Anger in the Star Wars Universe: Episode III

Episode III

Anger

in

the

Star Wars

Universe

Do the Star Wars

movies present

anger as a bad thing?

Episode I here

Episode II here

Welcome to the final installment on anger in the Star Wars Universe, mostly focusing on the original movies. In part I I described how the characters are allowed to show anger in the films; in the second part I delved into Luke's hero quest, and the famous Yoda teaching that anger can lead to the dark side dominating your destiny.

Before we get to the final confrontation between Luke and the baddies, I'd like to address a comment from Judy, Judy, Judy in re. Yoda's teachings about the Force, because they helped me find a way to re-word some of this. One thing she said was:

"Aggression is called for sometimes, also. If I walked in on someone hurting my kids or gkids - I would be aggressive and I don't think it would be the wrong response."

Therefore you can listen to the "dark" part of yourself without it dominating you. I agree. Defending your children is the perfect example because though it draws upon aggression, it is motivated by love. You are, in essence, still on a path of love. If you took that attacker to court after you would still be on a path of light, because this is justice. But if you chose to take revenge on his children by killing them, now you've started down a dark path, rather than dipping into it.

A lot of Shakespearean tragedy is like that--you decide you want to be King of Scotland, and start down a path that gets bloodier as you go and ends with your own death. It's also why Batman is called The Dark Knight--he's an exploration of whether it's possible to serve justice outside of the law, and without corrupting yourself too. (And Watchmen takes that discussion to a whole other level, but SW was not made to be a Watchmen.)

In the prequel movies, Anakin is tempted by the possibility of thwarting death. Hubris. Luke Skywalker believes his father was murdered by Darth Vader, so at first it's revenge. Once he finds out this is his father, he'll be tempted by other things (it's all très Jesus in he desert: A father-son relationship! No? Power to bring peace to the galaxy! No? Hmm power to save your friends?)

Of course we know lots of every day examples of people given such choices, like Izzeldin Abuelaish, the Palestinian doctor who worked in an Israeli hospital, and whose three daughters and niece were killed by Israeli shelling of Gaza. He wrote I Shall Not Hate and dedicated the rest of his life to promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace. That's drawing power from the good side of the Force. ;-)

But back to Luke, who when he goes up against Vader and the Emperor doesn't know exactly what he's going to do. Obi-Wan say he has to kill both baddies. Reasonable as they've committed atrocious crimes all over the Galaxy. Even a Jedi can feel "righteous anger" for what's been done, and not only could the sentence unarguably be death, but isn't this the only way to bring balance to the Force? By taking down this overabundance of Evil?

(SW craft book!)

But the entire Jedi Order was fooled by Palpatine back when he was only one bad guy with one lackey; and the greatest Jedis of that Order were unable to take him down even when they still outnumbered him. So Luke is right to not listen to them now:

Luke: There is still good in him [Vader].
Ben: He's more machine now than man. Twisted and evil.
Luke: I can't kill my own father.
Ben: You cannot escape your destiny. You must face Darth Vader again.
Luke: I can't do it, Ben.
Ben: Then the Emperor has already won. [So passive aggressive, that Ben.]

We have proof that Luke is right, though.

At 4:00

When the Millennium Falcon makes a last minute escape in Empire because R2 knows the hyperdrive was deactivated, Admiral Piett and the crew on Vader's star destroyer watch their boss in fear, waiting to see who'll get the invisible hand of punishment. But Vader just leaves the bridge "his hands held behind his back in a contemplative gesture" (Star Wars, the Annotated Screenplays) and we see Piett alive in the next movie. It's also significant that when Luke arrives on Endor in the next movie Vader senses his presence there, but the Emperor does not. Something's changed.

Luke tells Leia he's got to try to turn their father back to the good side, and he boldly tells Darth Vader the same. Vader replies--a little sadly?--that it's too late for him. "You don't know the power of the dark side." He sounds… trapped?

In the confrontation with Vader and the Emperor Luke tries reeeally reeeally hard not to lose his cool. But the Emperor does what he did to Anakin: He spouts all kinds of lies that we know aren't true. Just as he says "From here you will witness the final destruction of the Alliance" and comments on Luke's growing hatred, the Ewoks attack the bunker on Endor.

 

Just as he says "your friends on the Endor moon will not survive" Chewie takes over a walker and blasts open the doors to the shield generator.

