I finished Disney’s Lucasfilm’s Andor and while I was basically sick and delirious through most of it I ended up loving the shit out of it. I wanted to put a few thoughts down based on my impressions and the discussions I’ve seen and heard across the Internet. Spoilers and for once they’re absolutely warranted.
I think the most common refrain among my friends who have finished Andor has been “how the fuck did this get made?” There is a clear difference in tone between Andor and other Disney+ Star Wars fare (to say nothing of the movies). Everything from The Mandalorian to Star Wars: Visions is meant to sell toys. The little freaky guys, the droids and their variable levels of adorability. Grogu. All merch-movers. Andor? Aside from B2EMO, there’s very little in Andor that is merch-worthy, it’d be like someone making merch for Mad-Men. I know there’s going to be merch for Andor but I can’t fathom it doing well with kids.
But that’s not what I’m really hype about. Yes it’s a show with real adult human intrigue and drama, it’s got stakes, shit happens, but most importantly it’s a show with a backbone of radical politics. This is probably the site where most of the discussion I’ve seen about Andor has taken place: what kind of radical politics are in Andor, is it positive or negative for a show by a massive entertainment corporation to include these politics, should we be celebrating this moment or should we be cautious and critical of it? and like, fuck me, these are great questions to have about a show made by fucking Disney!!
I’ve been reading Try Anarchism For Life by Cindy Barukh Milstein, and it reminded me that one of the aphorisms for anarchism was “the beautiful idea.” While I would never call Andor’s most radical moments the “perfect representation” of anarchism or anything – I actually think it’s better that it’s imperfect, messy and not implemented by some genius master tactician – it was nice to see the beautiful idea expressed so poetically on-screen. It’s rare that that happens.
But what about corporate enclosure? Does Andor envelop and suffocate radical energy or will it be a spark that finally lights the fires of revolution in the real world? I’d have to say “no” on both counts. I mean, I think you’re gonna see a lot more Nemik memes from anarchists online, that’s almost assured at this point, but I think most folks already engaging with anarchism aren’t going to be all that distracted by a Disney+ show. For everyone else, by and large, I think you’re going to see two currents flowing in opposite directions: right wingers who have no critical media comprehension whatsoever reappropriating the most radical aspects of Andor into memes that support their fascist escapades going one way, and people who are interested in learning about anarchism and discovering a much more complex and convoluted world of discourse and actions than they maybe anticipated going the other way.
A More Civilized Age, a great podcast which did a weekly recap series on Andor, breaks down some of the elements of modern anarchist and anti-capitalist ideas that show up in the last bit of the show, including the anti-globalization movement of the early 2000s, the Zapatistas, and insurrectionist anarchism as represented by the Invisible Committee (and their pamphlet, uh, The Coming Insurrection). But the most recent 20 years of anarchist and particularly anti-fascist thought is also valuable context here: years where we’ve had to deal with the consequences of a so-called “war on terrorism,” the acceleration of climate change, the rapid rise of fascism and the continued gigification of the economy. Sites like CrimethInc. and It’s Going Down have the best rolling record of not only anarchist theory but also news and commentary going back at least a decade. AK Press and PM Press have one of the deepest collections of anarchist literature in publication, and like rings on a tree you can see a cross-section of all the different interventions in anarchist discourse as the years have gone by: intersectional feminism, queer theory, a resurgence in Black anarchism, indigenous anarchism, and the politics surrounding borders and imperialism specifically. Andor touches all of these different discourses while also remaining tantalizingly simple:
Remember this: Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this: The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire’s authority, and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try.
It might be pure idealism or whatever, but it made my heart sing.