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Jewish World Review May 23, 2005 / 14 Iyar, 5765 The Empire meets middle age By Debra J. Saunders
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
For me, the "Star Wars" saga faded with "Episode VI: Return of
the Jedi." It wasn't the cutesy Ewoks, although the teddy-bear warriors were
irritating beyond belief. No, the big problem was the fact that Darth Vader,
who had killed countless souls without hesitation and destroyed an entire
planet just to make a point, nonetheless wholly redeemed himself by refusing
to kill his own son. Thus Vader won a coveted spot in the afterlife sitting
by the eternal campfire with Jedi good guys Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda.
The dead Darth-turned-Anakin looks happy, too. You can imagine
him turning to his old chums, and saying, "Sorry about Alderaan. Have a nice
day."
If only Hitler had sired a son. Then, after the Blitzkrieg and
the Holocaust, Hitler might have had that redefining moment that would have
gotten him in touch with his paternal inner self, and taken up gardening. Or
origami.
The problem is, George Lucas has written a saga about evil,
featuring the most infamous villain in film history, but he doesn't
understand evil. As evidenced in the new release of "Episode III: Revenge of
the Sith," Lucas may not even know what "really bad" is.
Think of Lucas as one of those muddled liberals who think George
Bush is evil, while Saddam Hussein is a piker. In an act that should be, but
isn't, campy self-parody, the left-wing fanatics at Moveon.org have produced
a new TV spot that depicts Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist "as a hooded
villain who seeks absolute power over our courts." (Need I remind you,
gentle reader, that if conservatives compared blocking the filibuster for
appellate court nominees to mass annihilation, talking heads in tweed coats
would be dismissing the analogy as dangerously over the top?) To round
things out, let me add that Lucas' view on the very bad is analogous to
conservatives whose darkest fear isn't Osama bin Laden, but Hillary Rodham
Clinton.
Reviewers have been quick to note the nexus between President
Bush's statement, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists,"
to Anakin Skywalker's pronouncement, "If you're not with me, you're my
enemy." A coy Lucas told an audience in Cannes that he started writing "Star
Wars" when Richard Nixon was president, and he sees strong "parallels"
between Vietnam and Iraq.
Let me credit Lucas with this much. "The Phantom Menace"
produced complaints that he engaged in facile racial stereotypes that
demeaned Asians, Arabs and Africans. Since then, it is clear, Lucas learned
that there is only one facile stereotype that is safe in Hollywood:
Republican equals evil. Bush bad.
Fine by me. If Lucas wants to take the mantle of the Bush
critics, be it understood that he spent jillions of dollars and made six
epic — and let me add, very watchable — movies, just to make the point
that a man can wipe out entire civilizations, and still have a germ of
cuddly goodness in him.
What's more, that germ of goodness means more, at movies' end,
than the countless children he has killed, the void with which he replaced
entire communities and the dull misery he inflicted wherever he went.
Thus, we discover, as Obi-Wan says before the final light saber
duel, that the Sith are evil (despite their germ of good?), not just for
what they do, but because, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." In Lucasworld,
moral relativists are the real good guys in a universe of gore.
Which doesn't make sense because the Jedi do trade in absolutes,
as does every tribe. They've got their rules, too — and they're pretty good
rules, if they do become overly cumbersome, hokey and dangerous at times.
Afterward, Anakin notes it is not the Jedi way to kill an
"unarmed" man. Forget that this particular villain can't be unarmed as long
as he has his mind. Forget that he is the reason so many others died, and
the Jedi didn't fret about their end.
Most laughable: Of course he was unarmed. Anakin had just cut
off his hands.
I sigh. In younger times, Lucas had a unique and dashing vision.
Among dazzling special effects and in a universe far, far away, there was a
hero with the simple message, "I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you."
But after years of accolades, spin-off corporations and
merchandising deals, the word is now, to put it politely, decidedly
middle-aged: "Only a Sith deals in absolutes."
May the force be with you.
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Comment JWR contributor Debra J. Saunders's column by clicking here. © 2005, Creators Syndicate |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
