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Not Everybody Feels the Same Way as Chewbacca

On Monday I commented that Star Wars: The Last Jedi may do more for animal rights than Chewbacca. Apparently my canine companion has yet to get the message. It's a reminder that change comes in fits and spurts, not all at once: Or maybe it's just jealousy.

Could Star Wars Do More for Animal Rights Than Cowspiracy?

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If you live on the planet Crait and haven't seen The Last Jedi yet, don't read this. The new Star Wars movie contains two moments with unsubtle animal rights messages. The first is what my fiancĂ© Lucas is now calling the "Chewbacca goes vegan" scene. Chewbacca cannot bring himself to eat one of the adorable porgs, who strangely share an unfortunate but useful characteristic of most domestic animals: they look like babies. The second is when children liberate a bunch of horselike creatures from a cruel capitalist casino after we see the horses abused with the Star Wars version of a bull hook. Those scenes mark  Star Wars doing something Pixar  is good at: giving animals both personalities and personhood, and making the audience root for them. While vegans cheer at documentaries like What the Health?  and Cowspiracy , it may be the Last Jedi s and Finding Dory s of the world that really carry the day for animal rights. Fiction, in fact, is a powerful way to incre