shakeitoutmimi

This show blew me away. The movie already shocked me due to how different it seemed from the previous Star Wars films: it's dark tone, ruthless and complex protagonists who are simply trying to navigate life under the empire as people who are not force-sensitive or directly connected to the Skywalkers expanded my brain.

Andor does a beautiful job of showing how the empire affects the lives of normal people who are just trying to get by. The show starts off with Cassian Andor looking for his sister. He is harrassed by the police of that area because...reasons. Police brutality is a microcosm of the violence that the empire imposes on others it deems lesser than.

Oppressed peoples are radicalised faster and in the show we see that the rebellion is built by people who had no other alternative. They tried keeping their heads down (Andor), they tried abiding by the law so that it would not hurt them or they tried to use the law to protect others (Mothma, I think Nemik as well).

What made them go beyond and join the rebellion was because of the love they had for those around them and wanting to secure a better future for them, even for those they do not know. This is not the case for everyone but even in one's attempt to fight for a better future for their own loved one, the message that rung true was that "Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction."

"Tyranny requires constant effort...Oppression is the mask of fear. And know this: the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire’s authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege.

Remember this. Try." - Nemik's Manifesto

The politics of the Star Wars universe have always been based on real life scenarios. George Lucas said he based the rebels on the Vietnamese guerillas and the empire on the United States of America. Andor felt like a 1-to-1 comparison of rebellions that have happened. Tony Gilroy said that there are 4000 years of history that he drew from as inspiration for this show.

So when the Ghorman episode came out, so many real life events that resembled that genocide came to mind. The events that led to that genocide resembled many other genocides that have happened in real life. The misinformation campaigns, the demonising of rebels, the infringement of democracy by the empire on states that do not agree with the empire are all reflections of real life scenarios.

There are so many amazing video essays I've seen about this show and I love how moved people have been by this series. From the story, to the setting/set design, to the fashion/costume design, to the vfx and editing. This show was made with love and it will always be my favourite piece of Star Wars media.

I went to watch this film with my best friend and oh my goodness. I cannot handle horror or thriller to save my life but this is one of my favourite films. Long story short, Linda Liddle is stuck on an island with her boss, Bradley Preston. Due to Linda's extensive survival knowledge, she is able to look after herself and her boss in this environment.

Power isn't evil. In a world where one's place in the hierarchy is to be used and then thrown away, Linda knows what it's like to be there. When she is in a position of power due to her boss' injury, she is trying to show him her worth so that when they get rescued, he can give her a promotion. Even though he wants to fire her after the business trip because...reasons? There is also evidence that suggests that Bradley was going to hire 'eye-candy' since Linda was not attractive enough.

The problem with patriarchy is that it doesn't matter how hard a woman (this includes anyone who identifies as a woman) works, a man will always be valued more. Skills that take years to master are viewed differently depending on whether it is a man or woman who does them. A woman is to be pretty or work hard in the background. An example being the scene where the 'boys' laughed at her audition video for 'Survivor' while she worked on an important document that they have taken credit for. She recognised that she will never be taken seriously, no matter how hard she tries.

So when Bradley is in a position where he is at the mercy of Linda, he is uncomfortable because he doesn't view her as an equal. She's the one taking charge because of her skills. Even if he doesn't like the decisions (eating fish for sustenance), he is not able to communicate this in a respectful manner. He still views her as his worker to boss around. So when she leaves him alone, she finds him sunburnt and dehydrated while she is glowing.

My friend noted that if you tally the number of times Linda and Bradley wronged each other, Bradley would make the first strike, and Linda would react out of self defence. Even in the scene where she "castrated" him, it was as a result of him poisoning her. While it is problematic that she did not tell him about the boat or mansion for a speedy rescue, she knew it would mean going back to square one: being used and abused. She thought that by being kind to her boss, he would see her value and 'learn' to respect her. It was going to take a miracle for that to happen. It never came.

To me, the power dynamics on the island between Linda and Brad was a microcosm of how patriarchy affects the workplace and homes. He was willing to do certain...favours simply for the food that Linda had. Showing how surviving in some places means you are at a person's mecry. This...attempt was made after Bradley was mean to Linda so while he had to apologise, it did not have to be of that nature. For others, you may be in need of work and have only the boss as your source of help. They may not be so kind.

So I like how well this movie showed how uncomfortable men become at the mercy of women they deem lesser than meanwhile, women have always had to be (and still are) at the mercy of men because of laws and regulations that continue to affect us even after the great strides feminism has taken at fighting patriarchy.

Everything is political. One's access to food, housing, education, water, movies, music, clothes, toys, etc is political. When I was in school, there was a strike for black girls to be able to wear their hair in an afro. While many schools still fight this hair policy, those who are not interested in politics simply have not had politics hurt them. I was radicalised at a young age because of this.

Being a black person in a country that still has not recovered from the effects of apartheid made me quickly realise that I could not ignore politics. While I did not have a solid understanding of how interconnected this all was growing up, I knew that those in power play a role in a normie's life. Over the years, the connections between parliament, the constitution, school policies, international law became much clearer.

So even if a certain policy isn't affecting you, doesn't mean you cannot speak for those being hurt by harmful policies. Because when they come for you, who will speak up for you?

"The most revolutionary thing one can do is always to proclaim loudly what is happening."

- Rosa Luxemburg

So...local elections are coming up and the people are sick and tired. In a good way(?).There are over 500 political parties in South Africa. If they make it into parliament, that salary sets them up for life. Which tends to reduce the vigour for change that they entered parliament with.

South Africa has had the same ruling party since we got independence in 1994. You would think that with that many political parties, the competition or opposition parties would motivate the ruling party to clean up their act when they slack off, right? Not really.

The current ruling party was very important in the fight against apartheid and so it feels like we owe them a debt. I would not have a problem with that feeling of 'indebtedness' if the leaders continued that fight all the way through. Feeling obligated to vote for a political party even when they are wrong is absolutely bonkers in my personal opinion. While it is expected of us (youths in my country) to respect those who have put their lives on the line fighting oppressive regimes (they are super old now), that does not mean these leaders are immune to critique.

When leaders fail, they must be able to handle criticism and corrections that the constitution or laws of the land dictate. These laws must be applied to all people equally. There's been a rise of anti-immigration sentiment towards people of colour and this isn't unique to my country. The United States has an influence on South Africa's (much like other global south countries) policies and it's scary how many people are unaware of this.

I want people to be free to go wherever they want to. I am anti-borders. When situations are dire in one area, organisms migrate to an area that can sustain them. It is natural to do so. So when the ruling party goes into coalitions with parties that are pro-genocide and are anti-immigration, it's time to wrap it up.

There are left-wing or left-wing adjacent parties one can vote for. But because of how right-wing this country is, left-wing parties and policies are not popular and are viewed as hindering progress in the country. Even attempts at redress such as BBBEE (akin to affirmative action in the US but for the majority of the population) is being called into question. Not because political parties are looking for more effective ways to deal with the unemployment crisis, but to make it easier for companies to evade attempts at redress.

But, the more people get skrewed over, the more they are radicalised. There are many protests happening right now regarding high tuition fees, rising cost of living and the unemployment crisis. Majority of the population agrees that education should be free, even if the news and tiktok comments say it is not a popular position. There are many positive influencers teaching people about the importance of being aware of the politics happening around them. So even though times look dark, we continue to push ahead for land, peace and bread.