‘Phantom Menace,’ Global Economy

First James Pinkerton argued George Lucas must be attacking science because his heroes use magic (Commentary, May 14). Then I read the May 26 Calendar article on racism in the portrayal of aliens in “The Phantom Menace.” When I saw the movie I never associated any of the aliens with ethnic stereotypes. So whose mind is polluted with racism: mine or the reviewer’s?

Now Andrei Cherny argues (Opinion, May 30) that the trade dispute in “The Phantom Menace” is an attack on the global economy. The protagonists actually said that the trade dispute was too trivial to lead to war. The real phantom menace was Darth Sidious (the main villain), who in the guise of Senator Palpatine manipulated events to make the conflict a pretext for seizing power. The word “phantom” in the title refers to the fact that nobody realized the senator was the driving force behind the conflict. Am I the only one who thinks The Times has been over-analyzing the movie?

ALEX SMALL

Goleta

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Cherny bemoans Lucas’ political turn with the movie’s depiction of “supposedly insidious dark forces of international trade and a government that refuses to clamp down upon them.” But maybe Lucas once again has his finger upon the American pulse. Workers fear downsizing and removal of factories overseas. Democracy is undermined by the growth of the World Trade Organization, with its power to overturn domestic environmental restrictions in the name of “restraint of trade.”

In return for loans funding development, the World Bank can impose structural adjustment programs reducing governmental measures helping the poor, whose lives are often made more difficult by economic expansion. At home, we see wealthy corporations having special influence on legislative and policy processes and members of Congress, needing corporate money for their reelection, dragging their heels on campaign finance reform.

To many Americans, the corporate menace does not seem phantom at all, but very real. Lucas has shown insight and courage in putting this challenge to democracy right in the center of the latest installment of his American epic.

CHARLES CRITTENDEN

Lake View Terrace