The Musser of Star Wars & The Sith in Me

(Disclaimer-Once again I must point out that I write these blogs for me, and that I hope I am not offending anyone if I seem at all judgmental at times. It is not my intent. Also I suppose I give away some plot points of Revenge of the Sith, and Return of the Jedi but if you're even remotely familiar with Star Wars I'm not really giving anything away. But If you are just seeing them for the first time,and going in order from 1-6 then do not read this blog just yet. It'll be here waiting for you after you complete the Holy Saga.)


Well I finally got around to seeing Episode III- and I was quite happy with the fine people I saw it with (even if they are Brooklynites)- and I am thrilled to say that the film did not disappoint. It was certainly the best of the new trilogy. Sure the acting and the writing were frail at times, but it is a Star Wars movie after all. (Although Ian McDermiad was phenomenal as the Emperor and I feel that Ewan McGregor has solidified Obi-Wan Kenobis fate as the greatest cinematic hero of all time, with the lone possible exception of Indiana Jones). Though some critics disagree with me, I felt that Anakins turn to the Dark Side was understandable. He was a man of passion, and loved his wife more than anything in the world. This blinded him. He justified the atrocities he committed (e.g. killing Jedi younglings) as a means to saving his wife, who he has foreseen-through the Force- will die in childbirth (he is misled by the Emperor to believe he can prevent people from dying if going over to the Dark Side). As we all know Anakin Skywalkers fall to Darth Vader is tragic, and though he is one of the greatest villains of all time, there is still good inside him, and that he will eventually redeem himself. It might have taken him his whole life, but he is eventually able to conquer the dark side inside of him.
An interesting theme in the change of Anakin to Vader is that of love. Anakins love blinded him. Yoda and Obi-Wan say how it is necessary to detach ones self from love at times, as it can lead to the Dark Side (which in the film obviously proved to be true). To quote Marty McFly, I found this ideology to be heavy. Yet, the more I thought about it the more I realized there was truth in it. You can love someone with all your heart, and in doing so may compromise your own values to preserve that love (should it be dwindling), and/or protect the object of your affection. Sometimes, as painful as it may be, one must let go of love in order to serve the ultimate good, even if we cant see it. It is so easy to hold on, to give in to frustration and desire. But sometimes by letting go we free ourselves from the enslavement of the Dark Side. I think those who can do this often achieve a higher level of happiness than those who cannot.

Though nearly everyone agrees this is by far the most emotional Star Wars film, I must say I was hit quite hard at times, even fighting back tears during a few scenes (and since Spielberg cried during the movie its OK). I saw the inner turmoil that plagued Anakin and it mirrored a lot of feelings I've been going through. Like Anakin, I know deep down that I want to be good and do good, and yet I constantly struggle with the Dark Side. It is so just so enticing at times. It's easier to give in to anger and hate (as well as apathy, their shadowed evil cousin) , and do what may seemingly come more natural as the Emperor suggests. And conversely, sometimes it is so hard to do whats right, to not let our yetzer hara get the better of us. Justification is the primary tool of the Dark Side. Hardly anyone is inherently evil, we all want to do good, but our view of what is good can be easily twisted. Too often we look for a reason to not do good (or even specifically to do bad), and often rationalize a reason to do so in the name of what we now deem to be good. If we let our negative emotions (anger, jealousy, depression,hatred, fear, resentment etc) get the better of us, it becomes all too easy to sway in Anakins direction, and the Sith inside us is unleashed. Anakin thought he could bring "peace" to the galaxy by joining Darth Sidious, but he only helped create an Empire whbecausere is "peace" becuase of the absolutisms that the Emperor inflicts. I often feel the pangs of anger, and the desire to do what I know to be wrong, because as we all know, sometimes it feels good to be bad. Too much emotion is a bad thing. Our emotions can betray us, and can be catalyzed by our desire to do wrong actions (which are, again, justified as being good). Like a Jedi, we (but really "I") must learn to manage our emotions, and not let them run wild as a Sith does. We must learn to control our anger, to find a way to let our hate subside, and perhaps hardest of all, to not give into fear. Fear is the ally of the Sith (as I learned in the Darth Maul promo ads back in 99).

There is one final ideology that I've been debating for a while now that seems to be introspectively sewn into the Star Wars saga. This is the belief that in order to grow one must first fall. So basically in the Lucasinian world, Anakin had to become Vader in order to eventually kill the Emperor. To relate this to our world (even though I did once kill a Sith Lord, but I didn't have to go to the Dark Side to do it- longggg story, different blog) one could say that in order to quit smoking and doing pot, one had to start doing say, Coke or heroin, in order to eventually become completely clean. Or that one had to stop keeping Shabbos, and start eating traif in order to do real Tshuva and get back on the proper derech (sorry if that seems judgmental, but even if I should fall to the lowly level of porno writer/director, as my high school buddies once joked, I'll always believe that, as a basis, Shabbos and Kosher, even in the slightest sense, are the forefronts of THE proper derech.) So now my question is, is this true? I honestly don't know. It certainly works for some it seems, but there are others who go down these dark roads, and justify it as a means to eventually get back on the right road, yet many of them don't. They do not get the happy beginnings. Furthermore maybe the whole idea is flawed from the get go. Yes, in the end Anakin brings balance to the Force by killing Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, but he murders dozens of people on the way. Yes, he dies in defeating the Emperor, but does that make up for all of his sins.? As we see at the end of Return of the Jedi it in fact, does. But maybe the idea of falling in order to grow is one big false generalization. Anakin had the chance to defeat the Emperor, but was too easily seduced by the Dark Side. He could have killed the Emperor without becoming a Sith, and set things right. Yet he succumbed to his fear and arrogance, and did terrible actions. Maybe there's another way instead of falling that we can grow. I'm really not sure. To be honest I have fallen and grown as a result. In fact, whatever growth I've managed in the last 4 months is mainly because of the guilt I feel from some stupid actions in the 2 months before that. And now as I look to take a huge leap in the growth department, I feel the urge to taste the Dark Side a bit more, to fuel the no doubt, difficult alterations I hope to make. I hope you see the flaw in this. And I also hope, foolishly perhaps, that I not only find a better solution to this conundrum (feel free to post one), but that I don't give in to the Dark Side. I saw what happened to Anakin, and though it's only a movie, it opened my eyes to a frightening possibility.