Our Humble Symbiont Queen, Obamadala

I was wondering what exactly motivates President Obama to bow to virtually every foreign leader he meets – and (more importantly, in a way) why he isn’t universally derided for it (instead of derided only by the right) – and my mind turned (as it often does) to Star Wars. Specifically, the first prequel, The Phantom Menace.

As you all remember vividly, halfway through that gripping adventure Nabooan Queen Amidala has seen her capital city occupied by the droid army of the Trade Federation, and via the ideology of symbionts comes upon the solution of asking the Gungans for help fighting back – since they share the same planet and their fates are connected, you see – in a plan that (it turns out) requires them to sacrifice many lives for what is essentially a diversion so that her space fleet can attack in space.

At first, the fat froggy Gungan king wants no part of this, reasonably enough. However, Queen Amidala reveals herself, bows before him, and asks him humbly. That is when he replies, in the classic, memorable line that will live on forever in movie history:

Yousa no thinka yousa better dan us? Meesa like!

And so they help (and die).

This is probably why whenever I try to imagine engaging some Obama water-carrier as to why he seems to instinctively bow to everyone, and why it’s okay that he bows, the only defense I can imagine getting thrown back in my face are – essentially – that this shows heesa no think heesa better dan dem, and deysa gonna like.

In other words, it all makes sense as long as you subscribe to a George Lucas-style theory of geopolitics.

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