I Don't Have a Choice...But You Do

The more and more I think about, go back re-watch, re-read my TFA materials, listen to spoilers, listen to AD talk about Kylo's "humanity" in ep8, the more I'm convinced Ben Solo's story is a tragedy and we must truly feel pity for him. I've posted many times comparing Kylo to classic Greek and Shakespearean tragedies and called him a tragic hero. I still stand by that. If we can buy Anakin's redemption than you should acknowledge the potential for Ben's redemption.

Before everyone starts running their "but he killed his dad, LST, Luke's padawans, etc.", consider every amount of evil Ben (choosing my words carefully) has done was a test. Not only for Snoke, but to prove to his grandfather he's worthy of the black mask. He keeps having to prove himself. Over and over. He kills Luke's padawans. He kills LST. But then has a feeling of "the pull to the light?" Dude has been on a murderous rampage the past 5-6 years but he still can't shed the light? Yep, because in true wannabe fashion, he can't fully commit. That is why he may never be a sith. He cannot will himself to hate. He has to manufacture it (see the symbolism of punching his wound prior to the saber battle). Kylo can't completely go over to the dark side but it has "already dominated his destiny." He's in a cycle he can't break out of. Leia knows it. I believe Rey knows it now too. Look at Kylo's face each time Rey's bested him, whether interrogation or by saber. He looks stunned, almost pathetic. Perhaps Rey makes him realize he "will never win." He never will be Darth Vader. He can barely even be Kylo Ren.

I am far-reaching the TFA novelization and I think I finally got what I'm supposed to get out of Leia and Han's talk about Ben and Snoke. I get the feeling Ben was never a kid with mental issues. He was simply bored and lonely. He had two busy parents and was left to his own. Thus, Snoke knowing a Skywalker descendant had the equal potential for good or evil (Luke/Leia or Vader), began to work on Ben. We don't know if it was mentally (Obi-Wan style - see Luke and Rey) or physically (befriending him somehow -see Palpatine Playbook). But Snoke influenced Ben long before he became Kylo. When Leia tells Han of Snoke's influence, Han asks, "from the beginning?" I found this intriguing. The beginning of what? Ben's life? Ben's personality changes? Ben's turn to the dark side? Leia says she didn't tell Han for fear he'd push him further. So my guess is it was a combination of all those things. Leia believes any evil Ben committed was because of Snoke. She feels he's acting the part of Kylo Ren. Like most of us, when Leia says she wants Ben back, I thought it was odd. Yes, I know he's her son, no stronger love than that of a parent, yada... But she senses his conflict. There's still time to bring him back. Yet, Leia "has a feeling" it must come from Han. She was right!! We all saw it. Kylo kills Han Solo and it doesn't make him feel any better. He passed Snoke's test but he didn't pass his own. He will not be Darth Vader. No matter how much he surrounds himself in his grandfather's paraphernalia (helmet, alleged cape...), he will never shed Ben Solo. Just as Vader could not shed Anakin Skywalker. "You can't deny your family." It's an ironic lesson that makes for a great story. The Skywalker lineage DOES have equal potential for good/light or evil/dark. It's the choices the individual makes that determines their true destiny.

That being said, Ben will keep spiraling, go darker and darker in deeds until he realizes the truth and accepts his fate. Very much like Macbeth

Symbolism Humor Time!

What happens when you mash up It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, The Force Awakens and a dash of symbolism?

It's the Great Jedi, Skywalker Brown!

Kylo: I got a mask!
Finn: I got a jacket!
Rey: I got a blaster and a lightsaber!
Luke: I got a rock.

[rim shot]

Listen to the Author's Whispers

I may have mentioned this quote somewhere else on this blog, but it begs another mention...

"It's not what an author says, but what he/she whispers that is important." - Logan Pearsall Smith

Man, I love that quote.  It basically articulates why I like, and get so much out of any favorite book, poem, film, song, film, etc.  It's the English major deep within me that keeps coming back and finding new things in all my favorite texts.

Story time alert!

Perhaps the most fun I ever had in putting together video to teach was putting together my "The Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker" video "essay."  I started using Anakin as an example of a tragic hero about a year or two before ROTS.  All the pieces were in place to document Anakin's tragic hero journey.  We had the beginning, part of the middle and the finale.  Yet, we had to speculate what happened at the most crucial part of that journey.  What happens when Anakin "dies" and is reborn as Darth Vader?  I knew there would be a payoff in Episode III, but I had no clue how deep and wide it would go...

I had connections to greek tragedy, Shakespeare, and in my option, some pretty purposeful storytelling.

Did the much maligned George Lucas achieve a master stroke of storytelling?  Did he really put that much thought into what was on the big screen or, like most Star Wars fans, I was digging way deeper than was ever intended.

But it's do darn easy to do...

