My immediate reaction was to agree. Good over Evil. The nearly demonic Emperor Palpatine was not merely defeated, but Kylo Ren (birth name Ben Solo) turned from the Dark Side back to the Good Side, and joined Rey to destroy him all courtesy of the Force, that mysterious field of galactic energy that binds all things together and can be harnessed by the Jedi Knights. There was sacrifice. There was death. There was resurrection. Now, just wait a minute!!!!
It was biblical in appearance, but in its substance, it lacked the one feature that gives the Bible its essence. There is no God. I can see someone--even myself--trying to stretch it, "Well, the Force is kinda like God." Except it really is not. It has a duality, good and evil. Ah, shades of Mani! Two forces, one good, but not omnipotent, god-like, but not God, (who biblically is all powerful and all good) and the forces of evil, a devil, the devil, battle it out. And mankind, at least in this Star Wars version of things, can harness the good, or the evil, which, in my mind, makes man the center of all things, the very thing which got him (and her) into trouble in the first place in the actual Bible story. The Manichaean heresy started not very much after Christianity itself, in or about the third century, and has popped its head up in various guises since and here throughout the Star Wars fantasy to this perhaps final chapter. It has popped up, sort of, in the Star Trek universe also. After all, Spock was brought back to life not by man per se, but by a planet that was created by man's science. That force too had been sought by the evil (Klingons) and was wrestled back from them by the good Federation. Medicine has gotten so good in that universe that even when you are dead, the little tricorder thing that is used for everything can bring you back, if it hasn't been too long since you kicked the bucket.
Man is the Measure of all things, and ultimately can harness the Force itself. The Force, ultimately, is subservient to man, for good finally, if Rey's return to the place where this mythic universe started, Tatooine, the Jedi Master, formed by another Jedi Master, and so on.
The paradoxical thing, and probably this is purely personal, thus anecdotal evidence of the power of temptation itself, is that I like these science fiction universes. The idea that any of us could control that which governs good and evil, the intricacies of the threads of the universe, well, heck, that is mighty attractive. For those of you old enough to remember the old commercial, for Anacin (does that still exist?) it's a kind of hubris fueled analog to "Mother, I'd rather do it myself!" Or, to analogize, "There is no need for a God. I'd rather do it myself." And so, everything, our culture in every aspect nearly these days, is immersed in doing it all for itself, with a smug smile at not merely taking fire from the gods, but banishing all gods, the false and the one True. As Dr. Phil might ask one of those sad souls who needs to air the dirtiest of family laundry on national television might respond, "How's that working for you?"
So, what's the bottom line? I am not sure, to tell you the truth. I still like Star Wars. But maybe. . . .that's not a good thing? I don't know. Maybe it's food for thought, at least?
And my guess? Not the final Star Wars film. After all, a new Skywalker has risen.
No comments:
Post a Comment