Baah, BAAAH, bu-bu-bu-Baah-baah…
A short while ago, on a planet not far away, a digital citizen began an adventure. The Ephesian, excited by the hype of the upcoming Force Awakens, set out to re-watch and review all the prior episodes. After surviving the pod race and witnessing the death of Qui-Gon Jinn, we join him as he muses his way through the emotional Episode II, Attack of the Clones.
Greetings digital visitors! While people on the internet are sensationalizing the new theory that Jar Jar Binks is a Sith Lord, I’d like to explore a different concern: how Star Wars displays spiritual warfare. As always, spoiler alert.
First of all, Star Wars is a series that makes heavy use of clear Good vs. Evil archetypes. For the most part, the music, lighting, and various other hints (the “lens”) clearly indicate how the viewer is supposed to understand what is being portrayed.
Additionally, I’d like to say that I like the Star Wars franchise over all (so far) because of this. Its a Sci-Fi that still acknowledges a spiritual reality. It depicts good vs. evil, but it often depicts what it’s like to wrestle with gray areas and face temptation. Finally, it’s built around Jedi, who are supposed to be the keepers of wisdom, who live celibate, who are supposed to own nothing, and who strive to keep the peace (kind of like priests!). Anyway, on to the movie itself.
We all know that Anakin Skywalker is destined to become Darth Vader. Episodes I-III are a look at how that transformation happens. As such, the directors were keen on including a number of hints at how Anakin went astray. Generally speaking, Anakin’s arrogance was a key part of his downfall. Paired with this was his tendency to disobey orders or to at least argue about them. For example, when Obi-Wan tells Padme about their mission to protect her, Anakin boldly contradicts him in front of the whole room. Later, when Anakin and Padme are preparing to leave Coruscant, Anakin goes on a rant about Obi-Wan’s, accusing him of artificially holding him back because he was jealous of his superior abilities. Of course, this attitude of disobedience and questioning goes all the way back to Qui-Gon Jinn’s decision to train Anakin despite the opposition of the Council. Disobedience tends to breed…
 |
|
Obi-Wan Kenobi: “Anakin, and you will pay attention to my lead.”
Anakin Skywalker: “Why?”
|
Anakin slaughters the sand people needlessly – the movie makes it obvious that we should be disturbed by this, and that’s true. Anakin’s repeated attempts to woo Padme (besides being poorly written) are sometimes accompanied by music that has a kind of secretive feel to it – this clues us in that something not quite right is happening and its right again.
In fact, that’s what I really want to talk about: Anakin and Padme’s forbidden love. It seems that the world is obsessed with forbidden love (just watch almost any romance movie). Because of that, I find it interesting that Star Wars takes up this theme of forbidden love, but, unlike most movies, actually vindicates the fact that it is forbidden. It is directly related to Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side, and the movie is good about indicating that Palpatine (Darth Sidius) is directly plotting to make this happen. The wedding scene is even accompanied by music that sounds a little triumphant, but has a strong sorrowful undertone (I think it’s in a minor key?).
In other words, their love is moving, emotional, but ultimately, dare I say it… wrong! How can love be wrong? What could they have done? That’s exactly what I want to get at.
Padme initially rejects Anakin’s advances precisely because she is conscious of his promises to the Jedi order. When they finally talk openly about their feelings for one another and their position, they both touch upon the key problem – they’d be living a lie. That’s it, that’s the problem. To act on these feelings for each other is to ignore the greater reality to which they belong and to contradict themselves. Ultimately, this hypocrisy plays an important role in distancing Anakin from the other Jedi and facilitating his turn to the Dark Side.
How could they have done anything differently? How could they deny their feelings? The movie tries to hold the tension between the natural goodness of human beings “falling in love” and the damage that raw emotion can do. Our culture has bought into the lie that “if you feel something, you have to act on it.” This isn’t true. The movie doesn’t help because it strongly implies that these two “had no choice” in falling in love. Well, that can happen, sort of… Attraction and affection can sometimes get away from our control, but that doesn’t mean we have to act on these feelings. Really, Anakin’s downfall wasn’t the marriage and it wasn’t the kiss. Anakin’s downfall was his initial assumption that his feelings for Padme had to be followed. He never gave himself room to believe he was capable of not acting on these feelings. And… his attitude of rebellion and pride prevented him from taking his Jedi promises seriously at the beginning.
 |
| “Just being around her again is… intoxicating” |
As with all temptation, the longer you wait, the harder it is to resist. Anakin never seriously treated his feelings for Padme as a temptation, and so his fall was inevitable. Obi-Wan gently tried to lead Anakin away from his infatuation with Padme. He tells him to watch his thoughts and that “dreams pass in time.” Though it’s not a terribly romantic idea, it is true. Affection, especially if it is not acted upon, will begin to fade.
I could go on with detail, but I’ll end here with a hypothetical description of how Anakin probably should and could have handled this situation:
Anakin reluctantly recognizes his commitment to the Jedi Order, but chooses to make a real effort to keep it. He also honestly admits that he has an attachment to Padme which contradicts his commitment to detachment (and celibacy). When Obi-Wan warns him about his thoughts, he should have admitted his difficulty in controlling his emotions (being 19 is pretty tough, even for a Jedi). If Anakin had swallowed his pride and asked for help from the beginning, it is likely that Obi-Wan, and perhaps even the council, would have intervened to prevent him from being put in the unbearable position of having to be alone with her so often. Then, distance and time would have allowed nature to take its course, Anakin would mature, his feelings would fade, and he would find greater freedom to act according to what is right (not according to emotions).
Bracketing all the Sci-Fi, Jedi stuff, this kind of action might sound ridiculous or even impossible to someone in the throes of young love, but it is in fact possible (with God’s grace!). I’m pretty close with someone whose been through a similar situation in real life, but he didn’t end up becoming and infamous Sith Lord. Instead, he chose to make an act of the will not to act on his emotions, to keep his commitment to what is right over what feels good and now he’s still celibate and the feelings have faded.
Farewell my friends. I’ll see you next time with Episode III. Until then,