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shadowkatStar Wars - The Force Awakens Meta - "What is the Force and How does it Relate to Us"
Oddly, of the films (and yes, I've sat through them all and all in the movie theaters no less, some many many times, except for the prequels - sorry, once was enough), Star Wars - The Force Awakens does the best job of explaining the force, how it works, and what it means and how it relates to us, as viewers.
I found it rather reassuring actually.
And today, weirdly, our minister did a sermon that touched on it, although she never mentioned Star Wars. (I'm Unitarian Universalist - which has more in common with The Force and Buddhism at times, then it does with traditional Judeo/Christian, or at least it seemed to, today. In Unitarianism, the view is we are all connected to each other, the universe, nature, the earth to a source or force that flows within use all and unites us all.)
Below is a poem that reminded me a great deal of what the writers were trying to explain about the Force and how it works in the film.
And this quote, which harkens back to Buddhist principles:
The self expands through acts of self forgetfulness - Mihaly Csikszentmialyi
There's three, no make that four crucial scenes in Star Wars - The Force Awakens that take the film up to the next level and haunt long after the credits roll. I found myself rewinding to watch them again.
I'm going to see if I can find vids of them online. If not, will have to go by memory. Ah found them.
Only using them to support points in the meta.
1.
"Child the belonging you seek is not behind but in front of you. I'm no Jedi but I know the Force - it moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes and feel it, the light.
The scene starts with Maz telling both Han and Finn to stop running away from what they fear. Then shifts to Rey, who in a way is also running. Maz tells her to stand still to feel the force - to go with the flow. To let go.
2.
Han, Chewie and Finn go to the Death Star to disable the shields and save Rey (who seriously didn't need saving). And Finn reveals he knows zip about the shields and is only out to save Rey. Han is furious. Finn states, well, I know, we'll use the Force to figure it out. And Han replies, "that's not how the Force works".
It's a guide, it's not a tool to further one's own agenda.
3. Kyle Renn tells Rey that he can show her the way to the Force and it's at that moment that she closes her eyes and lets it flow through her and focuses not on him, not her anger, but the task at hand, which is defeating him to survive.
This is interesting in that it shows metaphorically the two sides. Using power for our ends, against the flow of nature. Kyle Renn cares only about Kyle Renn, much like Vader before him, he wants power.
But it leads to a homogenized society, of faceless drones, taken from their families and programmed to kill on demand. No one is connected to each other. No one really cares about the others. They are almost insect-like in their militaristic societial structure. There is no love.
4)
Han finally confronts his son. Who has been taken over by the dark side of the force. It is an alarmingly ironic sequence for anyone who has seen the original films.
* From Star Wars:
* From Empire Strikes Back:
Now Han's son worships his grandfather...and is torn. But his relationship with the force is similar to his grandfather's - one of rage. Every time he doesn't get his way, he throws a temper tantrum. It's in direct contrast to how Rey handles it. Who is calm and lets it flow. She uses the force for guidance, while Kyle Ren much like Vader sees it as little more than a tool, much as Finn did when he stated - we can use the force to figure it out. (Makes sense because that's what the First Order taught Finn, that the Force is no more than a tool.)
It's how some view science - as a tool to play god, but often with horrific results. They refuse to see that there is an energy, a spiritual force underneath...that is beyond their understanding.They seek to further their own ends. Kyle Renn doesn't think he needs anyone, and ironically in attempting to use the force for his own ends and further himself, much as Anakin did, becomes as Anakin did, it's tool or the tool of others.
In the scene with Solo, who bears his heart to his son, Ben rejects the love his father offers, an unconditional love that is pure, and chooses power instead. Later with Rey, he tells her,arrogantly, that he can teach her how to use the force, much as Vader once told Luke, yet neither understands it, for both believe the Force is a tool for them to manipulate. Not a guide. It's something that will give them whatever they request. Not a spiritual energy that binds them to others and the universe around them. They see only a small portion of it. And as a result become drones to their ego - no spirit, just mind, self-centered or in Renn's case, self-conscious, afraid.Always afraid. And in torment. Because he is never moving with the Force, instead he is attempting to manipulate and control it. And by doing so...it becomes a weapon of destruction.