I patiently waited for ROTS to be released on DVD so I could put the final pieces into that video essay.  However, there was so much to choose from the original cut was 2+ hours!!! I didn't want to chew up multiple class periods watching this examples, but ....

The first thing you notice when you watch all 6 films, and focus on just Anakin and anyone/anything that interacts with him, you see the hyper-focus on hitting the "beats" of a tragic hero.  You see the conflicting advice between mentors, the emphasis on choices, the "more machine than man" Vader rhetoric and on and on...

The next thing that stuck me is the sway Palpatine has over Anakin.  Pay attention to what Anakin says in AOTC and you see it's less about Anakin's "poor dialogue" and "whiny complaints", and more about Palpatine's brainwashing.  Anakin, literally, parrots things Palpatine has told him.  "Someday I will be the most powerful jedi ever" and "Obi-Wan is holding me back" isn't Anakin's wishful thinking and pitiful teen, it's specific Palpatine statements and advice. It becomes evident, as early as AOTC, that Anakin is the robo-man he would become starts long before he's ever in The Suit. To paraphrase a Chuck D comment, "you wind up robots and robots will do what they do."

Anakin is so far under Palpatine's sway, that aside from the few times he tries to break free (see Padme and Luke), he seems completely dependent on Palpatine's advice, assistance and power.  A dark side symbiotic relationship (thanks, Qui Gon!) if there ever was one.  Thus, when Darth Vader says, "you don't know the power of the dark side" over and over between ESB and ROTJ it takes on a whole new meaning...

Love is the Answer

To quote Todd Rundgren and Qui Gon Jinn, "love is the answer."

So here's another fun, far-fetched thought/theory... Anakin was supposed to fulfill an old jedi prophecy about a chosen one who brings balance to the force.  Certainly one can make the argument that Anakin did just that.  Although, he had to go to the dark side, as Darth Vader, to destroy the Emperor, bring balance to the force and restore peace to the galaxy,  Therefore, Anakin brought balance to the force, by a show of force (pun intended), with an assist from his loving son, Luke.

But what if there's more to the prophecy and the "love" part?

What if Anakin brought balance to the force, not by violence but love?

Love. Really? Peace and love, man.  Far out.  The Beatles called and they think you're trying too hard.

Hear me out.  Anakin brings balance to the force by breaking the rules and having a family.  THAT'S how he fulfills the prophecy.

Huh?

Let's continue... Anakin and Padme have two children. One boy (Luke), one girl (Leia). Balance. Both are force sensitive, but only one (Luke) develops his potential with the force.  Unfortunately, Luke discovers the power of his dark side (see ROTJ).  At this time, based on the films, we're not sure how he comes to grips with that.  Let's say there's a force imbalance within the House of Skywalker.

Later. Leia and Han have a child, a boy ironically named Ben, who is strong in the force but develops it for the dark side.  However, Uncle Luke is still in the game, so there is balance in the force.  Then Ben becomes Kylo Ren, takes down the jedi academy and Luke disappears.  Again, we find imbalance.

Now here comes Speculation the Force Ghost.  He says, Luke and his wife have a child, a girl, "Rey."
One girl. One boy.  One light. One dark. The girl assumes the legacy of Anakin Skywalker.  The boy assumes the legacy of Anakin's shadow, Darth Vader. Together they bring balance to the force. Two sides of Anakin Skywalker.

[Aside: Have the Star Wars films ever made it clear what "bringing balance to the force" actually means? Does it mean bringing light and dark to equilibrium? Is balance to the force just a synonym for peace? Is this why the jedi has such trouble interpreting the prophecy? For my purposes, I interpret it as being a tad more complex.  As it is the natural way of things to ebb and flow.  Like a pendulum.  As soon as things are going too far to one way, they start to swing the other. So the more evil there is in TGFFA, the more good tries to rise up to take it down.  And then it swings the other way...]

To circle back, Anakin broke the rules and brought balance to the force.  It may not be the way the old school Jedi would've liked, but the prophecy was true. Thus, through love and family, Anakin Skywalker fulfilled his destiny. He brought balance to the force and the galaxy. Good on you, Anakin.

The End...or is it?

Tragedy Trumps Triumph

It's no surprise by now that Star Wars fans everywhere were stunned to learn that The Galaxy Far, Far Away didn't sustain the happy ending of Return of the Jedi.  The Force Awakens showed us that... Han and Leia are separated, their son went rogue and turned to the dark side, the Empire is gone but The First Order has risen, the New Republic didn't turn out the way everyone hoped and, most importantly, Luke bolted.  That ain't good.

Perhaps it's the hardest lesson to learn in life; we experience and witness more tragedy than triumphs. We endure more loss than gain. To paraphrase an old adage; Life is a sad grind, punctuated by brief burst of elation and illuminancy.  Boy, those are happy thoughts.  However, we wouldn't appreciate the highest of highs if we haven't dabbled in the lowest of lows. Maybe that should be our take away with Round 1 of the Sequel Trilogy.  In the Star Wars universe it is tragedy that rules the day.

