Star Wars Part Two

For you, who have already seen all six Star Wars films, what I am about to say will be like-- well duh! For me seeing them all this month was an eye opener. I expected to enjoy watching Star Wars IV, V and VI, but I had always avoided Star Wars I, II and III. Can any trilogy that kills Liam Neeson in Part I be good? I thought not.

The reviews I had read of the films were poor as they were compared to the last three. (Using words like first and last, when discussing these movies, is confusing. First is last. I will try to stick to Roman numerals.) I also thought why did the beginning stories matter? Why would Lucas go back there when it has to be tragic? We already know the Empire is going to win until VI; so what was the point of such a negative set of stories?

There might be other theories on why those first three films are of such value; but for me, Star Wars I, II and III are more pertinent today than I probably would have felt when they first came out. They are stories about the birth of evil, how it happens, and how a culture slips into accepting evil leadership.

Star Wars I is the weakest of the lot which may be why many people, who saw it, never bothered with the rest. Star Wars I lays groundwork for what is to come, but it's not a strong film. When II comes along, you begin to see what Lucas had in mind. He is showing us through a sympathetic character-- yes, Anakin, who becomes Darth Vader, is sympathetic-- how someone who didn't start out intending to become evil can go down that path.

It came out of his character not being well grounded, allowing fear and anger to cloud reason, misplaced values, not knowing who to trust, and because of others who knowingly or otherwise played on his weakness.

Sometimes people, who mean well, do wrong without thinking where step one is going to lead. In my opinion, where it came to Anakin, the Jedi fell into that category. One part of what sends Anakin into his tailspin was something from the Jedi themselves. They were more mature, saw a bad situation developing, and asked Anakin to do something that, as he understood it, went against the Jedi code, something that he had been taught was inviolate. Someday he might have understood rules must be bent, but he wasn't ready for that understanding, and frankly they knew it. It's a good example to keep in mind for parents with young children. You can't tell them not to lie and then ask them to tell the boss you are not home when you are.

Most important in these stories is seeing how a culture, in the name of security, can trade away its freedom. Sound like something we have been living through? I highly recommend seeing I, II and III. Together they form a whole that is worth keeping in mind as we seem to be living in a time with a lot of parallels.

We have already seen a lot of things happening that would have been hard to believe 6 years ago-- freedoms given up, torture justified, killings condoned, and many people have nodded their heads and said okay. Is it really so impossible to believe we could reach a point where our current government refuses to give up the reins of power and has enough people in key positions that they can't be stopped? When you don't care when evil is done to keep yourself safe, you can soon find out that the evil is being done to you.

To me in many ways, Lucas created a stronger set of parables in Star Wars I, II and III than in IV, V, and VI-- even though the latter have their own lessons and are a lot more fun to watch.