At the Movies with Sunset and Starlight: Star Wars: A New Hope · 12:34am Aug 20th, 2018

“Hello, everypony, and welcome to this first ever episode of At the Movies. I’m your host, Starlight Glimmer.”

“And I’m Sunset Shimmer, the mare who put this together, started the cultural exchange program, and has her name first in the title,” Sunset Shimmer said, sitting next to her co-host in the empty movie theater, looking at the cameras in front of her. “Today, we’ll be reviewing some of the best films from the human world before they hit your local theater and telling you if they have two thumbs up–”

“Or two hooves down,” Starlight glanced at her colleague and smirked. “Uh-oh, it looks like somepony’s spent too much time on the other side. I hope you can still understand the cornerstones of Equestrian culture and give reviews appropriate to the viewing audience.”

Sunset laughed, looking at her co-host, and tightening her jaw muscles. “I think I’ll be up to the task. Now, our first film is one of the most popular films ever, Star Wars: A New Hope, but will it translate to the Equestrian audience?”

“The film depicts the struggle of two corrupt political regimes that both fail the galactic public, while venerating a man who inherited a magical connection with the universe through no merit of his own. The first regime is a legitimately established tyrannical dictatorship in a fatal struggle with a rebellion that venerates an impotent republic that failed the people so badly, the dictatorship managed to establish itself.”

“Uhmm, did you–” Sunset started to ask.

“Sunset, please don’t talk over me while I’m describing the movie. This show won’t work unless we have mutual respect. Now, as I was saying, over the course of the films, both sides manage to rack up an impressive body count, although thankfully, the carnage is left mostly off screen. However, I will give the film credit for depicting a chilling dystopia where the interests of the working person have been completely subjugated by the petty, ideological spats of the people sitting at the top, looking to advance their own egos over the common good.”

“Wow, okay.” Sunset looked at the camera and back to her co-host. “That’s… a reading of the film. Another reading is it’s the story of a plucky group of rebels fighting to overthrow a tyrannical empire and restore freedom to the galaxy. It’s a classic story with clear-cut heroes and villains following the classic heroic journey and the development of protagonist Luke Skywalker.”

“Who’s a complete…” Starlight reached under her seat and pulled out a stack of papers. She shuffled through for a few seconds. “Marty Stu. He’s never flown an X-wing before, but is one of two survivors by the end of the film and manages to pull off an impossible trick shot to save the day. It strains credibility.”

Sunset could feel her teeth grinding together, as viewers across Equestria turned their new televisions off. “How did you get the co-hosting job again?”

“Twilight hired me under the condition I not talk to her after our movie nights anymore,” Starlight said. “But should we really be getting into this on-air? Now, if you’ll allow me to say a few words, I have a few pages of thoughts on the underlying theme of how the galaxy is locked into an eternal all consuming war that will destroy generations of innocent lives, and how no escape is presented to the regular galactic citizen.”

“I will absolutely not,” Sunset said. “Star Wars is a classic of human filmmaking, displaying their eternal hopefulness in the face of overwhelming odds, and a story about what we’re all capable of. If you want an entertaining film to watch this weekend, be sure to check out Star Wars. I give it one hoof up.”

“While Star Wars offers some promise with its depiction of an eternal, galaxy-consuming conflict, it fails to flesh out the ideologies of either side in a satisfying fashion, forcing the viewer to do most of the world-building for them.” Starlight picked up her stack of papers. “The world feels ultimately unsatisfying and any discerning viewer is forced to conclude the filmmakers didn’t understand the dystopia they were creating. One hoof down. Thank you for watching, everypony, and we’ll see you next week At the Movies!”

“Goodbye, everypony!” Sunset said, waving. “Thanks for watching, and come back next week, where we’ll hopefully have less ideology and soapboxing in our film reviews.”

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