Star Wars - Renegade Cut

what is the force in Star Wars the mysterious energy is a connective tissue that binds the universe together although associated largely with the Jedi and the Sith and the film's the force actually surrounds everyone obi-wan Kenobi explained it best in a new hope it's an energy field created by all living things it surrounds us penetrates us it binds the Galaxy together under this interpretation the force is a spiritual aura created by living beings that propagates itself throughout the universe in an omnipresent but invisible field in the Phantom Menace qui-gon jinn tells young Anakin Skywalker that microscopic organisms called midi-chlorians tell living beings the will of the force but it should be noted that he never says that midi-chlorians are the force this is separate and sometimes misunderstood midi-chlorians interact with the force and help other organisms interact with it but midi-chlorians are not explicitly said to be the force midi-chlorians interacting with the force does not make them the force any more than it would make human beings the force just because human beings interact with it the force is spiritual not biological the existence of the force a spiritual construct that also provably exists presents philosophical and moral questions that are addressed but only infrequently answered over the course of the main six canonical films extrapolating from what we do know the Star Wars universe makes for a base example of how we both view and debate the nature of good and evil if such things exist the force is said to be comprised of two sides dark and light this light dark dichotomy is representative of a concept called moral absolutism this worldview posits that moral values exist in the universe at large and transcend local custom situational ethics or regional values in short right is right wrong is wrong and gray areas do not exist supernatural religious belief often fosters faith in moral absolutism in Star Wars belief in the force is explicitly said to be a religious belief one that has fallen out of favor by the events of a new hope your sad devotion to that and religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes this seeming core of moral thought in the Star Wars universe light in dark reinforces the notion of moral absolutism in this philosophy the belief is that moral values can be discovered or even already have been discovered and are usually passed to humanity through a creator this creates paradoxes of course if a creator gave humanity moral values based on what he thought was right then social values existed outside of him in the first place disproving creator based moral absolutism or if he created such values arbitrarily they are meaningless it's called the Euthyphro dilemma and it concerns itself with whether justice and goodness are arbitrary or not c-3po exclaims thank the maker at one point but we are given no real information in the film about who this maker is is he a god figure that the galaxy warps or is he specific to droids only is the maker just someone who physically built c-3po we later learned that as Anakin Skywalker is he the maker the expanded universe gives us some hints to this but since that is no longer canon it is no longer relevant here at any rate Star Wars is no stranger to the concept of god or gods Luke explicitly says oh god early in a new hope when he is concerned about his uncle and c-3po is mistaken for a god by the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi with so many revered gods in the galaxy it is no surprise that moral absolutism is as popular a concept in Star Wars as it is in reality moral absolutism insists on good and evil Darth Vader as explained by obi-wan Kenobi was seduced by the dark side of the force for this reason he is considered evil when I left you I was but to learn no moral universalism a related but distinct concept suggests that moral good and evil can be found but it is based on human reasoning and that it may not be a spiritual construct moral universalism also differs in that it posits that morality did not exist prior to humans making moral judgments in the Star Wars universe this applies to a great number of species beyond humans the Galactic Senate is an embodiment of moral universalism an abstract concept in action a group of enumerable worlds with a general understanding of what is considered right and wrong in the prequels obi-wan Kenobi appears to reject moral absolutism and embrace moral universalism based on his insistence on the importance of the Senate and democracy not to mention this famous line if you're not with me then you're my enemy only a Sith deals in absolutes however the moral universalism of the Galactic Senate can be corrupted by human error as it is when the delegates trust Senator Palpatine moral relativism is the belief that all judgments are either culturally based rationalizations or entirely subjective as an example of the former we see the Jawas enslave and sell sapient droids to humans and it is somehow deemed acceptable due to a cultural bias in the Phantom Menace we see that slavery is simply a legally accepted part of the culture of Tatooine as Anakin Skywalker and his mother are both slaves if this were illegal bygone gen and young obi-wan Kenobi would simply free them with a wave of their lightsabers for the broad subjectivity of moral relativism we see it plainly in Revenge of the Sith Palpatine is evil to sum up even though Star Wars characters frequently reference the light and dark sides of the forest as the guiding principle of perfectly defined good and evil there are significantly more complex systems at work in their galaxy next let's delve into spiritual concepts in Star Wars as defined by our real-world organized religions due to a single line into the Empire Strikes Back in which Han Solo says I'll see you in hell we have to imagine that the Star Wars universe contains some belief in a negative supernatural afterlife whether or not this resembles a Christian concept of Hell is open to speculation the expanded universe novels and comics previously gave us some insight but again those no longer count somehow hell is a fascinating spiritual concept because among its many iterations in a multitude of religious faiths one of the more constant or at least reoccurring features is that it is eternal punishment eternal is this justice comparatively actual crime mandates a sentence to be served eternity is so impossible long that we can't even envision it how can someone anyone commit so many misdeeds over the course of a 30-60-90 year lifespan to warrant eternal agony with no hope of redemption and what real purpose would that serve anyway star wars actually covers the topic of redemption extensively let's discuss the crimes of Darth Vader in the prequels he murdered many people including but not limited to children in the original trilogy he is at least partly responsible for the destruction of Alderaan as he is complicit with Grand Moff Tarkin Darth Vader is responsible for almost countless deaths I felt a great disturbance in the force as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced Darth Vader betrays Emperor Palpatine to save his son Luke somehow in the performance of one redemptive Act Darth Vader is allowed to join his comrades in what can be described as a positive supernatural afterlife comparable to heaven this too seems rather extreme does this one moment rectify everything else he did although produced out of sequence watching the Star Wars in chronological order provides a clear Christ narrative Anakin Skywalker's mother said that there was no father and that she simply became pregnant without any explanation this is an obvious parallel to the story of Immaculate Conception Anakin was also foretold to be the chosen one who would bring balance to the force not unlike being prophesized to be the messiah his eventual was sacrificed in Return of the Jedi noticeably parallels Christ's sacrifice for the sins of humanity there are differences though in the Gospels the devil tries to tempt Jesus in the Judean Desert the devil fails in Star Wars the devil succeeds at least for a time Anakin the Christ figure actually succumbs to temptation we are seeing a what-if scenario speculating on what would have happened had Christ not had the will to resist the devil then to know the dark side and you will be able to save your wife from certain death back to the original question what is the force it's a similar connection to real world religion is that of animism the idea that everything has a spirit people plans rocks everything you would insist that people are as he puts it luminous beings and not crude matter star wars is often called science fantasy more than science fiction but the films have a lot more to do with widely believed spiritualism than wizards and Dragons the animism of star wars is a very appealing concept the idea that everything has significance thanks for watching and may the force be with you you you

Channel: Renegade Cut

Views: 42,669

Rating: 4.9151425 out of 5

Keywords: Star Wars (Film Series)

Id: qU8TSTQkLek

Length: 10min 11sec (611 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 13 2015