Meaning
What does So This Is How Liberty Dies With Thunderous Applause mean?
So this is how liberty dies is a reaction meme based on the quote that is uttered by the character Senator Padme Amidala in Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of Sith.
The quote is considered to be one of the most political lines of the entire series. Many people and public figures have used it since it was featured in the movie.
As a meme, we can usually encounter so this is how liberty dies in the form of animated GIFs or image macros used to express dismissive reactions under political discussions.
The meme is also a snowclone, with the template’s formula being: “So this is how ‘X’ dies, with ‘Y’.”
Origin
What's the origin of So This Is How Liberty Dies With Thunderous Applause?
Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of Sith was released in the year 2005 and was directed by George Lucas. During this episode, Senator Padme becomes one of the main protagonists.
The scene featuring the quote shows Padme watching Palpatine rising from Senator to Chancellor in front of the Senate, applauded by the fellow members.
Amidst her frustration, she utters the following line: “So this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause.”
Spread & Usage
How did So This Is How Liberty Dies With Thunderous Applause spread?
Memes about so this is how liberty dies saw a mild spread online from 2005, with a large peak in interest in 2016, shown by Google search data.
The list of sites that featured the meme most frequently include Imgflip, Reddit, Tumblr and various Star Wars fan forums.
External resources
- Washingtonpost.com – You may hate the ‘Star Wars’ prequels — but they predicted our current political era
- Dorksideoftheforce.com – The best quotes from each film in the prequel trilogy
- Shmoop.com – So this is how liberty dies…with thunderous applause