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People Are (Rightfully) Pissed At The 'Star Wars' Joke These Cops Posted On FB

by Alexandra Svokos
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"Star Wars" jokes can be fails for any number of reasons.

Sometimes, the joke teller is too much of a fanatic, and it goes over the crowd's heads. Sometimes, it's yet another tired joke about Jar Jar Binks.

And then you have this "Star Wars" joke attempted to be told by the New South Wales police force in Australia.

Originally, according to Mashable, the caption on that photo read,

Keeping you safe from the dark side of the force.

You can see that in this Instagram from The Empire Coffee Co.

Instagram

The picture was taken during a festival. The Empire Coffee Co., which is a "Star Wars"-themed coffee shop, was at the festival and took the photo with the cop, for fun.

But it's not so fun to look at.

It may not be quite as much of a national dialogue in Australia, but in the United States, police discrimination and community interactions with the police are very real and serious problems we are trying to deal with.

This "Star Wars" photo definitely does not help.

As many people pointed out in comments on the Facebook post, this image really does not make the cop look like such a good guy.

Facebook

In the photo, the cop is surrounded by stormtroopers. They appear to be on his side, guarding him and supporting his actions. This makes some sense, because in "Star Wars," stormtroopers play the role of a very certain type of police force.

Except that, in the world of "Star Wars," stormtroopers are definitely not the good guys. Essentially, stormtroopers are a police force in the same way the Nazis were a "police force." The stormtroopers are led by the bad guys, including Darth Vader, who is himself a Hitler equivalent.

So, you know, not a great parallel for a cop to be making.

Not to mention, even if you don't know "Star Wars," the cop holding down someone in a hood also is not good imagery to improve community relations with the police.

An enforcer holding someone down in a hood really looks a lot more like torture or an execution.

So maybe think a little bit before you try to make your next "Star Wars" joke.

Citations: Mashable