Popular space opera offers a parable for our times

Andor functions as a parable about what attracts people to power and why we strive for justice.

BY ANTHONY CASTLE

Andor Season 2 continues the thrilling Star Wars story of the first rebels who gather to fight against the fascist Galactic Empire.

Created by Tony Gilroy for the streaming service Disney+, Andor: A Star Wars Story is a prequel to the 2016 film Rogue One, which in turn is a prequel to the 1977 original Star Wars: A New Hope.

The eponymous lead, Cassian Andor, is played by Diego Luna, who also serves as executive producer, completing the character arc of the thief-turned-revolutionary.

Season 2 furthers the story’s timeline, set in the years leading up to the original Star Wars. Fans will recognise classic heroes like rebel leader Mon Mothma, a layered performance by Genevieve O’Reilly, and Princess Leia’s adoptive father Bail Organa, a role recast here with Benjamin Bratt.

Diego Luna as Cassian Andor. Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Season 2 also continues the compelling exploration of its villains, detailing the naivety and ambition of imperial power couple Syril Karn and Dedra Meero, played by Kyle Soller and Denish Gough.

Andor’s premise dances between a number of genres: part science fiction, part spy thriller, and part dramatic tragedy.

People and politics

Star Wars creator George Lucas has often described the franchise as a modern-day myth, offering guidance for younger viewers and those young at heart. Andor is no children’s show, however. The first season saw Cassian Andor undergo a moral transformation after being targeted by police, falsely imprisoned, used for slave labour, and recruited by spymaster Luthen Rael, Stellan Skarsgård, to undermine the injustices of the Galactic Empire.

Denise Gough as Dedra Meero. Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.

 The series garnered praise and awards for its gritty depiction of people and politics. Those wanting the imaginative aliens, puppets, and youthful banter traditionally associated with the franchise might be surprised to find a nuanced exploration of the psychologies of fascism and resistance. Despite the more family-friendly tone, the original Star Wars was deeply political, with the subtext of those films evocative of the struggle against the Third Reich, as well as a critique of oppressive empires, extending even to America’s own involvement in Vietnam.

Gilroy and the writers are aware of the franchise’s political legacy and have invoked moments from Russian and Haitian revolutions and the Nazi occupation of France, creating scenes eerily reminiscent of Tiananmen Square and Bloody Sunday as well.

Such gritty politicalisation of family entertainment might seem tiresome for some audiences, particularly in a time of increasingly polarised perspectives and politicised media, but Andor’s deft use of such complex topics is a point of difference.

Andor as a parable Parables use simple stories to explore complex ideas. The parables of Scripture don’t state their meaning directly but use symbols to explore larger truths. The metaphor of parable disarms the audience, inviting them to process the difficult and abstract ideas. Andor functions in the same way, as a parable about what attracts people to power and why we strive for justice.

Almost 50 years after the first film, Star Wars continues to offer its audiences guidance. In a time of populism and polarisation, Andor offers more than just political noise.

While this series’ storytelling is never simplistic, the symbols of stormtroopers and spaceships invests its audience in experiences of incarceration, deportation, occupation, taxation, oppressive policing, and the limits of free speech.

While many audiences may watch, hoping to visit that familiar galaxy far, far away, many will be left wondering about the struggles of our own world, of our own time, and whether we play the role of hero or villain.