The Bad Guys are Bad. So what's the appeal?

On my continuing confusion over the appeal of Darth Vader and the other baddies.

I’ve been watching “Andor” (omg! so good!) and reflecting on insurrections and revolutions and commitment to The Good Fight and such. I can’t watch this series, or any of the Star Wars franchise in this era of authoritarianism-ascendent, without thinking about taking sides, fighting fascism, and wondering where the various lines in the sand are being drawn.

And it’s made me ponder something that’s bothered me since perhaps the release of “The Empire Strikes Back.” The movie came out in the Spring, but by Halloween, the store shelves were FILLED with costumes from the movie. Including, to my dismay, numerous Darth Vader getups.

Who would want to be Darth Vader? I mean, the cape and helmet were cool, and the commanding voice something to perhaps aspire to, but let’s face it, he was the BAD GUY! We hadn’t even reached the redeeming character arc that comes at the end of “Return of the Jedi.”

When Darth Maul (the stripey black and orange faced guy) was introduced in “The Phantom Menace,” another wave of Costumes for Bad Guys hit the store shelves. Again, I wondered, why does THIS asshole appeal to Star Wars fans? Why choose that yahoo over Luke, Obi-Wan, Leia, Han, Chewy, or the many other honorable and kick-ass characters? Why choose the bad guy?

I’ll give “Andor” this (and more; I really like the show): the storylines never glorify or elevate the Empire’s goons - you might feel some sympathy for Dedra or Cyril, but you never really want to BE them. Or at least the storylines don’t suggest the viewers would want to emulate them.

To my dismay, there’s probably someone out there getting their Dedra costume planned out right now.

I’ll probably never understand. I just don’t get identifying with the bad guys, the cruel, the callous, the genocidal, the power hungry.

But clearly, some do. And I’m looking at that tendency in the Star Wars fans from all the way back to the late 70s with the first film, and the reboot that came with “Phantom Menace” in 1999. The folks who are now taking authoritarian roles in the U.S. government were most likely little kids watching Star Wars movies at the end of the 20th century, and were they identifying with the Bad Guys back then? Did they hold up Vader and Darth Maul as figures to emulate? If they watched “Andor” now, would they find sympathy with Dedra Neero and Major Partagaz?

Because I sure see parallels there. And I wonder if they look at the story arc in this prequel to the original movies, and think: “Yeah, that’s the way to quash a rebellion. That’s the way to secure our power.”

The whole thing points to a creepy underbelly I’ve always known was there in American culture, but never realized appealed to so many of my supposedly fellow citizens. And it strikes me that I should have known, when Darth Vader and Darth Maul costumes flew off the shelves those many years ago.