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Stars Wars and Doctor Who both feature villains transparently based on Nazis, and I’m coming around to the idea that Doctor Who had the more socially useful model: Imperial officers / stormtroopers come off as evil but maybe kind of badass, whereas Daleks more accurately portray fascists as stupid and cheap and just gratingly skin-crawlingly annoying.

The idea that something as obnoxious and ridiculous as a Dalek can also be dangerous and utterly evil is…a useful lesson.

@inthehands at the same time, doctor who presents individual heroics and techno solutionism as the solution to their fascists. And the daleks, at least, always come from elsewhere. Star wars does manage to avoid both of those traps.

@jenniferplusplus @inthehands Isn’t the deep story of the Daleks that they are devolved humans?

@whybird @inthehands Maybe, but that it's the "deep story" kind of supports the point. As met on screen, Daleks are always* this threat of a fascist enemy approaching from the outside. Which is fine, I guess. But if your story has a moral lesson to share about fascism, then fascism should probably be something that arises from within.

*Except in the genesis story that Paul linked excepts from https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands/112069381609509251