| − | Similar to other works, Star Wars fell under some controversy at some points. When covering Return of the Jedi in Empire of Dreams, George Lucas admitted that he based the Ewoks on the Vietnamese National Liberation Front, otherwise known as the [[Viet Cong]], while implying that the Galactic Empire was intended to be based on America's involvement in the Vietnam War. It should also be noted that George Lucas since 1973 had intended for the Rebel Alliance was intended to represent the Viet Cong, and as noted above the first ''Star Wars'' movie had intended to be the third of a trilogy of anti-Vietnam War films, after ''Apocalypse Now'' and ''American Graffiti''. | + | Similar to other works, Star Wars fell under some controversy at some points. When covering Return of the Jedi in Empire of Dreams, George Lucas admitted that he based the Ewoks on the Vietnamese National Liberation Front, otherwise known as the [[Viet Cong]], while implying that the Galactic Empire was intended to be based on America's involvement in the Vietnam War. It should also be noted that George Lucas since 1973 had intended for the Rebel Alliance was intended to represent the Viet Cong, and as noted above the first ''Star Wars'' movie had intended to be the third of a trilogy of anti-Vietnam War films, after ''Apocalypse Now'' and ''American Graffiti''. Former president [[Richard Nixon]] in his 1985 book ''No More Vietnams'' cited ''Return of the Jedi'' and its depiction of the Ewoks taking down the Galactic Empire's war machines with little more than wooden bows and arrows (as well as Lucas's explicit admission to the Ewoks being based on the Vietcong at the time) as ultimately one reason why America, at least by that time, had initially felt so guilty of their strength that they were unwilling to use it even to defend their freedom and that of others.<ref>''No More Vietnams'' by Richard Nixon, 1985<br />Chapter 1:<br />The assertion that our very bigness is badness has infested our culture to a surprising degree. The creator of the phenomenally successful Star Wars series recently explained that the climactic scene in one of his moves - in which the evil “Empire’s” giant war machines are destroyed by fuzzy little good guys with wooden bows and arrows - was inspired by the Vietnam experience. No matter that in Vietnam the Communist “good guys” packed Soviet automatic rifles and, in 1975, rode state-of-the-art Russian tanks across the South Vietnamese border. The propaganda of disproportionate forces in Vietnam, the myth of small/good versus big/bad, did enough damage to help lose the war for the United States and the people of South Vietnam. Today it is one symptom of the Vietnam syndrome to the extent that it makes Americans ashamed of their power, guilty about being strong, and forgetful about the need to be willing to use their power to protect their freedom and the freedom of others.</ref> |