This true of science as well -- if you play god with it, it can become a tool of destruction. Destroying all who touch it. Science Fiction is filled with the consequences of using science as a tool to further one's own ego, one's own accomplishments, and one's own power. As too is our society, Oppenheimer, L.Ron Hubbard, Goebbels, and various others demonstrate how science can much like the force be used to destroy. Is the Death Star all that different than the atomic bomb?
Or the gas chambers that the Nazi's created to kill billions? Both using "science" and the forces of the universe to destroy. L.Ron Hubbard utilized the science of psychological manipulation to create Scientology, a cult that promises those who follow its dictates everything they desire. In particular, fame, fortune, and power. Note family and love are not involved. And the resulting society is rather militaristic and fascist in design, those who leave are punished in horrific ways.
And those who try, sent to programming camps to be rehabilitated, much as the General or Chrome Storm Trooper promises to do to Finn - reprogram him. It's the Authoritarian Society - where spirit is denied, and one follows the dictates of ego. It's no accident that Nazi Germany made religion and spiritual practice for the most part illegal and massacred any who practiced, starting with the Jews.
No matter what you do, you will worship something. Whether it is a God, the universe, science, yourself, the force, a source, or some celebrity...it will affect your life. As is shown in Star Wars. Each character worships and believes in something, and it does affect their lives and journeys to varying degrees. Kyle Renn doesn't believe in the Force as an energy that flows through us all, but as a source of power for him to manipulate and use. He worships his grandfather, long dead. While Rey, feels the force around her, she doesn't understand it, but she feels it and trusts it.
It's not worship, exactly, but being in the flow. Letting go, surrendering to a force greater than herself and trusting it to guide her. But it takes her a while to trust it, it's not immediate.
Much as it took Luke a while to trust it. And Obi-Wan. Both Luke and Obi-wan fail in the same way, they become arrogant and think they can train someone, to teach it. When I'm not sure this is something that can be learned or taught. It is something one must discover on one's own. Much as Buddhists have through meditation. And each does it differently. It's possible that Kyle Renn aka Ben Solo had too much anger inside, too much self-hate, to truly embrace it, as had Anakin Skywalker. It's not clear why -- perhaps both felt powerless, stuck, caught in their own head space?
Kyle tells Han that he's being torn apart and is in pain. He wants the pain to stop. The fear to stop. He believes that if he kills Han, it will stop it -- if he cuts off his link to his family.
The Hero's Journey is subverted here - the Hero kills the father and becomes the Villain. While the Heroine mourns the father's death and becomes the Heroine in his place. It's Rey's adopted father, who she had no expectations, and cared for. While Ben, is disappointed in him and sees his father as weak, and a part of him that must be destroyed, that did not live up to expectations. He wasn't the legend or the god, he'd wanted him to be.
Except, by killing Han, he ensures the pain continues and to a degree his own downward spiral. He becomes even more lost. By denying the father's love, he disconnects from his own spirit, and the force becomes chaotic and difficult to control. As typified by his final battle with Rey, who beats him, slicing his face in half, a scar goes across it. And his hand is injured. He's off-balance.
And still torn. His father's death did not provide the result he expected or desired. Any more than Obi-wan's death provided Vader with the result he desired.
The contrast between Rey and Ben is in some respects clearer than it was between Obi-wan and Vader or even Luke and Vader, for Rey seems to understand on a gut level what the others do not, to trust it to guide her, not to attempt to use it as a tool. That it connects her to others. And by working with others...Finn, Solo, Po Damon, Leia...she finds her way.
[I need to find icons with Rey, Maz, and/or Leia. Sorry about the spacing, I still can't quite figure out how to do that in HTML.]
Oddly, of the films (and yes, I've sat through them all and all in the movie theaters no less, some many many times, except for the prequels - sorry, once was enough), Star Wars - The Force Awakens does the best job of explaining the force, how it works, and what it means and how it relates to us, as viewers.
