Sometimes fans can make a controversy about really, really, really, dumb things.
Star Wars: Andor is coming out soon. Like many others, I’m really excited about this show. It offers a different look at the Star Wars universe. For someone who loved Rogue One, it’s extra exciting. However one of the most recent trailers has caused some, very, very, very dumb controversy.
The Andor Trailer Controversy
So if you watched the above trailer you might have noticed this shot. In it some… Rebel?… is shown standing around with a gun. A lot of people saw this clip and notice that the gun being held is a mostly unmodified AK-type rifle. Now, I’m not a gun expert so I can’t tell you if it’s an AK-47 with the stock removed or an AK variant that comes without a stock in the first place. But yeah, it’s pretty clearly just an AK. And that’s it. That’s the controversy.
Why People are Mad
via Lucasfilm
So why are people all mad about this bit of a Star Wars prop? Well, honestly I’m not sure. It generally seems to boil down to feeling it’s a lazy bit of prop work. One that takes you out of the world and breaks your immersion. And this I can kind of get. When I saw the trailer I too had a moment when I was like, “Oh that’s just an AK”. But to extrapolate from this to claiming the whole show will be bad, or that the whole design team is lazy… is a stretch. It seems more to be that people want the show to be bad, either because they want to hate on Star Wars or they feel it’s too “woke” somehow and want it to fail.
Being Upset About this Andor Trailer Controversy is Silly
Making this controversy extra dumb is the fact that it’s perfectly in line with Star Wars to use a prop like this. Pretty much every gun in the Original Trilogy was just a real-world gun. And while some were modified, many weren’t. The galaxy is just filled with dumb and silly props, and it’s never been an issue before. One could even argue that NOT using a barely-converted real gun in Star Wars would be the “anti-Star Wars” thing to do.
A few people have also tried to argue that the AK doesn’t work, but the other guns did because they are older guns and not well known. But this doesn’t quite hold up either. The AK-47 was first created in – does the name give it away – 1947. It’s 75 years old. The MG-42 that shows up in A New Hope was only 35 years old at the time and very well known.
It Could Be on Purpose
Interestingly, pretty much everyone complaining about the Andor trailer controversy seems to think the gun was used out of laziness. But what if it was 100% intentional? I would argue that no gun in existents is as tied to insurgencies and rebel fighters as the AK-47. Decades of media have trained the American public to associate images of ragged men holding AKs with rebels, insurgents, and terrorists. What better shorthand for the director to tell you the man in the trailer is one of these rebels than having them hold an AK-looking weapon?
It’s an absolutely amazing visual clue. In the same way the Empire has also drawn on real-world fascist iconography to show who they are, the Rebels draw on images of insurgents. I think it makes a lot of sense. Either way though, laziness or calculated, this is just a dumb controversy to get upset about.
Let us know what you think about this whole thing, down in the comments!
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Get Tabletop, RPG & Pop Culture news delivered directly to your inbox.
Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.
Read more at this site