"Andor" is ass (literally)
Disney destroys *everything*
Disney’s purchase of the Star Wars franchise has been a disaster for the galaxy.
Nearly every Star Wars-related project released under the Disney imprint has crashed and burned, both artistically and— eventually— financially. The sequel trilogy gave us weak, uninteresting characters, lazy storytelling, feeble attempts at humor, and— most poisonously— tiresome identity politics. It wore out its welcome fast, and has few defenders today.
Nearly every subsequent show broadcast on Disney plus has proven to be similarly subpar, though some have admittedly been worse than others. But until now, the mostly demoralized former fan base of the “Star Wars” could still take solace in “Andor,” a gritty, suspenseful spy thriller series, itself a prequel to Rogue One, the sole quality movie made in the “Shits-ney” era.
Rogue One, which tells the story of events which transpired just prior to the New Hope chapter of the original trilogy, introduces a host of characters who are, to one extent or another, morally compromised. Living under a brutal and oppressive Imperial regime causes some to embrace a sort of “ends justify the means” mentality: after all, how can one manage to defeat a ruthless and tyrannical Empire if one isn’t willing to be similarly ruthless oneself? But on the other hand, if one is willing to emulate one’s enemy, how exactly does one escape becoming him?
These are the intriguing questions introduced in Rogue One and picked up again in “Andor,” which follows stoical rogue Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), a man who goes from disreputable criminal fugitive to freedom fighter to eventual hero, willing to sacrifice his life for the cause.
*******************************************
Season 1 of “Andor,” which came out in 2022, suffered from low viewership but won a devoted following, who appreciated its canny mix of sophistication and action. Season 2, long awaited, has finally arrived.
Unfortunately, the results have proven to be quite disappointing.
On a surface level, the show still looks great. And it should: this is the most expensive “Star Wars” show ever made. The performances, especially Stellen Skarsgaard as Luthen and Kyle Soler as Syril Karn, are generally top notch. But this time around, Disney apparently couldn’t help themselves: season 2 is, I’m afraid to say, slathered and smothered in “woke” shit.
Okay, okay, I hear you groaning out there… I know that some have grown weary of anti-woke crusaders “ruining their fun” by seemingly finding something woke under every nook and cranny.
Believe me, I am as tired of complaining about “wokeness” as anyone. And I’m honestly not overly zealous or insistent that everything which even resembles “wokeness” be expunged; I’m fine with the inclusion of nonwhite characters, “strong women,” gay relationships, etc. as long as such elements don’t aren’t forced and don’t operate as a distraction or come across as part of an agenda alien to the show’s subject matter.
But(t) really, what was I or anyone supposed to think, when the very thing we are shown in episode 1 is a BBW’s big fat ass?
To be clear, we don’t just witness a plus-sized actress of color as she enters the frame. No. We see this large lady from behind, clad in a form-fitting jumpsuit, as she ambles up the ramp to an Imperial TIE-fighter, with the effect that her hefty posterior is in our proverbial aura-space.
It’s an undeniable “WTF” moment. And it gives one pause. Would the makers of the show have dared, in a million years, to give us a close-up of a shapely and fit woman’s rear end? Answer: No, they certainly wouldn’t have so dared.
If they had, they would definitely would have gotten pilloried as exploitative and sexist. But since the woman in question is neither shapely nor fit, the ass-shot is clearly meant to be empowering, a plug for “body-positivity.”
This may seem like a little thing, but it wasn’t (literally or otherwise). This opening moment pretty much sets the tone for Season 2 of Andor. (I.e., it’s all ass from that point forward.)
*********************************************************
In episodes 2 and 3, uniformed Imperial officers comb through the fields of a farming colony, looking for “undocumented workers.” In Episode 3, one of these Nazi-looking officers sexually assaults Bix (Adria Arjona), a Hispanic woman. (Not to worry, though, she girl-bosses up, and, stunningly and bravely, manages to kill him in self-defense. You go, chica!).
Episode 6, however, reveals what seems to be Andor screenwriter Tony Gilroy’s overriding fetish: male humiliation at the hands of imperious women. First, blonde Imperial dominatrix Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) sternly orders her meek, boyish, lower-ranking beau Syril Karn to “turn off the lights” in the domicile that they will be able to occupy for one hour. What she does to him in the dark is left to our imagination, but she will no doubt wind up on top.
Later, two imperious Rebel women, Vel and Cinta (Fay Marsay and Verada Sethu) share a lesbian kiss, before giving stern commands to a group of men who are about to pull off a heist of Imperial equipment in the dark of night. “Don’t ask questions, just obey. We two (e.g., she and Cinta) are in charge here,” Vel informs them, in a tone that brooks no dissent.
Tragedy strikes when a burly civilian attempts to walk through the alley where the heist is taking place. A young man in the group tries to physically stop him, but the burly men shoves him away and keeps walking. The youngster takes out his gun, but the weapon misfires, and the stray bullet deals a fatal hit to Cinta.
Vel is understandably grief-stricken over the loss of her lover, but her emotions takes a discomfiting form. As the group is driving away from the site of the heist, the youngster who accidentally fired the shot starts to weep. Vel is overcome with fury, berating the lad mercilessly as he loudly sobs. The creepy BDSM-undertones of this scene are unmistakable.
Then, to complete the fetishistic trifecta of female domination and male emasculation, we have a scene in which Kyela (Elizabeth Dulau) bullies and bosses a man around whilst putting her badassed girl-bossedry on display:
And there you have it. What had been an entertaining and exciting science fiction show has been crapified in all of the all-too-typical ways that we have seen lately.
One could almost be forgiven for concluding that Disney might just be an infernal entity, fresh from the bowels of Hell, which ought to be purged from our midst and sent back to the fiery pit where it belongs.
Perhaps an exorcism is in order.
I am only half joking.
Andy Nowicki is the author of several books, most recently The Insurrectionist, and Muze, as well as the just-published The Rule of Wrath. Visit his YouTube channel.
We have to keep in mind that nobody can force us (yet) to watch this crap. There is more content made before 2000 than a person can watch in his lifetime. Let them scream into the void.
I love your commentary. You have made a good observation, that showing an attractive women's ass in passing, today in film, would never happen unless it was for some specific effect in context or done ironically. Any other case would now be considered 'exploitation'. But, as you say, the regime is perfectly happy to exploit a fat ass for its own agenda, for propaganda reasons.