What Does Star Wars Mean?: A Reason Argument Hotter Than the Twin Suns of Tatooine

George Lucas' Star Wars franchise didn't just redefine how movies got make and marketed in the 1970s. The series and associated toys, tie-ins, and spin-offs have continued to captivate audiences and fans around the world ever since and the latest installment, The Force Awakens, will likely become one of the top-grossing movies of all time when it's released later this month.

In a rollicking, free-wheeling conversation moderated by Reason's Nick Gillespie, cultural critics Alyssa Rosenberg (Washington Post), Sonny Bunch (Free Beacon), and Peter Suderman (Reason, Vox) discuss how and why Star Wars changed everything, how the original movies became political and cultural touchstones, and whether there's a case to be made that the Empire, not the Rebels, are actually the good guys in all of this.

This is an edited version of an event that was held at Reason's D.C. HQ on December 3.

About 32 minutes long. Produced by Joshua Swain.

For more Reason material on Star Wars, go here.

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