Missed Opportunities: Playing the Star Wars Imperial March in Pyongyang

I'm not saying there wouldn't have been repercussions (perhaps even nuclear ones), but the New York Philharmonic, in its historic Pyongyang concert this week, had a golden opportunity to play the Star Wars Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) in one of the world's most repressive, fucked-up places, and they didn't.

In fact, (begin lie now) some speculate that Kim Jong Il didn't attend the concert precisely because he was afraid that they might play the song.

And, being the leader of an entire country which hasn't seen any of the original Star Wars trilogy (nor the prequels -- the only thing North Korea has got going for it), it's not like he'd be able to storm out of the room or anything -- none of the North Koreans would know why without an embarrassing explanation, and to the foreign press, it would have been a tacit admission that he indulges in decadent Western vices.

It would have been the perfect setup.

Less the nuclear repercussions, of course.

Tags: kim jong il, star wars, imperial march, pyongyang, new york philharmonic