Star Wars, Andor, and the Power of Disinformation
Losing the battle for reality is the biggest danger we face
Warning: spoilers ahead for the Disney+ series, Andor.
By: Devin Hughes
“I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest.” – Senator Mon Mothma in Andor
I recently watched Andor, which is the Star Wars franchise at its best. It is gritty, thoughtful, and has a massive emotional impact despite focusing on relatively obscure characters in the broader Star Wars cinematic universe.
The reason I’m talking about Andor today, despite Armed With Reason having nothing to do with science fiction, is the theme of disinformation and how it is weaponized by an ever increasingly totalitarian system.
As the series shows, information is as much a weapon in the Empire’s arsenal as blasters, light sabers, and Death Star(s). For those who aren’t familiar with the Star Wars Universe — and despite what some edgy right-wing meme lords might argue on some dark web forums — the Empire are the bad guys.
The disinformation theme within Andor starts in Season 1 with an idealistic rebel reflecting that: “The pace of repression outstrips our ability to understand it. And that is the real trick of the Imperial thought machine. It’s easier to hide behind 40 atrocities than a single incident.”
As I’ve written previously, this is precisely what the Firehose of Falsehood disinformation strategy relies on. One lie, even a massive one, is easier to catch and counter than forty distinct lies, even if they all end up bolstering the same narrative.
The theme of using the Firehose of Falsehood moves to center stage in Season 2, with a plot by senior Imperial officials to politically isolate an economically well-off planet, and then strip-mine it for resources it needs to build the Death Star. Imperial officials brag about the years of carefully laid propaganda to make the planet’s inhabitants seem hostile and unsympathetic. The officials then go on to stoke a rebellion on the planet so that when violence inevitably breaks out, The Empire can appear justified in crushing it live on Galactic TV.
The information campaign is so overwhelming that the Senator representing the planet quips: “They don't even bother to lie badly anymore. I suppose that's the final humiliation.” The Empire turns itself into the victim of aggression, and is able to commit genocide on a planet for resources without major political backlash.
It is in the wake of these atrocities that Senator Mon Mothma’s striking quote that opens this piece appears in a speech on the Senate Floor. Only a handful of Senators recognize the reality of the planetary genocide, or are too overwhelmed and frightened to stand-up publicly.
In an environment dominated by the Firehose of Falsehood, standing up for the truth can often feel like an impossible task. Yet allowing the truth to die is the ultimate victory of evil.
Senator Mothma’s quote struck a particularly salient chord for me. Objective reality is incredibly important, and over the past decade, our country has seen a marked devaluation of truth and its importance. In the gun violence space in particular, while the gun lobby has wielded its own Firehose of Falsehood campaign to devastating effect, far too frequently I’ve heard the refrains of “facts don’t matter” or “people will believe it regardless” from gun violence prevention advocates themselves.
Despite years of warnings, there has been little strategic effort to counter the Firehose of Falsehood, not just from many complicit media outlets, but even from large GVP organizations.
To have any hope of prevailing against the scourge of gun violence and the torrent of gun lobby disinformation, education and countering myths must be a cornerstone of the GVP movement, not an afterthought. Losing the battle for reality is the biggest danger we face.
Devin Hughes is the President and Founder of GVPedia, a non-profit that provides access to gun violence prevention research and data.
Images via Disney.
