Page 76 - Star Wars Insider #188

THE LONG GAME
The Art of Deception
• • •
Lucas describes Palpatine in
his screenplay for The Phantom
Menace as a “thin, kindly man.”
He is bright in both spirits and
intellect, and offers what seems
to be wise counsel to Naboo’s
young monarch, Queen Amidala.
Nothing about him or his manners
exposes any malicious intent. In
all aspects, he’s the consummate
career politician: effortlessly
charming, unceasingly good-
natured, and cognizant of when
to lend advice and when not.
Although the political winds
around him may be turbulent,
he never succumbs to that
turbulence. He is a man without
drama, harboring a seemingly
inexhaustible supply of patience.
One might say he’s boring.
Yet underneath his respectful
formality and unassuming smile
lurks a cunning and craftiness that
no one in the Senate detects.
Take his conference with
Queen Amidala in his quarters
on Coruscant, for example. The
queen has come to the Republic
capital to implore the Senate
for help in freeing her world
from the Trade Federation’s
blockade. Palpatine is frank with
her, saying there’s little chance
the Senate will do anything to
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quash the invasion. In fact, he
describes the Senate as “full of
greedy, squabbling delegates,”
who only look out for their own
constituencies and have no
interest in the common good.
Nor does Supreme Chancellor
Valorum escape his criticism.
Despite saying that the Senate’s
leader is “mired down by baseless
accusations of corruption,” and
that a “manufactured scandal
surrounds him,” Palpatine advises
the smartest course of action
would be to call for a vote of no
confi dence in Valorum and push
for the election of a stronger
Supreme Chancellor. Without
claiming any pretensions on the
chancellorship, he in effect opens
the door for his own election to
that station.
Palpatine’s counsel indeed
moves Queen Amidala to address
the Senate and call for a vote of
no confi dence in the Supreme
Chancellor, which sets into motion
Valorum’s removal from offi ce. An
interesting line of dialogue not
in the fi lm, but appearing in both
Lucas’ screenplay and Patricia
C. Wrede’s junior novelization,
shows the deposed chancellor’s
reaction to Palpatine’s subterfuge.
After his leadership is thrown into
doubt, Valorum turns toward the BIRTH
senator from Naboo and says, OF THE
“Palpatine, I thought you were EMPEROR
my ally—my friend. You have
betrayed me! How could you do A variety of infl uences
this?” The ghost of a smile that can inspire an artist’s
creativity, and when
crosses Palpatine’s face reveals it came to creating
where his true loyalties lie. the Emperor, George
Palpatine’s betrayal advances Lucas was inspired
by various sources.
his own rise to power, as the An avid student of
Senate nominates him as history, Lucas drew
Valorum’s replacement. But upon the fascist
ideology of Nazi
Palpatine never confesses his Germany’s Third Reich
designs on the chancellorship. to serve as a model
Rather, he presents himself to for the Empire and
Queen Amidala as a champion its Führer-like ruler.
Politics during the
of liberty, willing to make the eras when Lucas was
sacrifi ce to restore the Republic: writing Star Wars and
its prequels also had
an impact. During a
PALPATINE: “I promise, Your 1981 story conference
Majesty, if I am elected, I will for Star Wars: Return
bring democracy back to the of the Jedi (1983),
Republic. I will put an end to Lucas was asked
whether the Emperor
corruption.” was a Jedi, to which
he answered: “No,
Palpatine does win the election he was a politician.
Richard M. Nixon
to become Supreme Chancellor, was his name. He
proving that oft-quoted political subverted the senate
maxim, “Never let a good crisis and fi nally took over
and became an
go to waste.” Nonetheless, his imperial guy and he
ascent to the highest offi ce in was really evil. But
the galaxy is not his end goal, he pretended to be
but only the fi rst step in a grand really nice.”
In addition, one
scheme to take over the Republic can’t discount a
from within. documentary Lucas
made as a student at
USC in 1967. Titled
The Emperor, Lucas’
fi lm is a portrait
of Bob Hudson, a
popular Southern
California rock’n’roll
DJ who appointed
himself “Emperor”
to his legions of
young fans, and often
costumed himself in
robes and a turban.
While the genre and
subject matter are
far from that of Star
Wars, the imaginary
title Hudson gave
himself—and the
fi lm’s title—might
coincidentally have
had an unconscious
infl uence on the
nomenclature and
characters in Lucas’
space opera.