Those Protesting “Star Wars: Rogue One” As Being Anti-Trump Are Not Well-Read: They Ought to Spend a Few Weekends Reading Some Books

I’m really finding it amusing that some Trump fans are threatening to boycott the new “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” movie hitting theaters on Friday as they’re claiming some of the reshoots establish the Empire as a racist outfit with a Trump-like figure having a prominent role in the construction of the Death Star.

They obviously haven’t read any of the Star Wars Expanded Universe books.  Unfortunately for them, I have.  This is going to be a fun entry.  For me.

It’s pretty clearly established in multiple books that the Galactic Empire in the Star Wars Expanded Universe WAS a “humans only” organization. 

The Emperor’s circle of advisors was entirely human, the stormtroopers and clonetroopers were all human, and they enslaved races such as the Wookies and the Bothans.  You don’t see aliens in Imperial service in any of the seven Star Wars movies so far, but tons of them in Rebel/Resistance service. 

Here are the Emperor’s Advisors posing on the Death Star II set:

Nice hats.  Crabby looking bunch.

The only alien in Emperor Palpatine’s Imperial command structure in the Expanded Universe was Grand Admiral Thrawn, a blue-skinned, red eyed Chiss who the Emperor liked because of his proven military genius and his dedication to the Empire.  He was featured in the “Heir to the Empire” series and is currently appearing on “Star Wars Rebels.”

Grand Admiral Thrawn as he appears in “Star Wars Rebels.”

In contrast, the Rebel Alliance had many alien species in it, from Mon Calamari to Wookies to Bothans to dozens of other sentient species.

Admiral Ackbar, Commander-in-Chief of the Rebel fleet, in “Return of the Jedi.”

True science fiction fans take these things in stride, but political hacks interpret a humans-only Empire (that has been established over dozens of books and long before Trump entered politics) as an anti-Trump thing. 

Sorry, boycott participants, but enjoy your weekend at home.  I’m planning on seeing it once in our little theater in town, and then once in a larger theater within a week or two, and I’ll plan on not having to share any theater space with the likes of you.

Couple of questions:

Have you even considered that your boycott may be base on fake news?

And you’re not the same group that boycotted “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” because there was a black stormtrooper, are you? 

One note: the Expanded Universe was scrapped by Disney as they’re re-writing Star Wars canon.  They did pull Grand Admiral Thrawn over from the scrapped EU, and some other interesting characters and ideas, but it remains to be seen as to what else Disney’s going to do as they expand the Star Wars franchise.  They may not carry over the “humans only” part of the Empire into the new stories.  It is what it is, and what it will be, and I’m fine with it.