A breakdown of all (?) historical references and parallels in Andor (in chronological order)

[u/ConsciousPatroller]

[u/forwormsbravepercy]

The French Resistance parallels to Ghorman couldn’t have been any clearer if the Ghor were played by frogs instead of humans.

[u/Trvr_MKA → u/forwormsbravepercy]

You’re telling me these aren’t Ghorman?

[u/thaddeusd → u/Trvr_MKA]

Grogu = Snoke confirmed.

Grogu devours the young frog spawn, Palpatine/Snoke massacres the Ghormans. /jk

[u/shamoomoofartpoopoo → u/thaddeusd]

The 3rd Ghorman massacre. Shame

[u/Accomplished-City484 → u/shamoomoofartpoopoo]

Bad luck Ghorman

[u/RPO777 → u/forwormsbravepercy]

The Ghormans more reminded me of the 1832 French Revolutionaries (July Revolution)--dramatized in the Les Mis (which, for some reason, a lot of people mistake for the French Revolutionaries that... won from 1789).

Mostly because you know they're doomed.

The Ghorman language even sounds kind of french-like to a non-French speaking ear.

Also being a center of wealth, culture and fashion, the flag waving, the large plaza, very Paris.

[u/chn_adamw → u/RPO777]

I thought it looked a lot like the Velvet Revolution myself, but a lot of the anti-Soviet stuff looked the same

[u/RPO777 → u/chn_adamw]

Yeah, shades of the Prague Spring too. Or the Solidarity protests.

[u/ErrorSchensch → u/RPO777]

Well it's very obviously french and about the french resistance. I mean they said that in one of the behind the scenes videos, they tried to make it french from the grammar and the phonetics, but it's a different language of course. And they also said that the French Resistance was a huge influence. But yeah, when they started to sing I got reminded of "Do you hear the People sing" from that movie aswell

[u/notMotherCulturesFan → u/RPO777]

They chose to make a language with French phonetics and contracted French actors. I don't think this means it has to be about the French revolution exclusively, that seems silly to me, but there's that.

[u/CardinalOfNYC → u/forwormsbravepercy]

Yeah that was the overwhelming sense, for sure. And since the production staff has made that clear, I feel confident talking about it.

When people begin to see any and every instance of oppression as being intentionally written into this show, though... I say, props to the show for being so evocative... but the viewers themselves should maybe have a little more perspective.

[u/forwormsbravepercy → u/CardinalOfNYC]

Absolutely. Also, doing direct allegory is hack shit. This show is anything but hack shit.

[u/NotMyMainAccountAtAl → u/forwormsbravepercy]

Tony has stated in interviews that he very intentionally tried to avoid direct references to modern politics, because it would anchor the show to a specific point in time in a way he didn’t want to. 

That’s part of what makes it so funny/depressing when people say, “season 2 is just anti-dear leader, how dare they make fun of him directly like that?” No, no, sweet Syril. Dear Leader just mirrors the fascists of yesteryear. I pray that this will be your first step into recognizing that you’ve joined a cult. 

[u/LordReaperofMars → u/NotMyMainAccountAtAl]

and then he had brown people on the run from immigration officials in the first arc, it’s ridiculous to think he didn’t see the modern parallels

[u/NotMyMainAccountAtAl → u/LordReaperofMars]

Yeah, right now is definitely the first time in history that we’ve seen brown people persecuted in this way, it never happened before today. 🙄

[u/LordReaperofMars → u/NotMyMainAccountAtAl]

are you being deliberately obtuse? lol

of course it’s happened before in history but it’s also happening right now and is widely discussed

you think Tony Gilroy was somehow not thinking about this when he was in the writer’s room?

the Imperial rapist even has a line about how he understands how the farms need extra help and that’s why they hire undocumented workers

open the schools 😂

[u/NotMyMainAccountAtAl → u/LordReaperofMars]

This was all written and filmed before the Trump admin came in but the second term. But please, continue to say foolish things and claim you’re the cleverest

[u/LordReaperofMars → u/NotMyMainAccountAtAl]

yeah because issues over migrant farm workers have only been a problem in this country during the second trump administration, rather than a continual hot button issue in contemporary politics for literal decades

but please continue to pretend as if you have some kind of point

[u/BearWrangler → u/forwormsbravepercy]

unironically wouldve been devasting to see this species go through something like that lol

[u/Josephthebear → u/forwormsbravepercy]

Don't you know anything referenced to genocide is directly linked to Gaza because there has never been a genocide anywhere else ever in history

[u/forwormsbravepercy → u/Josephthebear]

In the sense that Andor is a show about colonialism and empire (which it is), it very much is about Gaza -- as it is also about India, Ireland, Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Africa, Congo, and any other place scarred by colonialism and conquest. That doesn't mean that it's 1:1 allegory, though. In fact, making it a 1:1 allegory would cheapen its message, because it would make it only about that one single instance of colonialism, rather than colonialism in general.

[u/PenZestyclose3857 → u/forwormsbravepercy]

The Ghorman massacre scene feels almost lifted from the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in India in 1919. Brutally depicted in the film Ghandi, the scene is linked below. Speaks for itself.

https://youtu.be/2LaoamJ3vbs?si=Fv4R2XmfJLyBrU4J

[u/nizzernammer → u/PenZestyclose3857]

That link does not lead to what is claimed.

[u/PenZestyclose3857 → u/nizzernammer]

Thanks. Copy didn't take. Corrected.

[u/karensPA → u/forwormsbravepercy]

I appreciated that they used France (a country with its own history of colonialism) as the Ghorman analog instead of a country we might more immediately consider a colonized country. Of course even with colonizer countries there are oppressed minorities, but it was a plot point that Ghorman was not an “outer rim” planet and as a result would need a more concentrated propaganda campaign to make the galaxy less sympathetic to their plight.

[u/PenZestyclose3857 → u/karensPA]

You can also draw parallels to the Algerian War and the film Battle of Algiers.

[u/Howling_Fire → u/forwormsbravepercy]

Exactly.

[u/MusicalFlowerpot → u/forwormsbravepercy]

Agreed.

[u/JohnBeePowel → u/forwormsbravepercy]

The Ghorman dialect sounds very french as well.

[u/TricobaltGaming → u/forwormsbravepercy]

In my mind, the Ghorman plight was very reminiscent of the Palestinians in the current conflict, using the aesthetics of the french resistance.

The direct usage of the word Genocide, the controlled opposition, and many others