He's manipulating Luke and because Luke is letting his emotions go crazy, he's not able to see through it. (Is Palptine wearing a bluetooth ear piece or something?)

Unfortunately Palpatine is wrong about Luke's weakness: It's not his faith in his friends, it's his lack of faith. Each lie makes him mad. But Luke was right that Palpatine's weakness is his overconfidence. Overconfidence that three foot tall teddy bears can't help overthrow an Empire (which is why it would not have worked with Wookies, people! No one would build a shield generator on a planet full of Wookies!) and overconfidence that he can talk trash to Luke. But every time he laughs evilly and shows off about how he pwns Luke, he spoils the mood: 

Emperor: Goood. Use your aggressive feelings, boy! Let the hate flow through you!

Luke: What the-! [puts away lightsaber] Damn.

He does this more than once, it's a bit hi-larious.


But if Palpatine's off his game, Luke and Vader have each other's number. Luke can still sense the good in his father.

Luke: I sense the conflict!
Vader: There's no conflict! Buahhhh!
Luke: You won't kill me na na na! [Runs and hides, looking scared sh*tless. Note that his face is half in light, half in darkness.]
Vader: Give yourself to the dark side. It is the only way you can save your friends.

There it is--the final temptation. The same one that Anakin fell prey to. Love, oddly enough. So if it's love at the heart of your fears, how will you know the right thing to do? "You will know, when you are calm. At peace."

Vader cont.: Yes, your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for... sister! So...you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. ...If you will not turn to the dark side, then perhaps she will.

If Luke was really thinking here, he'd know Leia is less likely to turn to the dark side than he is--he just told her she's "always been strong" for heaven's sake. But it's Cloud City all over again. Luke goes ballistimacus and attacks Vader over and over again and he almost does what his mentors told him to and kills him. But Palpatine's overconfidence saves the day!

Hooray!

His cackling kicks in again.

Emperor: Good! Your hate has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your destiny and take your father's place at my side!

Luke looks at his father's several mechanical hand, and at his own mechanical hand--a mirror moment of the tree in Dagobah. And now he finally centers himself. He throws away his weapon. He knows that the only way to defeat the Emperor is to do what no one in his position has ever done before and turn down "Unlimited Powah!!!!" and be willing to die instead.

And be willing to do the thing that even the most powerful Jedis in the Galaxy couldn't have done, because they never knew family and this wasn't their father--he lays down his own life, rather than kill Anakin Skywalker, and the good he knows is still there.

The Emperor is shocked - shocked!

So is Vader! His dark side, once so powerful he couldn't resist it, falters! He watches his master electrocute his son, hears his son call out in pain to him, and the conflict rages within him. He couldn't save Padme, but he could save their son. This is the immortality he sought and lost.

He does something so far removed from Palpatine's experience that the old fart's made NO provision for it, no protection, he doesn't sense it, he doesn't see it coming; Darth Vader sacrifices his own life, for love of his son. He steps off the dark path and back onto the light one. And balance is finally brought to the Force.

 

Vader's menacing theme is gently reprised

Le sigh.

And then while Leia travels around the Galaxy holding justice trials, Luke co-holds reconciliation commissions, right? That sounds about right. Cause there's probably a lot of anger left out there after 20 years of tyranny. People are going to need to express it.

I hope you enjoyed my Star Wars essay. Though I'm not as SW-geek as the die hards, spinning these theories is my particular brand of geekatude. Thanks for bearing with me!

    
       

Anger in the Star Wars Universe: Episode II

Episode II

Anger 

in 

the
Star Wars 

Universe

Do the Star Wars

movies present

anger as a bad thing?

In part I I pointed out that in the general course of things, the SW characters are allowed to express the full range of emotions including "negative" ones like anger; but that Luke and Anakin's fatal flaw is their fear of losing loved ones, expressed in anger.

By the way, I love that Luke is an impulsive, reckless 20 year old male with anger problems who needs to grow up. After the recent London riots, methinks Lucas chose the perfect fatal flaw for his hero to overcome.

Anakin didn't know how to get deal with his fear and anger by talking about it with a friend. I blame the Jedi Order for that--my personal theory (this is hors canon) is that the imbalance in the Force is expressed in the way they take children from their parents and raise them sans emotion. How could this Order deal with a kid like Anakin who'd already experienced the full gamut of emotions? No Jedi trauma therapists. If he'd had a friend like Padme around, maybe he would've had someone to talk to, instead of Jedi buddies who are all "You miss your mother? Wha? Wha?"

