
not appear to use the powers, and no explanation is given
for not accepting secession peacefully. Anekin Skywalker,
in talking to Senator Amidala, also takes the antidemocratic
view that rational decisions should be made and implemented
without the fuss of political disagreement. Does George Lucas
really care what young filmviewers might conclude about life
in general and politics in particular from such a senseless,
violent tale (which we are told in the beginning happened
far away and a long time ago)? The philosophy of the film
is quite explicit, with Yoda articulating the Faustian, ying-yang
view that everyone has a dark side, what you see and hear
can be deceptive, and, since nobody can be trusted, one must
live for the moment. MH
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want to comment on this film