I found it rather reassuring actually.
And today, weirdly, our minister did a sermon that touched on it, although she never mentioned Star Wars. (I'm Unitarian Universalist - which has more in common with The Force and Buddhism at times, then it does with traditional Judeo/Christian, or at least it seemed to, today. In Unitarianism, the view is we are all connected to each other, the universe, nature, the earth to a source or force that flows within use all and unites us all.)
Below is a poem that reminded me a great deal of what the writers were trying to explain about the Force and how it works in the film.
Tripping Over Joy by Hafez (14th Century Persian Poet)
What is the difference between your experience Existence and that of a saint?
The saint knows that the spiritual path is a sublime chess game with God
And that the Beloved has just made such a Fantastic Move
That the saint is now continually tripping over Jooy and bursting out in Laughter and saying "I Surrender!"
Whereas, my dear, I am afraid you still think you have a thousand serious moves.
And this quote, which harkens back to Buddhist principles:
The self expands through acts of self forgetfulness - Mihaly Csikszentmialyi
There's three, no make that four crucial scenes in Star Wars - The Force Awakens that take the film up to the next level and haunt long after the credits roll. I found myself rewinding to watch them again.
I'm going to see if I can find vids of them online. If not, will have to go by memory. Ah found them.
Only using them to support points in the meta.
1.
"Child the belonging you seek is not behind but in front of you. I'm no Jedi but I know the Force - it moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes and feel it, the light.
The scene starts with Maz telling both Han and Finn to stop running away from what they fear. Then shifts to Rey, who in a way is also running. Maz tells her to stand still to feel the force - to go with the flow. To let go.
2.
Han, Chewie and Finn go to the Death Star to disable the shields and save Rey (who seriously didn't need saving). And Finn reveals he knows zip about the shields and is only out to save Rey. Han is furious. Finn states, well, I know, we'll use the Force to figure it out. And Han replies, "that's not how the Force works".
It's a guide, it's not a tool to further one's own agenda.
3. Kyle Renn tells Rey that he can show her the way to the Force and it's at that moment that she closes her eyes and lets it flow through her and focuses not on him, not her anger, but the task at hand, which is defeating him to survive.
This is interesting in that it shows metaphorically the two sides. Using power for our ends, against the flow of nature. Kyle Renn cares only about Kyle Renn, much like Vader before him, he wants power.
But it leads to a homogenized society, of faceless drones, taken from their families and programmed to kill on demand. No one is connected to each other. No one really cares about the others. They are almost insect-like in their militaristic societial structure. There is no love.
4)
Han finally confronts his son. Who has been taken over by the dark side of the force. It is an alarmingly ironic sequence for anyone who has seen the original films.
* From Star Wars:
* From Empire Strikes Back:
Now Han's son worships his grandfather...and is torn. But his relationship with the force is similar to his grandfather's - one of rage. Every time he doesn't get his way, he throws a temper tantrum. It's in direct contrast to how Rey handles it. Who is calm and lets it flow. She uses the force for guidance, while Kyle Ren much like Vader sees it as little more than a tool, much as Finn did when he stated - we can use the force to figure it out. (Makes sense because that's what the First Order taught Finn, that the Force is no more than a tool.)
It's how some view science - as a tool to play god, but often with horrific results. They refuse to see that there is an energy, a spiritual force underneath...that is beyond their understanding.They seek to further their own ends. Kyle Renn doesn't think he needs anyone, and ironically in attempting to use the force for his own ends and further himself, much as Anakin did, becomes as Anakin did, it's tool or the tool of others.
In the scene with Solo, who bears his heart to his son, Ben rejects the love his father offers, an unconditional love that is pure, and chooses power instead. Later with Rey, he tells her,arrogantly, that he can teach her how to use the force, much as Vader once told Luke, yet neither understands it, for both believe the Force is a tool for them to manipulate. Not a guide. It's something that will give them whatever they request. Not a spiritual energy that binds them to others and the universe around them. They see only a small portion of it. And as a result become drones to their ego - no spirit, just mind, self-centered or in Renn's case, self-conscious, afraid.Always afraid. And in torment. Because he is never moving with the Force, instead he is attempting to manipulate and control it. And by doing so...it becomes a weapon of destruction.
