Everyone's talking about Star Wars, includingme. Only I haven't seen the latest entry in the series, which makes me more objective. Justin's doing a good job of keeping readers informed, which lets me completely off the hook -- not only as a reviewer, but even as a spectator. I don't need to see it. Besides, who would go with me? I have no children, and most of my friends (the people I might normally go to the movies with) are saving this one for their own kids.
From what I've read, it's definitely about kids. About child development -- especially what happens when that process in which a boy becomes a man is contaminated.
Contaminated by what? Hell, I don't know. I haven't seen the damned thing (which I had assumed was about the evil, Imperial-mongering Bushitler Vader or something). But Dean Esmay has, and he offers some intriguing insights:
I remember all too well being a surly, angry, resentful, rebellious teenager (and early 20-something). Me? I bought into the whole thing as a refusal to grow up and face your own demons--which to me is the ultimate in cowardice.
It was made pretty clear to me that Anakin never really loved Padme--he loved the idea of her. She, on the other hand, really did love him even though she often found him incomprehensible.
Maybe this all because I grew up with what they call "father issues." Growing up, I didn't really have a father so much as a series of men who sort of tried to fill that role in various half-measures.
With the hope that this isn't getting too personal (I don't think I'm talking out of turn or saying anything secret here) I note that Solomon Mason loved Episode III as much as I did, and grew up in a similarly broken home. I suspect that as a result we both related to Anakin and his dark side almost instinctively. After watching Episode III I felt like I totally "got" Darth Vader. I thought, "Damn, yeah, if I were who I was back when I was 21, and I'd had that kid's powers, I could well have turned into Darth Vader."
That moment after Obi-Wan had defeated him in battle, and Anakin screamed, "I hate you!!!"--man, chills ran down my spine. He was filled with rage at Obi-Wan for not validating everything he wanted to believe about himself.
It does help if you keep in mind that Anakin was young--very young--and quite conflicted and alone most of his life. The Jedi Council was probably right that he was waaay too young for the responsibilities he was being given. But it wasn't just his youth: it was obvious from day one that Anakin was kind of a mess.
Maybe others who didn't grow up like that, or know anybody like that, can't relate. I don't know. Me, I thought it was beautiful. Especially in seeing how his son Luke, faced with many of the same problems and limitations, overcame them and became a better man.
To be painfully self-revealing here, I often hope my sons will be better men than I was at their age. In truth, I often guage my effectiveness as a father with that as my yardstick--not to push them or bully them or try to make them someone they are not, but because I was a train wreck back then. My boys are not me, and they have to make their own way and discover who they are. Indeed I often marvel at how wonderful they are as people, even in their imperfections. I am only an imperfect (to say the least) guide when it comes to being a good person.
Still: it was obvious to me that the self-conflicted mass of insecurities that was young Anakin was like clay in the hands of Palpatine. It was so obvious to me I didn't feel it needed any further explanations.
That's damned good. And damned scary. I don't know whether I'd rather have kids or just watch the damned movie.
Childish issues frighten me because of often-repeated myths associating childhood with innocence. (When I was two, I learned that children are not innocent, and it's a lesson I never forgot.) What if the "Dark Side" is childish after all?
The innocence of evil is probably the worst kind of innocence. And evil.
Not that any of this would matter to a child.
posted by Eric on 05.31.05 at 02:04 PM
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I've always been amazed by the number of people who believe that children are born naturally good and pure. Have they never spent five minutes around a two-year-old? You have to teach a kid to share, but not to steal. You have to teach a kid to say "Please" and "Thank you," but not to lie like a rug. You have to teach a kid not to hit his siblings, but he will learn how to manipulate you with his tears all on his own.
The non-innocence of children? Indeed, I, too, have known of it since I was two and not innocent. The Catholic church had a name for it:
"....I argue about the world; -- if there be a God, since there is a God, the human race is implicated in some terrible aboriginal calamity. It is out of joint with the purposes of ita Creator. This is a fact, a fact as true as the fact of its existence; and thus the doctrine of what is theologically called original sin becomes to me almost as certain as that the world exists, and as the existence of God...."
-Cardinal John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1864)
Dean Esmay. What a man he is. I know that he is an excellent father to his sons -- just as I know that I would not be, and therefore have no children.
Star Wars? Hmmm..... Seem to be reading about it all the time now on the blogs that I'm reading. I must confess that I've only seen bits and snippets of that series, even as little as I've seen of Star Trek since the days when Dr. McCoy told Mr. Spock to shut up. I grew up on the original Lost In Space* television series, and on The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone back in the early 1960s, plus numerous cartoon shows and comic books of those days.
I suppose I shall have to see the entire Star Wars saga someday, as it seems to be becoming part of the folklore of early 21st century Late Western, or American culture. Right now, though, I'm far too immersed in this endless saga of Dawn vs. Wanda, etc, etc.... ....and G. K. Chesterton's stories and essays as well. There are some other books I need to read, too. Too many things. Way too many things.
When I think of Star Wars and Darth Vader and all that, I always think of President Reagan's Star Wars against the Evil Empire of Communism. The style of it all. The Star Wars thing, from what I hear of it, seems to be taking place in some analogue of the late Roman Republic, the time of its transition into the Roman Empire. Senators, etc.. Mr. Bricker admires the Roman Republic. I keep thinking of some kid back in junior high school who looked at a drawing of some steps and exclaimed: "Steps of the Roman Empire!"
When I think of Empire, I think of a dream I once had, an extremely vivid and clear dream. A professor of political science, an extremely powerful and authoritative man, worshipped by his students, wrote his political philosophy on the blackboard in 3 words: "Empire. Empire. Empire." The style of that! His daughter remonstrated with him that this was in some way blasphemous, going against the Gods. He asserted his stern paternal authority. The whole thing was in song, operatic. The father had a deep baritone voice. The next scene was of the daughter on the way to a gigantic funeral of her father, who was now universally worshipped, as he had now built the Empire. The whole assemply was lit with searchlights. The girl was trembling, knowing that she would have to have to, in the name of the Gods, denounce her father....
The style of it all, both the father and the daughter. Is the way my story is now heading? Will holy Norma have to oppose her father, the General, and his evil wife Corona?....
"....to make ______ _______ the absolute dictator of the total population of the Earth, in other words, the first ruler of the world...."?
Meanwhile, wicked Wanda has now set up a special school to teach science to smart children. Xrxqtl.
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
I've always been amazed by the number of people who believe that children are born naturally good and pure. Have they never spent five minutes around a two-year-old? You have to teach a kid to share, but not to steal. You have to teach a kid to say "Please" and "Thank you," but not to lie like a rug. You have to teach a kid not to hit his siblings, but he will learn how to manipulate you with his tears all on his own.