I thought everything was really tastefully done including the one scene with Bix, except for the over the top references to undocumented illegal alien farm workers. I get that that kind of thing could happen because the Empire is full of oppressive busybodies who love getting people in trouble for paperwork, but I think the implication that that’s an analogous situation to the US is kind of crass.
I don’t believe it is analogous situation just with the US - many of us in UK & Europe are well aware of what has been taking place in relation to long reliance of undocumented food workers (in the fields / and in restaurants / and in effect the larger ‘gig’ economy; that authorities have previously acknowledged and turned a blind eye to in the main - and yet also eager to clamp down on a whim). In the UK’s case, all the way back to Brexit and the resulting fallout from that. I can’t speak for other areas around the world - I don’t know enough about that; though I wouldn’t be surprised if people across the planet the planet… recognise what is going on in the farm field scenes… and correlate with their own similar issues in relation to the treatment of undocumented workers or refugees simply looking for safe shelter, work, and place to start a new life - and looking to integrate and contribute to that place.
Andor filmed from November 2022 to February 2024 (with gaps for the strikes) - before the US election in November 2024; and the resulting the re-election of convicted felon and rapist ‘Orange Man’ who you refer to in a later post.
Now, if the actor who played the Imperial officer who attempted to rape Bix had weird combed-over ginger hair and couldn’t complete his dialogue without including outrageous falsehoods or trailing off into incoherence in an attempt to deflect away from answering questions or his actions… we all may have been having a different conversation. 👍
Credit to everyone involved in the handling of the scene with Bix; not just the tone, content and writing - but also the stunt-work, editing and both the actors. The actor/stuntman who played the Imperial officer really hit it out of the park in adding to the realism of the scene (plus him being dazed and concussed - losing control of his faculties and bouncing off the scenery like that really added to it). Adria Arjona was superb - which is no surprise given the quality of her performances throughout the show (like so many other top talents in this series).
It’s still not a situation that’s analogous. A galaxy with countless inhabitable planets and high amounts of automation is much different from the real world in terms of what that would mean for border security and the economics of farming.
My main issue with it is that the Empire controls both whichever planet they came from, and the farm planet. Obviously they don’t want to let slip that they’re from Ferrix (which is a different problem than someone entering the US from Mexico, for instance) but it doesn’t really matter what planet they’re from because the Empire controls the whole galaxy. If they’re legally imperial citizens then they would hypothetically be able to go to any planet available to the public. If someone wants to voluntarily go work on a farm on a dedicated farm planet, go ahead, knock your socks off. It would be like someone moving between states in the US or cities in the UK or what have you. It’s completely different from citizens of other countries crossing over the borders of the US or UK.
The main reason the Empire would implement visas and such would be for monitoring purposes. They want to know who’s going where and keep track of them in case some of them are criminals or rebels. While this is one aspect of immigration law (a legitimate one) it doesn’t make sense to drag the farming labor stuff into it.
We have to import people from other planets because the lazy natives don’t want to do the work! Okay, what natives? It’s completely empty except for the people you already brought here from other planets. There’s no language barrier. There’s no ethnic issues. There’s no species issues since they’re all pretty much human. There’s not really any hugely significant cultural differences because the galaxy is already highly interconnected through space travel. There’s no state infrastructure or healthcare services they’re taking up that they wouldn’t be taking up somewhere else in the same Empire.
This is why it feels so jarring and out of place. They’re not really “undocumented” illegal in the real world sense at all. They moved from Pennsylvania to Indiana and didn’t update their stuff at the local DMV because they would get flagged by the cops for fleeing a crime scene. They didn’t move from Venezuela to Indiana and ignore the green card process because they had to find a below minimum-wage job.
Good to know you have TDS.