Monday, January 31, 2005

Of Jedi

Less than 4 months until Revenge of the Sith comes out... are you as excited as I am?

I'm a Star Wars fanatic, so much so that I even love Episodes I and II. "So you think they are as a good as the classic trilogy?" you might ask. Well no, they don't hold a candle to the original Star Wars or my personal favorite The Empire Strikes Back, but as every true fan knows, neither did Return of the Jedi. In fact I think I would rank the films as follows:

  1. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
  2. Episode IV: A New Hope
  3. Episode II: Attack of the Clones
  4. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
  5. Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Where Ep III will fall remains to be seen, but I have high hopes that it will at least make the top three.

Anyway, I recently reread the classic list of 50 Reasons Why Jedi Sucks. Now, anyone reasonably familiar with George Lucas knows that he was heavily influenced by Joseph Campbell's theory of the monomyth, the idea that there are archetypes common to the myths of all cultures. From there Campbell proceeds down the same road as Aldous Huxley's The Perennial Philosophy to the theory that all the world's religions are different expressions of the same underlying (and ultimately unknowable) mystic truth, an idea with great currency among the New Agers.

Lucas clearly lifted many of his plot elements straight from the monomyth (cf. Supernatural Aid and Apotheosis), but he also seems to have derived the overall Jedi philosophy and Yoda's Zen-like sayings largely from Campbell's amorphous pantheism. The Force is certainly not God as orthodox Christians know Him. And yet, it never struck me until I reread #32 Jedi Afterlife just how strongly the theme of Christian salvation plays into the resolution of the whole series. Consider the dialog as Anakin/Darth Vader lies dying:
LUKE
No. You're coming with me. I can't leave you here.
I've got to save you.

ANAKIN
You already have, Luke.
And indeed the end of the film suggests that Anakin’s soul has survived and reached “Jedi Heaven”. I remember as a child I was confused and even frustrated by the climatic scene where Luke casts aside his lightsaber and declares:
LUKE
Never! I'll never turn to the dark side. You've failed, Your Highness.
I am a Jedi, like my father before me.
The Emperor then proceeds to electrocute Luke and would have killed him were it not for Vader's last minute repentance and intervention. I remember thinking "what an idiot!" Luke had fought Vader reluctantly only because he stood between Luke and the Emperor. Now that Vader lay helpless on the floor, why didn't Luke just bum rush the Emperor and slice him in half?

Instead, he throws down his weapon and refuses to fight, the son prepared to sacrifice his life for love of the father. This act of self-sacrifice not only defeats the ultimate evil power and sets the galaxy free, but it also saves Anakin’s immortal soul. "That isn't how the hero is supposed to win!" I thought. Is it?

Perhaps Jedi is better than I give it credit for. If only it didn't have so many Ewoks...

posted by The Jabberwock @ 10:46 PM

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