The movie was amazing. You should probably read no further
if you don’t want to be ruined by my outright plot spoilers, repeated bursts
of praise, my adulations of worthiness and some Scriptural illumination so I’ll
contain my glee and let all three of you readers decide to either click on the
Happy Husband or come in. Honestly there will be spoilers so don’t click if you
haven’t seen the movie.
I may very well be typing to an audience of none, but there
you go, a spoiler-riddled post below.
Regarding the prequel mythos, I remember some folk were
upset at Episode II and I saying that George was on his way to killing the
franchise by pointing out a perception of lousy acting and annoying characters.
They’ll say that the story is weak (some have said contrived) and that it
could’ve been better while simultaneously ignoring the weak acting and
contrived plot points from the original trilogy. Let me answer with a hearty
“whatever” an honest “loosen up” and a wise “let go”.
George spun the wheel and told the tale—not you. Let him
tell it the way he sees fit and leave your preconceptions of “what would be
cool” and enjoy what IS cool…what he has told. If you want to go create some
Star Wars fanfic, knock yourself out—there’s plenty of sites (and blogs) that
do that. If you want to try your hand at adding to the Extended Universe, go
right ahead—they may be looking to add to the series. The saga has accomplished
what George has wanted and has done so with power—a myth has been created and
fans love it.
Personally, I had a new (and complete) appreciation of the battle-weary
rebels in the beat up vehicles of Episode IV. I was captivated by Leia’s
(surely Jedi enhanced) memory of her weeping mother—a noted detail when at
Padme’s death bed, Obi-Wan is seen still holding her daughter close by. I
shuddered at the fall of Anakin realizing there was no turn and wept as his
master would explain how he was the chosen one—he was to bring down the
Sith…not join them. I even cheered when we were given an understanding of what
Obi-Wan was doing on Tatooine some seventeen years later…learning the ways of
Qui-Gon Jinn!
The acting overall was right up there with Empire/Jedi.
Everyone seemed very comfortable delivering their lines and I was
actually
moved to tears quite a few times throughout the movie by the conviction
of the actors portraying their characters. I even loved how Jar Jar,
buoyant in the first
movie, growing somber in the second, was completely silent and
saddened. The
ashes of his life’s work behind him, the fruit of his labor carried
dead before
him…another character transformed by the mythos.
John Williams, not surprising, did a fantastic job. A musician
of immense caliber he would never disappoint and he went on to prove this
point, rhythmically highlighting themes from Menace and Clones and reaching out
and touching themes from Jedi. He is to be applauded for his creation of over
thirty new scores wonderfully blended with “future” scores and giving us the
most comprehensive Star Wars soundtrack to date. In it, he retells the mythos reminding
us with music of the new hope that is dawning over the Tatooine horizon as the
glory of the republic fades.
Of course, the movie was riddled with theosophy. Passion is
bad and resolve is good. Anger is wrong and leads to hatred. One is to embrace
the death of people for it is only the opening to a greater journey. The path
to the dark side begins with doubt and confusion because of absolutes while the
path to illumination is seeing the many shades of gray and not overly reacting
to any of them. Violence is okay when done in defense but when based solely on
conviction it is wrong.
Many of these ideas, of course, are supremely anti-Biblical
and in all honesty are being propagated in countless movies today. Some of them
could have some Biblical echoes but then are dangerous to accept outright for
what it would mean. They are all to be examined in the light of Scripture.
In reverse order, what do we learn from the Scriptures?
- Well, God hates violence…but the landlords of this world
have so decided to embrace it. He will allow the denizens therein to use it and
similarly orchestrate His purposes to rid the world of it and its source. We as
believers are not to be violent but we are to acknowledge that the governments
of the world are given power and we are to submit to that power. (Rom 12:18; 13)
- The path to the dark side doesn’t begin with doubt, but with
our desires. From there we get a whole mess of problems within our members and
with each other. It’s in our desires that we stray from the absolute truth of
the Word of God, seeking after our own lusts and putting everything into shades
of gray so as to justify them. (James 4; 1 John 4)
- One is to understand that these one hundred (or so) years of
life is not the end of life and use it as unto the Lord. This means that we are
also to realize that although this isn’t the final death, there is a second
death and that we are to preach the gospel unreservedly so that all may
believe. High goal that, but there we go: preaching, baptizing and making
disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ because afterwards there is a judgment.
- Anger can lead to hatred, but we as believers are not told
to “be not angry” but rather “be angry and sin not”. There is a righteous
anger, and when one looks at the sin of the world it is right to be angry at
the sin and the violence all about but to escalate to hatred of people is
against the Word of God. (Gal 5; Eph 4:26)
- Passion isn’t necessarily bad and resolve isn’t necessarily
good. Someone could be resolved to constantly doing the wrong or be passionate
with the things of the Scripture. One must be careful when one looks at the
thinking of men or the feelings thereof and try to justify the morality of
situations based on what is felt or decided. The hearts is desperately sick and
we as believers must lean on what God has said and rely on Him. (Jeremiah 17:9)
Well that’s the short of it, anyway Loved the movie. Didn’t
like the philosophy (which I’ve seen in everything from Saved to Firefly) but
have accepted that the world will teach as much in its quest. Brother Russ is
on again Monday so stick around for that and I’ll have a flurry of baptism
posts.
-r-
Update
Doug's wishful thinking and some concerns.
Tim's one complaint and some concerns.
