Most people living in the West today grew up with war of stars Movies. I was a kid when I saw the original war of stars (now known as A new hope) in the cinemas and like so many other children, I started collecting everything that had to do with this fantastic universe. Then came The Empire Strikes Backfor me the best part of the saga, where the audience learned that Luke, the hero, is the son of the villain Vader. Finally, there was Return of the Jediwhere the cruel Vader finds redemption by saving his son and the entire galaxy from the evil embodied in the Emperor.

The war of stars The story is essentially a story of good versus evil. Evil is represented by an empire whose methods and uniforms are based on the Wehrmachtwhose soldiers are “stormtroopers” and whose leader Darth Vader wore a sinister mask with a black helmet very similar to the characteristic model used by Germany in the two world wars. There are many similarities with Va successful series from the 1980s. VThe Earth is invaded by a sinister race of lizards who, in human form and with deceptive smiles, want to turn the Earth into a pantry for their evil empire. Their uniforms, their propaganda posters and, above all, the symbolism of the visitors all recall, without much subtlety, the Second World War. The only thing the lizards lack is the German language. In both fictional universes, the good guys are the “resistance”, the defenders of freedom who are ready to give their lives to end the tyranny.

In 1999, a new film trilogy began depicting events that took place before the events of the first war of stars trilogy. Although not as original as the first, they were successful and reinvigorated the Star Wars universe in the public consciousness. However, in October 2012, Disney acquired the rights to the franchise and announced another new trilogy, beginning in 2015, that follows the original three films. These films were as full of special effects as they were devoid of meaningful dialogue. Through them, Disney transformed a story of fiction and entertainment into a platform for a woke ideology.

Disney followed this policy in all its franchises and suffered financial losses of around one billion dollars in 2024, thus fulfilling the popular saying: “Go woke, go broke”. In the war of stars The Disney films were followed by several Disney-produced series that followed some classic Star Wars characters while introducing new ones, with varying degrees of success, and in which the ideology wasn’t always so obvious. Despite Disney CEO Bob Iger’s claim in April of this year that Disney would refocus on entertainment, it’s Wokism that has returned to the galaxy with renewed energy in Disney’s new series. The Acolyte.

It is the third episode of the series that has upset war of stars fans the most, and what caused the new series’ ratings to drop. It is about a coven of witches who wield the Force and – in a nod to Darth Sidious’ implied act before the prequel trilogy – can create life without male involvement. The scenes with the witches dancing in purple cloaks in tribal dance are more in keeping with a feminist rally than a science fiction series. Of course, the series has been described in reviews as an example of the “toxicity” of a predominantly male, sexist audience. For example, Leslie Headland, an LGBTQ+ activist who is also the series’ director and writer, said: “While some fans may resist change, diversity and exploring new perspectives are essential to keeping the Star Wars galaxy alive.”

“Diversity is our strength” is one of the typical woke slogans and is reminiscent of one of the party slogans in 1984 “Ignorance is strength.” When Orwell published his novel in 1949, the Third Reich had already been destroyed, but Soviet totalitarianism had emerged victorious from the conflict, crushing half of Europe under its boot. For Orwell, totalitarianism has a very clear face and clear methods: “If you want to get a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.” What the British writer could not imagine for a second is that the new totalitarianism of the 21st century, which today shares space with the old, would have dyed blue hair and raise colorful flags in the name of diversity. Apart from this detail, his book has a prophetic character. “Newspeak” has evolved into “inclusive language,” a way of speaking that makes the speaker sound like an idiot, but whose idea is basically the same: to change the meaning of words and thereby manipulate thinking. “Crimethink” also comes dangerously close to reality, and arrests have been made for praying silently outside abortion clinics. The 1984 claim that “those who control the present control the past, and those who control the past control the future” is immediately relevant, because wokeism is a full-scale offensive against the present, aiming to rewrite the past to shape the future.

Attempts to rewrite history are nothing new. They are evident not only in the past, but also today in the actions of authoritarian and democratic governments that enact “memory laws” so that only what conforms to the dominant ideology is remembered. Wokism participates in the rewriting of history, with delusional cultural productions in which, for example, Anne Boleyn is a black woman and a feminist, or in which homogeneous medieval societies are portrayed as diverse and multicultural. Book burnings are also present in cancel culture, which prohibits the study of the classics and censors—or worse, rewrites—the works of the past. But wokism, a postmodern creation of cultural Marxism, has reached the world of popular culture in a way never seen before. For wokism, it is not enough to rewrite history; it demands that we rewrite fantasy, fiction, and all the imaginary worlds that exist in books and movies. Elves, dwarves, witches and Jedis must – and have been – turned through the wringer of political correctness.

The absurdity and ridiculousness of wokism might suggest that it will collapse under its own weight, but the truth is that it is a political agenda maintained on the basis of a large checkbook, and its followers seem more like members of a cult than defenders of a political ideology. Let’s imagine for a moment that we were children, growing up with diverse and inclusive spaces and superhero stories. Think of the dramatic scene in The Empire Strikes Back from a woke perspective where Vader tells his son, “Luke, I am your non-birthing parent”; think of Han Solo thinking about self-determination as a Wookie; think of comics with non-binary Jedi; think of stories where it’s hard to distinguish between good and evil and where only minority representation and gender quotas matter. If we grew up in the midst of such things, would we be the same people we are today?

CS Lewis wrote: “Since (children) are so likely to meet cruel enemies, they should at least have heard of gallant knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you make their fate, not brighter, but darker.” A brighter fate, and above all the possibility of a fate, is at stake. Ending wokism is imperative, not only in the arena of modern politics, but in works of fiction as well.