Liberalism and the Dark Side

Intellectual Conservative.com ^ | 12-22-05 | Steven Laib

[Tamar1973]

Takes that liberal cheap shot about conservatives being the only ones who believe in absolutes on its head. Most conservatives do believe in absolutes. Liberals only believe in their absolute right to control the rest of us.

[ClearCase_guy]

Strong with the bold, this young Padawan is.

[ExcursionGuy84]

...conservatives understand that the world is not perfect...

Helen thomas is proof enough of that.

[BenLurkin]

Meesa no wanna liberal Sith persons in charge of da' Republic.

Meesa know they be changing it to Marxist Empire all too soon.

[Old Sarge]

But... but... but, Lucas himself said he wrote it about the evil Sith Lord G'Dubya!!!!

[Chi-townChief]

Isn't saying "only Sith deal in absolutes" an absolutist statement itself?

[sgtyork]

Great. May the Force be with you!

[Tamar1973]

But... but... but, Lucas himself said he wrote it about the evil Sith Lord G'Dubya!!!!

Even if some of the one-liners might have been inspired by the current political scene, the overall story was more inspired by events going on circa 1973.

Lucas himself said that Star Wars was inspired by events during the Nixon/Vietnam era, especially rumblings that Nixon might try to get the constituion changed so he could run for a 3rd term.

That's the backstory, which explains why Obi-Wan (in EP.3) kvetches about the fact the Chancellor has stayed in power past his constitutional mandate. It also explains a brief conversation between Anakin and Padme in Ep.2 where Anakin reminds Padme that the Naboo were willing to change their own constitution so she could remain Queen past her term. Padme replied that she had no desire to stay in office beyond her term but was happy to be appointed by the new Queen to be Senator.

[Old Sarge]

Very interesting insight, thank you!

[GW and Twins Pawpaw]

Absolutely!!!

[Sofa King]

Obi-wan also followed up by screaming out that the chancellor was EVIL!. Really, Lucas didn't know what the hell he was doing with Episode 3. From a standpoint of trying to examine the movie's themes, it's a half-baked mess.

[Tamar1973]

Isn't saying "only Sith deal in absolutes" an absolutist statement itself?

Especially when the next thing Obi-Wan says is "I will do what I must," and starts trying to hack at Anakin.

If Obi-Wan really didn't believe in absolutes, he would have given Anakin a big hug and wished him luck.

[Tamar1973]

From a standpoint of trying to examine the movie's themes, it's a half-baked mess.

Both conservatives and liberals can find food for thought, which is what a storyteller wants.

[Tamar1973]

Strong with the bold, this young Padawan is.

Don't look at me. I just did a cut and paste from the source code of the original article (to save a little time).

[Tamar1973]

The teaser intro to this article made an interesting point.

Star Wars is both a science fiction version of the classic sin and redemption story, and an illustrated guide to how the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Some of you might disagree with the notion that Anakin's personal "road to hell" was paved with good intentions, though. Many of us probably also disagree with the idea that liberals have any good intentions either.

[Sofa King]

Between the statements I've read from Lucas and looking at how he handles other things in his movies (ie, Jar Jar), I find it hard to believe that Lucas was being intentionally subtle.

The jedi are in one breath portrayed as being the great moral relativists, being wise enough to see every side of the issue, and in the next breath call anyone who does not follow their philosophy and rules "the dark side". I would be able to take this as a brilliant commentary on the inherent hypocrisy of moral relativism if I didn't know that Lucas leaned toward moral relativism himself, and that he was also clumsy with the last two starwars movies. It's much more likely that the movie is simply the result of the confused line of thought that leads to moral relativism.

[dinasour]

At the risk of over analyzing a mediocre series a movies, here is another perspective which was written just after the 5th movie.

 

From the Weekly Standard:

 

The case for the empire.

 

 

[ExcursionGuy84]

Many of us probably also disagree with the idea that liberals have any good intentions either.

I am 1 on those "Many".

[Blind Eye Jones]

"Most conservatives do believe in absolutes."

It is strange when Spielberg and a host of other Hollywood directors try to probe the mind of terrorists... make them sympathetic and not see terrorism for the evil that it is. Hollywood has now a morbid fascination with terrorism and with the Left's point of view that there is no "good and evil" in the world, just differences of values -- which if we can adjust would make the world a happy peaceful place. Good and evil are intractable and cause conflict; whereas "value" relativism is about subjectivity and equality, where tensions can be reduced with a little value adjustment. Spielberg is Jewish and it seems he has given up on his faith and have followed the recent trend to portray terrorists in a sympathetic light (how Jewish Hollywood can bear to do this is beyond me). Lucas still shows the fall from good to evil and has not given up on those categories. But Spielberg seems to think that it is all relative -- no good and evil in the world. With the Left's faith that 'conflict resolution' comes about through ridding the world of moral absolutes, that all values are subjective and equal, we can see how Spielberg is like the silly Jewish figure in Woody Allen's Zelig, who ends up at a Hitler rally near the Fuhrer. In other words, he doesn't see evil when it is right under his nose... more tragic than comic.

[Tamar1973]

At the risk of over analyzing a mediocre series a movies...

Star Wars is the best, certainly not "medicore."