Over the years, I've taught my students about tragic heroes.  We've discussed many of the usual suspects: Hamlet, Oedipus, Antigone, Othello, Macbeth, Willy Loman... We've even discussed true life tragic heroes: Malcolm X, LBJ, Nixon, Timothy Treadwell.  Students have even shared their own examples: Mufasa, The Sandman, Albous Dumbledore...  Yet, some of the best examples of Aristotle's "tragic hero" come from Star Wars.  While Anakin Skywalker tops the list, ROTS showes us that Obi-Wan Kenobi deserves consideration.  Then along comes TFA and now we have to add Han Solo and Luke Skywalker to that list.  Who would have ever thought George Lucas and Joseph Campbell's posterboy example of the Hero Journey (Luke) could also fit Aristotle's tragic pattern?

I will examine how these characters fit Aristotle's criteria in future blogs.  Please share your ideas and stay tuned!

Power Corrupts Absolutely

Chalk this one up on the list of wacky ST theories...

In TFA novelization, the Restistance leaders are chatting about how Starkiller Base works.  Admiral Ackbar says something interesting things about there being more dark energy in the universe than anything else.  I'm sure this is more scientific than Star Wars light side vs. dark side.  But then Admiral Statura makes this very cryptic statement:

“If the engineering could be worked out, one would have access to an almost literally infinite source of energy.”

Hmmmmmmmmm.


Someone once said, regarding the ST, we're going to see the force in a different way.  Well, what if the whole Starkiller Base was a red herring?  I'm sure there's thousands of deceased First Order officers and troopers who would beg to differ. But what if Starkiller Base had a dual purpose?  The first, obviously, to have the ability to wipe out entire systems, strike fear into the galaxy, destroy potential enemies and establish a new Empire-like regime. Yada yada. So imagine a second purpose was to find a way to harness energy in order to create a limitless power source.  Imagine if that could be channeled into some kind of force power... Somewhere I can hear Palpatine yelling "Uuuuuuuuunlimited Poooooooooower!"

The dark side forces are working on that unlimited dark power.  Kylo wants to finish what Vader started. Many have debated what that quest was?  Bringing "peace" to the galaxy?  Destroying all the jedi? Trying achieve ultimate power? Maybe it is that goal of absolute power.  Assuming it is, that whole Starkiller ruse takes on a much more ominous premonition.  As they now have discovered how to harness the power of suns to unleash a seemingly infinite source of power, maybe it's time for a Kylo  v. Snoke showdown for sole possession of that ability?  After all, Kylo's dad warned him Snoke would use him and drop him the first chance he got.  And if one of them is unable to beat the other to gain possession of that resource, why not enlist the other most powerful beings in the galaxy? Luke Skywalker and, possibly, his sole heir Rey.

Since it's probably a guarantee Luke would refuse to join up with Snoke or his nephew, I'm sure destroying his jedi academy sent quite a message. [Aside: could this massacre been over trying to find Rey? Has she been the macguffin for Snoke/Kylo all along?  If Kylo didn't "stash" Rey away on Jakku, maybe he's been trying to find her ever since she disappeared?] Since he has faith in his sister's ability to take on the First Order, via the Resistance, maybe he thought the galaxy was better off without Skywalkers? As he probably hid Rey away (adopted parents?) long before the academy massacre, he probably knew he had to hide himself too.  Perhaps memories of his flirtation with the dark side (ROTJ) was more traumatic than we ever realized and Luke knows a direct confrontation with Snoke and Kylo would require more than meditation and passivity.  The potential galactic consequences a battle of that magnitude could bring would be devastating.

Since the PT, we've hear talk about  prophecies about someone bringing balance in the force.  As Snoke/Kylo are bringing about another imbalance, there has to be some giant light side power source to counter this dark side increase. Two words. Rey Skywalker.  In the TFA novelization Rey's Story, Rey talks about having a sense of purpose/destiny within her.  In the regular TFA novelization, during his interrogation mind probe, Kylo sees "something" worth analyzing but is blocked by Rey before he can really get a handle on it.  What is this glow? This "something?"  It's a source of light side force power/ability that no one has ever seen before.  [Somewhere Qui-Gon Jinn is frustrated he can't whip out his midichlorian meter.]  If Luke, potentially married another jedi and they had Rey would that not make her, arguably, the first child ever born of two jedi parents?  Thus making her the purest of the pure force-sensitive humans?  A potential pure-bred jedi? Rey is The Natural.  This could explain why Rey is able to "easily" take to force abilities (i.e. jedi mind trick, force-grabbing lightsabers out of the snow, channeling force ghosts,etc.) long before any character we've previously seen in Star Wars films. Whereas Luke and Kylo had to (assumingly) painstakingly developed their force abilities, it comes to Rey easily. Perhaps she is the true Chosen One?  

