i.e. the classic if the Empire in Star Wars is basically generic evil,
Wrong.
The Empire in Star Wars is a fascist state / government. This was the intention of George Lucas, and few people realize that. Mostly, because Indiana Jones has made Nazis into some kind of "Disney Villain creature".
George Lucas indeed intended to have the Empire being fascist, and it shows through so many details now forgotten by the masses, because nobody cares for that. Both Lucasfilm and Disney never put their fingers on that, because - frankly speaking - it was successful in terms of profits, and they didn't want the customer to be stirred and irritated at all !
Star wars in its very first incarnation is nothing biut an ecclectic highly experimental art movie on a facist state, and that a hero's journey of a simple farmer (being a farmer in a desert - how much deeper than that can you become ?) is able to undermine it - with the help of a few friends.
It is no wonder why the original Star Wars Empire looks so much like Nazis : It is modelled after them. It's more like "Nazis in space" than anything else - or at least that was George Lucas' intention.
That you call it "generic evil" merely shows how few you know about it.
When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it. --Dilbert cartoon
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