Matt's look at Biblical themes and moral lessons.
Chad's concerns about Biblical comparisons.
Jeremy comments on some of our thinking.
Jerry's drug induced distaste of the movie.
Josh manages a brief review with ratings plus talks like Yoda.
And a look at the language in Star Wars (HT: Jeremy).
Update 2: MCF posts a full summary and review.
Update 3: Christopher has the good, the bad and the ugly.
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With an alternate reality, we would have less politicizing and the Star Wars issues would rule the galactic debate. We wouldn't have to understand the gravity of the issues to appreciate it.
This same allowance would make many other things just fine with me. Star Wars started out as a story and flourished as a story. Let it remain... a story!
man.
Written by biblerey on 2005-05-20 15:26:35I've got to figure out a way to implement a better commenting system with mambo. I wish I knew who posted that.
man.
Written by biblerey on 2005-05-20 15:26:36I've got to figure out a way to implement a better commenting system with mambo. I wish I knew who posted that.
Written by Name: on 2005-05-20 17:43:25All you need are cookies :grin
All you need are cookies :grin
Written by Doug on 2005-05-20 17:44:24OK, that wasn't on purpose. Both times were accidental. Sorry about that, Rey!
Case in Point:
Written by Doug on 2005-05-20 18:01:15The Dune story by Frank Herbert was centered around a spice that appears on the sands of Arrakis (not unlike Tattooine). This spice, melange, has the power to transform minds (Jedi) and a young hero is formed in the desert wastelands (Anakin/Luke).
We don't have to understand why this spice is so valuable, though. The spice in that story causes planets to go to war. It, not the corrupt empire Shaddam IV (Palpatine) has the supreme power in the universe as long as the one controlling the spice is prepared to destroy it, rather than be bullied by the emperor.
By the way, Dune was written before Star Wars.
Written by Doug on 2005-05-20 18:09:23Talk about some shoddy punctuation...
dune was great
Written by biblerey on 2005-05-20 18:19:53One of those series that I immensely enjoyed, even way past God Emperor which I've heard of folk not being able to get through. You're completely right and the reason I wanted to know who wrote it was the straight up SciFi insight screamed kindred spirit. Your Dune post only solidified that thinking for me.
My commenting system really does stink. This CMS I'm using is sweet but I can't believe they didn't create a proper commenting system like PhP Nuke. ugh.
Written by Name: on 2005-05-20 18:42:22(cough, cough) WordPress (cough, cough)
Yeah, I'm one of those dads that gets all excited to see the Fantastic 4, Spiderman, X-Men and so on. I try to push the cartoons at Ben to get him to beg me for more. Any fantasy genre is great by me! Midevil, sci-fi, middle-earth, etc.
dark admission
Written by biblerey on 2005-05-20 22:23:26i considered (and continued to consider) switching over to wordpress. I had a huge vision for the archive which necessitated a lot of that and it's the reason i used phpnuke. The portal was full of security holes (a problem I have with wordpress actually) so I switched over to mambo. What's funny is that Uplook.org (a plymouth brethren magazine) has basically been mirroring what I do although most of them don't even know who I am. Heh heh. ::waves to ::Uplook
Back on topic, I was upset with FF up until I saw the trailer before SW. Now I'm excited.
"Theosophy..."
Written by MCF on 2005-05-20 22:43:28Took me some time to digest this post. I guess if anyone is taking Star Wars as a religion then some of those messages conflict with Christianity. My initial response was going to be that its harmless fiction. Everything is made up in that universe. There's no God, no devil, just an energy with 2 sides, light and dark, that some characters learn to tap in to. The scientific "immaculate conception" of Anakin by Midchloreans in the first film definitely blends in elements of Christianity more blatantly than some of the other movies, and there was some line in RotS criticising the Jedi for being "too dogmatic" or something that I'll need to see again.
It's just fiction, right? No one leads their life according to something they see in a movie. Then I think of my own childhood and wonder, did I turn the other cheek because the bible told me to, or because of that time He-man pulled Skeletor up over the cliff and didn't let him fall, because THAT'S what separates heroes from villains. I'm honestly not sure.
Kids are impressionable and absorb everything. Adults don't think we are, but sometimes things we think are harmless at first slip past our defenses. Kudos for having your guard up, and recognizing the dangers between(and sometimes right on) the lines.
Written by MCF on 2005-05-21 20:01:24On geekier notes, I loved the movie. Loved the Sith Jedi battles once Anakin brought "balance"(2 Sith and 2 remaining Jedi), loved the battles, loved R2(that oil/jets move was awesome), loved grievous, loved Yoda's friendship with the Wookies(he and Chewie never do meet again, do they?), and Ian McDiarmid steals the show.
Honestly, the only thing about FF that makes me cringe is the "you're hot"/"so are you exchange", but that's typical Johnny Storm. I can't wait for that, Batman, and the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I actually got a lump in my throat when Aslan roared in the trailer before RotS.
Forgive my ignorance, but what do the acronyms in your title mean? TMP(WBT)? "The Movie Post with bibical thought?"
Acronym
Written by biblerey on 2005-05-20 23:07:22I thought of saying that it is a form of the DaVinci Code, thought better of it, then am now telling the truth.
Written by Doug on 2005-05-21 00:50:39Very geeky!
By the way, here's a blog post to look over. I daresay that this guy could be the ultimate sci-fi fan.
http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/2005/05/ruminations-on-sith.html