Extent of the advice Anakin gets. Not to mention what a great way the Jedi all have with kids (not) evident in all the council scenes.

I think what Anakin and Luke bring back to the Force is full human experience. They're emotional, they're full of conflicted feelings, love and passion, and they have to learn to contend with them, unlike the Jedis who've been raised since babies in passion-free temples. …Just my theory.

Anakin has poor tools for coping with his passions, so when his mother is killed by the Tusken Raiders he doesn't even investigate to find out why it happened, he commits a gruesome crime, one that his mother would be horrified by. And later he commits the same crime when he murders the wee padawans. And he goes on to commit horrible crimes including the building of a genocide machine.

This is what Yoda is worried Luke's anger will lead to. If Chewbacca had murdered Lando, we all know it wouldn't have led to a killing spree or genocide because Chewbacca's temper stems from being a Wookie, not from a fatal flaw. This is the same guy who will later cuddle Han in Jabba's palace. After Lando gives them helpful information he could have killed him, but he doesn't because Lando is useful to them--Chewie's anger doesn't overpower his thinking.

But Anakin and Luke are Hamlets or Othellos. Young, conflicted, full of potential but only if they can overcome their demons. What Yoda wants Luke to learn is what no one taught Anakin: How to tell the good side of the Force from the bad. Anakin was constantly being manipulated by Palpatine, and the entire Jedi Order didn't see it until it was too late.

Yoda's had 20 years to rethink how to train a Jedi who wasn't reared as one since birth. The result is this teaching:

YODA: Remember, a Jedi's strength flows from the
 Force. But beware. Anger, fear, aggression. 
The dark side are they. Once you start down 
the dark path, forever will it dominate your
 destiny.
LUKE: But how am I to know the good side from the bad?
YODA: You will know. When you are calm, at peace. Passive.

There are two important factors in this advice. One, he's telling Luke that there are two sources for Jedi power: the good side and the dark side. If you want to wear the white hat, then you have to be careful about where you draw your power from. Not dissimilar from "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." If you apply that to Earth, it's like hoping one's politicians, CEOs, bankers, army and police forces will draw their power from the good side of the Force--that they'll keep other people's interests in mind, care about society, be kind. A little more Warren Buffet, a little less Rupert Murdoch.

Second, he's saying it's hard to tell the difference between the two sides when you're het up under the collar--this was Anakin's problem. You can't make good decisions, especially moral ones, this way. He's not saying: When you see someone steal an old lady's purse, don't get mad. It's normal to get mad. But he's saying, when you grab the bad guy and dispense Jedi Justice, breathe through your nose. This way you won't slaughter a village for killing your mother, or be fooled by your mentor into thinking Sith Lords know the secret to immortality.

When Luke runs off to Cloud City to save his friends, without finishing his training, it's a rash decision, an emotional one. Does he help at all? No. He makes things worse because they have to turn back and rescue him, and he loses his arm. Bad decision based on emotionally wrought up feelings instead of calm.

Confronting Vader he tried to play it cool, but on the inside we know he's 100% Inigo Montoya because he draws his lightsabre first.

A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.

He's aggressive throughout the fight, and Vader tells him one of those famous Sith lies: "You have controlled your fear. Now release your anger--only your hatred can destroy me." It all goes to hell in a hand basket. Luke can't deflect the junk being tossed at his head, and finally Darth Vader reveals the unbearable truth of his paternity. BUT! Notice what happens after all the no-no-that's-impossible-I'll-never-join-you-ing. A calm and serene look comes over Luke's face.

Calm at 2:18

He knows, with total conviction, the right thing to do. Better to commit suicide than to stand there being tempted by the dark side--he drops to his possible death, and thus saves his life.

And discovers his connection with Leia!

One of my favorite shots from the trilogy.

 - "We've got to go back. "  -"WTF?"

After being rescued Luke can be as angry as he wants. He goes back to Dagobah and gives OB1 heck for lying to him: "Why didn't you tell me?" And in the original script Obi-Wan even affirms his feelings: "I don't blame you for being angry."

"A certain point of view? Ease."

