The Death of Truth

Sometimes portraits take on a life of their own. The evolution of this portrait of Mon Mothma, played by the talented Genevieve O’Reilly, began in a series of the stars of the hit show “Star Wars Andor” on Disney+. 

I had been working through some of my favorites and the news of the day led me to delve a little bit deeper into the speech she gave to the senate in Episode 9 of Season 2 of the show. 

“Fellow Senators, friends, colleagues, allies, adversaries, I stand before you this morning with a heavy heart. I’ve spent my life in this Chamber. I came here as a child. And as I look around me now I realize I have almost no memories that pre-date my arrival, and few bonds of affection that cleave so tightly.

 

Through these many years, I believe I have served my constituents honorably and upheld our code of conduct. This Chamber is a cauldron of opinions, and we’ve certainly had our patience and tempers tested in pursuit of our ideals. Disagree as we might, I am hopeful that those of you who know me will vouch for my credibility in the days to come.

 

I stand this morning with a difficult message. I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest.

 

This Chamber’s hold on the truth was finally lost on the Ghorman Palaza. What took place yesterday… what happened yesterday on Ghorman was unprovoked genocide. Yes, genocide. And that truth has been exiled from this Chamber. And the monster screaming the loudest, the monster we’ve helped create, the monster who will come for all of us soon enough, is Emperor Palpatine.”

It was as if this was written for today’s political climate yet the script was written well before the current administration took power. However, the “death of truth” has been a recurring theme in popular media for decades now and generative AI (GAI) slop has accelerated what can be trusted in the media.

The phrase “the death of truth” stuck to me so I reworked the simple portrait and original poster design to include more of the intent of her urgency from that episode to this new alternative poster.