Zoomers Yearn for the Empire: Why?

Today on Based Camp we break down the delightful Anakin Skywalker memes sweeping social media, especially among young men. We explore why the prequel trilogy resonates as a critique of bureaucracy, institutional failure, and generational divides, with the Empire positioned as an aspirational alternative.

Our chat examines themes of loyalty, competence, and long-term visions for human civilization through a Star Wars lens, covering historical parallels from old MTV segments, deeper cultural shifts toward rebuilding institutions, and Malcolm’s own sci-fi universe in the upcoming game Broodfall (which we would love for you to wishlist on Steam!).

Show Notes

The Premise

Elon Musk: This is what they stole from us

Makes sense, seeing as, like Anakin, they find themselves shackled by an ossified bureaucracy that stifles him and fails to defend the people he loves.

The Jokes

The jokes are hilarious:

* Sir Doge of the Coin: My politics in 2020 // My politics now

* Colonel Otaju Gatekeeper: The Sand People gave us Curry & Kebabs Anakin

* Joel Webbon: “But we won WWII, Anakin!” “It doesn’t look like won.”

* Thaulos: ““Jar-Jar Binks is just as intelligent as you Anakin, he just needs proper education””

The Padme Commentary

There’s even Padme commentary:

* Milena Z: “Had Padme used her female intuition and been a supportive wife, she would’ve told Anakin to get rid of both the jedi and that manipulative backstabbing creep Palpatine so they could rule the galaxy together.”

* Joel Webbon: Padme didn’t die from a broken neck from Anakin. She died from a broken heart because Anakin turned out to not support gay race communism. She epitomizes the liberal woman who chooses ideology over her own marriage and family.

Jokes aside, this is deeper than what many would assume on the surface—it’s part of a much longer-term shift in youth sentiment that hints at what the long-term future of human civilization may look like, so let’s get into it.

The Discourse

Some choice posts on X:

Why Zoomers Relate

* Modern Vitalist: From the Zoomer perspective the Jedi are evil Anakin was born of a Virgin, conceived by the Force, the Jedi Council knew he was the Chosen One.. Yet still, they rejected him… Why? Because he was more powerful than them Imagine they had loved him, trusted him, and recognized his Divine Destiny Instead they: -forbid him to reproduce -allowed his mother to be sold into slavery and viscously murdered by “sand people” -watched the Democratic Process of the Republic evolve into a powerless stalemate -traded Ancient Prophecy in favor of a modern interpretation thereby mocking the very Tradition they claimed to protect They got what they deserved. Long live the Empire. Hail Lord Vader

* Rich:Extremely talented and competent white man being lectured by a diverse cast of DEI hires who are objectively inferior to his skill and power at this point in his life. Yet he’s locked out of pursuing a greater destiny by a geriatric bureaucracy with rules even it doesn’t seem to understand why it enforces anymore. Windu aggressively telling Anakin to “take a seat” as if he could force the superior Skywalker to do anything he didn’t want to do. The Council talks down to him because of some arbitrary organizational title they give each other - again, all while being inferior to him. The Council, standing for peace and progress, stood in the way of both. It’s no wonder Anakin would turn his back on this organization and why it’s so relatable to young men in this society.

* Adeptus Liberatus: In his first meeting with the Jedi Council, Anakin is asked if his “thoughts dwell with his mother.” To this, Anakin responds, “I miss her.” Keep in mind Anakin is a child who has just been separated from his mother for presumably the first time and is now on an entirely different planet. He expresses one of the most basic and human emotions a boy could express in that moment. Within 30 seconds, Yoda is telling him he is full of fear and on the path to the Dark Side. Fast forward to Episode 2. Anakin wants to save his mother from slavery after promising her in Episode 1 as a little boy he would come back and free her. It would be very easy to do. He’s served and learned under the Jedi for 10 years, and despite his hotheadedness and youthful mistakes, he remains loyal. What do the Jedi do? They let his mother die at the hands of alien savages. He has to witness her dying moments. Yeah, but sure, Anakin is weak. Oh yeah, and how did Luke wreck Vader btw? Vader threatened to turn Leia to the Dark Side which enrages Luke. Luke defeats Vader in a fit of pure, unadulterated, white hot rage. There’s no stoic virtuee in Luke during the final seconds of his duel with Vader. It’s the most belligerent and furious we ever see Luke across all three movies. Finally, you cannot call Anakin weak and claim to understand the story. Anakin is true identity: it’s the boy who loves his mother, the young man who fell in love with Padme, the student who trained under Obi Wan, the prodigy pod racer, the Chosen One. That identity was destroyed by the very order that he fought for and was loyal to until it broke him for their corrupt purposes. The Boomer Jedi view of the world will die and we are going to win.

The Leftist Hate

* Tons point to the “killing kids” thing

* Dalton Pruitt: “I can explain the Anakin thing. Right wingers are really f*****g stupid.”

* S. Foster: “Anakin was the epitome of weak men creating hard times.”

* Project Liberal: “Anakin was gaslit and manipulated by people smarter than him. So this makes perfect sense actually.”

This is Not New

In a 2005 episode of MTV True Life there’s a disaffected 20-something young man whose boomer dad spends “too much time playing with toys” and who loves

2:25: Dad’s caught up in this whole Jedi Knight thing

(timestamped)

And ultimately they go to a convention together

Jump forward to some cuts where they show the son clapping when fans in Imperial cosplay get engaged and the son wonders why “they don’t have more of those” referring to USA flag stormtroopers: (timestamped)

And he goes on to saying how he’s more pulled to the dark side and he says he wants to be stormtrooper.

Then he tries on armor and his dad is legit disappointed and insistent that he’ll convert him: (timestamped)

Analysis and Larger Meaning

An Outsider’s Analysis

Katherine Dee’s take:

“why now, why these images? What happened to the, well, meme-ier, more 4chan-f