But in the third movie it's back into the belly of the beast for Confrontation #2. And this time Luke will have overcome his anger, because this time he'll be up against the Sith Lord whom the greatest Jedis in the Galaxy were unable to defeat. Palpatine's faced both Righteous Anger (Mace Windu) and calm Supa Fighting (Yoda) before. Remaining calm will help Luke hear that small voice telling him the one thing that he can do to win this fight, that no one else could. :-D Tune in tomorrow!


PREVIEW FOR NEXT WEEK - STARTING TUESDAY - THE OLIVER SERIES
He was a poor little kitty with four barely working legs. But he was Adventure Boy! so he would pull himself around the carpet determined to get the most out of life. Would he ever be able to walk? Find out! In the Tuesday postings of Oliver: Adventure Boy!

      

Anger in the Star Wars Universe: A Trilogy! (of course)

A week ago I was reading my friendly neighborhood blogs when I came across this Betty post.

Aunt Bea had written about the concept of The Universe is Unfair on her last few blog entries, and how if you move too quickly to "life's unfair, suck it up buttercup" you're denying your own emotions and this is unhealthy. You gotta just let yourself feel the anger or sadness of your situation without running straight to Someone Else's Sadder Situation or The Essential Randomness of It All.

 In the comments the discussion went along those lines. Our good friend Judy, Judy, Judy said: "People are so quick to squash any negative energy. It's not going away because you don't want to look at it. It's just going to pop up somewhere else." I agree. Eg. If you feel jealous of someone you can: (a) pretend you don't feel it, and it will go underground and still exist; (b) recognize and feed it; or (c) recognize and deal with it.

Aunt Bea replied: " Love your thoughts about not squashing negative energy. I'm a huge Star Wars fan (original 3, at least) but it always bothered me that anger was considered a bad thing in those movies."

At first I thought, Hm! this is true. Then I thought a moment and decided, hmm wait, no. And thus was born a very long essay on...

Anger

in the

Star Wars Universe

My thesis: On a moral level, Lucas doesn't portray the expression of anger as something that leads to bad consequences; he argues that someone aspiring to a position of immense power must not make decisions in moments of high emotion, such as anger. On a story level, the particular heroic flaw that both Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker must overcome is the fear of losing people they love, and that fear expresses itself in anger; therefore they have to learn to control this anger--express it at appropriate times, so that evil people don't take advantage of them.

I'll mostly confine myself to the original movies, for simplicity. And I will post over a few days because it's long.

PART I

First, how is anger portrayed in the actions of the characters outside of our hero Luke?

We know Luke's uncle is a good man cause he's all short-tempered and crusty;

C3PO and R2's bickering humanizes them;

We know Leia and Han are in love because they make each other lose their cool;

 The audience is made to love Chewbacca most when he's trying to kill people because he's in extreme grief over the possible death of his best friend: When he's throwing people around in the carbon chamber, and when he's choking Lando--Chewie is given complete license by Lucas to show his anger;

 Yoda is the most impatient, crabby old sonovamuppet in the movies. When he reveals who he is to Luke, he gives him a speech of Righteous Anger: "What know you of ready!... You are reckless!" He's always barking at him. "Not different! Only in your mind!" And he gives Luke the most famous shaming in the Universe: "Do or do not. There is no try." 

"I guess that's what you're best at!"

These characters aren't punished for expressing their anger (Luke when Han won't stay and fight for the Rebel cause) or their fear (Chewie's anguished cry when the blast shield is closed on Hoth), or their sadness (when Luke and his father say goodbye), or their pain (when Han is tortured). The original Star Wars movie was only so successful because these characters were allowed to be fully human, including the droids and beasties.

So anger isn't the problem per se. Unleashing wookie whoop-ass on Lando won't Lead You Down the Dark Path and Forever Dominate Your Destiny.

But every story has its hero, and this story is about Luke who has inherited the same problem as his father: They have a deep-seated fear of losing the people they love. I don't know why Anakin's got such a bee in his bonnet, but Luke thinks his mother died when he was young, thinks his father was murdered, then his adopted parents are murdered, then his new father figure mentor is murdered by guy who murdered his father. He is sad. And like his father, that fear is his weakness and can easily be manipulated into extreme anger.

TOMORROW: PART II

More about Luke's fatal flaw and why Yoda's always going on about anger and dark paths