This true of science as well -- if you play god with it, it can become a tool of destruction. Destroying all who touch it. Science Fiction is filled with the consequences of using science as a tool to further one's own ego, one's own accomplishments, and one's own power. As too is our society, Oppenheimer, L.Ron Hubbard, Goebbels, and various others demonstrate how science can much like the force be used to destroy. Is the Death Star all that different than the atomic bomb?
Or the gas chambers that the Nazi's created to kill billions? Both using "science" and the forces of the universe to destroy. L.Ron Hubbard utilized the science of psychological manipulation to create Scientology, a cult that promises those who follow its dictates everything they desire. In particular, fame, fortune, and power. Note family and love are not involved. And the resulting society is rather militaristic and fascist in design, those who leave are punished in horrific ways.
And those who try, sent to programming camps to be rehabilitated, much as the General or Chrome Storm Trooper promises to do to Finn - reprogram him. It's the Authoritarian Society - where spirit is denied, and one follows the dictates of ego. It's no accident that Nazi Germany made religion and spiritual practice for the most part illegal and massacred any who practiced, starting with the Jews.
No matter what you do, you will worship something. Whether it is a God, the universe, science, yourself, the force, a source, or some celebrity...it will affect your life. As is shown in Star Wars. Each character worships and believes in something, and it does affect their lives and journeys to varying degrees. Kyle Renn doesn't believe in the Force as an energy that flows through us all, but as a source of power for him to manipulate and use. He worships his grandfather, long dead. While Rey, feels the force around her, she doesn't understand it, but she feels it and trusts it.
It's not worship, exactly, but being in the flow. Letting go, surrendering to a force greater than herself and trusting it to guide her. But it takes her a while to trust it, it's not immediate.
Much as it took Luke a while to trust it. And Obi-Wan. Both Luke and Obi-wan fail in the same way, they become arrogant and think they can train someone, to teach it. When I'm not sure this is something that can be learned or taught. It is something one must discover on one's own. Much as Buddhists have through meditation. And each does it differently. It's possible that Kyle Renn aka Ben Solo had too much anger inside, too much self-hate, to truly embrace it, as had Anakin Skywalker. It's not clear why -- perhaps both felt powerless, stuck, caught in their own head space?
Kyle tells Han that he's being torn apart and is in pain. He wants the pain to stop. The fear to stop. He believes that if he kills Han, it will stop it -- if he cuts off his link to his family.
The Hero's Journey is subverted here - the Hero kills the father and becomes the Villain. While the Heroine mourns the father's death and becomes the Heroine in his place. It's Rey's adopted father, who she had no expectations, and cared for. While Ben, is disappointed in him and sees his father as weak, and a part of him that must be destroyed, that did not live up to expectations. He wasn't the legend or the god, he'd wanted him to be.
Except, by killing Han, he ensures the pain continues and to a degree his own downward spiral. He becomes even more lost. By denying the father's love, he disconnects from his own spirit, and the force becomes chaotic and difficult to control. As typified by his final battle with Rey, who beats him, slicing his face in half, a scar goes across it. And his hand is injured. He's off-balance.
And still torn. His father's death did not provide the result he expected or desired. Any more than Obi-wan's death provided Vader with the result he desired.
The contrast between Rey and Ben is in some respects clearer than it was between Obi-wan and Vader or even Luke and Vader, for Rey seems to understand on a gut level what the others do not, to trust it to guide her, not to attempt to use it as a tool. That it connects her to others. And by working with others...Finn, Solo, Po Damon, Leia...she finds her way.
[I need to find icons with Rey, Maz, and/or Leia. Sorry about the spacing, I still can't quite figure out how to do that in HTML.]