SciFi author Orson Scott Card angered a lot of Trekkies a few weeks back by writing that STAR TREK sucked. Not just ENTERPRISE, the whole Roddenberry franchise. Unsatisfied with alienating that huge percentage of scifi fans, now he’s probably infuriating legions of STAR WARS talifans by saying the Jedi, and their ideals, are extremely screwed up…even evil.
The Jedi may claim to be in favor of democracy, but in fact they function as a ruling elite, making their decisions among themselves. They occasionally submit to the authority of the legislature, and they seem to respect the rule of law, though whose law it’s hard to say. By and large, however, they decide among themselves what they’re going to do and when it’s OK to break the law and defy the civilian authority.
They are, in fact, utterly anti-democratic, like a militia that owes nothing to civilian authority…
…So instead of looking at the storyline of Episode III as a conflict between good and evil, you could read it as a conflict between the entrenched aristocracy trying to preserve their monopoly on power, and an ambitious upstart, who is determined to break that monopoly and take control for himself. The only reason we don’t see it that way is because the other side is so
much more evil. But the body count left behind by Jedi knights is — or should be — disturbing.
He’s not the first person I’ve heard say this. I was stuck in traffic the other day and heard a commentator on NPR make a very persuasive argument that the Jedi were the true villains of REVENGE OF THE SITH ("The flawed despotism of the Empire is better than the aristocratic smugness of the Jedi.")
As I watched REVENGE OF THE SITH, I might have paid more attention to the values of Jedi vs those of the Sith if the movie wasn’t so dull. Somewhere between STAR WARS and REVENGE OF THE SITH George Lucas forgot how to be funny, entertaining and lively. God, I missed Han Solo. Sure, the effects are astounding…it’s a shame the rest of the movie has all the drama, emotion, and humor of an HOA meeting.
(Thanks to S.L Viehl for pointing me to Orson Scott Card’s essay)
I once read a very similar argument in favour of (Lord of the Rings) Sauron.
Episodes 1-3 are almost all backstory, the stuff good writing profs tell you to cut in favor of pace and dramatic value. As the movies unfolded, I came to believe Lucas should have left well enough alone.
My imagination had already filled in a backstory with the help of Alec Guinness’s narration: the Jedi Knights were honorable protectors of the realm who learned to harness the very Force behind life to come to their aid. Darth Vader got carried away with what he could personally gain with his abilities. Using the Force for evil slowly ate away at him until he needed to wear the famous suit to survive. The End.
My biggest beef with Eps. 1-3 is that they do make the Jedi look bad–at least more petty. This image of the Jedi doesn’t follow logically from the original trilogy. I’m reminded of Brian De Palma’s MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movie making Jim Phelps a villain–a possibility so beyond the original character’s range it was laughable.
What’s the old saying? The victors write the history. In the Star Wars saga, ultimately the Rebellion and the Jedi win therefore their version is the “right” one. If the other side had conquered, then the other version would be correct.
It’s one thing to put your faith in a religion founded by a real person who claimed divine revelation, but it’s something else entirely to have, as the scripture of your religion, a storyline that you know was made up by a very nonprophetic human being.
No,Orson, they’re both kind of silly.
I find it even stranger that, after discounting the “religion” of a few moviegoers in desperate need of friends and a life, he writes so much about it and its flaws. It’s only slightly sadder than all the people up in arms over the historicity of The Da Vinci Code.
Next they’ll be complaining about the mixed moral messages of Willy Wonka.
The thing I thought was strange about the Jedi was that their Force powers only seem to extend to kicking people’s asses. We only see combat, never the wisdom that the Force supposedly confers.
Another gripe: Lucas keeps telling us what great friends Anakin and Obi Wan are, but we never see them being particularly friendly. At least in the original we got to see Luke and Han bond a little.
<<>>
a.k.a. You’ll find that many of the truths we cling to, Luke, depend greatly on our point of view?
BTW: The Jedi seem to have no trouble defending a Republic that condones slavery. It’s only when their own personal power gets threatened that they decide: Palpatine taking over Senate = Bad. Jedi taking over Senate = Good.
Graham wrote, “We only see combat, never the wisdom that the Force supposedly confers.”
I agree the movies were combat-heavy, but I never thought the Force itself conferred better judgement. Its positive uses were for knowledge and defense; its negative ones for attack.
In other words, the Force allowed access to knowledge. Only through training could one learn to use that knowledge wisely.
Andy wrote: “Next they’ll be complaining about the mixed moral messages of Willy Wonka.”
Or the talking M&M commercials, in which case, I might have to get really nasty.
Gerald wrote:
In other words, the Force allowed access to knowledge. Only through training could one learn to use that knowledge wisely.
Yeah, they say that, but we never see it. Apparently Lucas never learned “show don’t tell”, at least as far as the story goes.
Graham wrote:
Yeah, they say that, but we never see it. Apparently Lucas never learned “show don’t tell”, at least as far as the story goes.
And I was going by Yoda from EMPIRE. Eps. 1-3 show almost nothing, as you said.
Knowing how you like a good critical smackdown, I thought you might be amused by Anthony Lane’s review.
“Mind you, how Padmé got pregnant is anybody’s guess, although I’m prepared to wager that it involved Anakin nipping into a broom closet with a warm glass jar and a copy of Ewok Babes. After all, the Lucasian universe is drained of all reference to bodily functions. Nobody ingests or excretes. Language remains unblue. Smoking and cursing are out of bounds, as is drunkenness, although personally I wouldn’t go near the place without a hip flask.”
“And if you think the script is on the tacky side, get an eyeful of the décor. All of the interiors in Lucasworld are anthems to clean living, with molded furniture, the tranquillity of a morgue, and none of the clutter and quirkiness that signify the process known as existence.”
Oops, I should have scrolled further down to see you’d already posted a link to the review.