Follow That Droid

OK, TPM confession time.  There were two things that got some eye-rolling with me when I saw TPM in 1999.  First, I thought the whole "immaculate" Anakin thing was a little much.  It felt forced. Since then I've come to appreciate it.  The other was this idea that Anakin built Threepio.

Really?

For Real?

I remember thinking: does everything have to connect back to the OT? [somewhere some TFA-haters are chuckling and nodding their heads]

Then as the PT marched on, I started to wonder if this was intentional.  What if there was some subliminal, symbolic reason why Anakin is responsible for C-3PO's existence.  Then the light bulb turned on. Eureka! I have it all figured out.  I'm going to "take what they give me..."

Let's play FOLLOW THAT DROID!

At any time during Episodes 1-7 if you want to know how Anakin is doing, mentally and spiritually, just look at Threepio. No, seriously.  LOOK AT HIM. His appearance mostly, not so much his chatty-chatterbox routine, but his physical makeup...OK, and maybe a little characterization here and there. So let's follow Threepio through all seven films.

Episode I
Anakin is young, a slave and not a jedi yet.  He has not yet realized his full potential or his true power.

Threepio is freshly built and missing his outer shell.  He has not yet been given opportunity to show his stuff as a protocol droid.

Episode II
Anakin is a strong, yet tad reckless jedi padawan.  He's good, but has a long way to go in solidifying his jedi identity.

Threepio has progressed to the next stage.  He's attained his outer shell, but it's lacking its final golden finish. Oh yeah, and for part of the film his head is mixed up with a battle droid head.  He's certainly not all together there. [SYMBOLISM!!!]

Episode III
Anakin is a full-fledged jedi knight, a legend and thisclose to being a jedi master.  Oh yeah, and he is powerful and turns to the dark side.  Anakin "dies" and Darth Vader is born.

Threepio is in his full shiny golden glory and a useful droid for the Skywalkers. Loyal, dutiful and knowledgeable, Threepio has come a long way from Tatooine. However, once Palpatine and Vader begin Order 66, Padme dies, the twins will be hidden and Frankenstein's monster Vader is put in the black suit, Threepio has his memory wiped! [This is not exactly an outward appearance reference but, golly, it parallels the Anakin/Vader thing perfectly!]

Episode IV
Darth Vader is "more machine that man." He's, inwardly, a broken man who seems to be just going through the motions as Palpatine and Tarkin's lackey, er, enforcer.  He goes around reminding everyone how powerful he is because of his knowledge of the Force.

Threepio is a beat up protocol droid who gets dinged around and has no knowledge of his old life. He is constantly complaining and fearing the worst.  Can you imagine what R2 must think of him having to listen to this all these years?

Episode V
Darth Vader realizes his son is alive, well and strong in the force.  Deep down he is "being torn apart" by his duty to the Empire and his need to enlist Luke and start a new fight.  Perhaps, this is when the "conflict within him" becomes palpable. By the way, I should mention Vader lops Luke's right hand off.

Threepio is blasted into pieces after making a wrong turn at Albuquerque, er, thinking he hears an R2 unit, accidentally walks in on some hiding stormtroopers.  Chewbacca starts to put him together, but can only get the head (backwards) and an arm (the right) on and carries him around in a bag.  By the way, in the carbon freeze chamber, when Boba Fett raises his blaster to shoot Chewbacca, Vader pushes his arm down.  Why?  Not because Vader's got a soft spot for Wookiees.  Not because he does't want to start a battle in the middle of this frozen dinner factory.  It's because Boba Fett would've shot his droid, bro.

Episode VI
Luke is able to bring the Anakin back and destroy Vader.  He becomes a creepy happy force ghost. And everyone lives happily ever after...Well, at least for the next 15 minutes...

Threepio is in his full golden glory.  He has finally amounted to something special.  He's an Ewok god and has become a fine storyteller. [Man, remember back in the day when Threepio said he wasn't much good at telling stories? Joseph Campbell would be proud of your journey, Threepio.]

Episode VII
New movie, so I've gotta come up with something so I will.  The red arm.  Why does Threepio have a random red arm?  Because something is missing.  Even though Anakin was redeemed in ROTJ, something is missing. Anakin is somehow still incomplete. Is it Luke's failure at rebooting the jedi?  Is it Anakin's force ghost who, allegedly, glitches back and forth between Anakin and Darth Vader? I dunno.  What I do know is that Threepio is whole again by the end of the movie.  You know why? Two words: Rey Skywalker.  "The circle is now complete." Rey will complete what Anakin started as The Chosen One.  She will bring true balance to the force.

Sometimes you can't make this stuff up...