So we all think we know Star Wars so well. We think that first movie tells us the story that is continued in the rest of the saga, but what if we are wrong. We already know George Lucas loves to alter his work and change the story on a whim, so what if we never really saw Star Wars (that first one so long, long ago in a theater far, far away) for what it was? What if those "Rebels" were really terrorists and Luke Skywalker was simply a tool being used and manipulated by a bitter soldier from the losing side? Think I'm crazy? Challenge accepted.
First and foremost I must recap the legend of Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi is the last of the Jedi Knights; an order of mystic warriors who acted as a sort of Police Force for the government. A student of Obi-Wan's turned against the Jedi, slaughtered them, and forced Obi-Wan to fight and defeat him and go into hiding. The end. Sounds heroic, right? I agree, but myths often are.
When we first see Ben as he is now being called, he is a hermit on an obscure desert planet, supposedly in hiding and he comes across a young man who he saves and let's it be known he has been watching this boy and knew this boy's father who he says was killed in the Jedi slaughter. He promises to teach this boy all about his father and help him avenge his father's death. Still good, right? The only problem is that this is all a lie and I don't mean some of it; I mean all of it.
First things first and should be quite obvious is that Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi is not in hiding at all. For one thing, he is still using the name "Kenobi" and more importantly is still wearing his Jedi uniform. This is not obvious in the first movie and probably not intended, but as the series continued we learned that Ben's desert attire wasn't just what one wears in the desert as we first assumed, but was the uniform of the Jedi, an order extinct in the universe. How in hiding are you if you are using your name and still wearing your uniform some 30 years later? The Jedi slaughter and growth of the Empire wasn't exactly some small and unknown event. If the remaining Jedi were being hunted, then why is he using his name and wearing his uniform? What kind of insane freak still wears the uniform of a defunct army 30 years after the war? Wouldn't someone say "look, isn't that a Jedi?"
Next we have Princess Leia's mission. Star War opens with the Rebel ship fleeing a gigantic Star Destroyer (possibly the coolest opening in movie history). The ship becomes damaged and the Princess sneaks stolen information off the ship and it lands on a random planet. This planet just happens to be where the guy she was looking for was in hiding AND the son of the bad guy she is fighting happens to live. The means she uses to get said plans off her ship happens to be the robot made by the bad guy when he was a child. How many coincidences do you need before pattern emerges? Her ship doesn't slow down due to damage, it stops because they arrived at their destination. The robots were brought along because it was known Obi-Wan would recognize the robots of his former pupil. Basically, more evidence he was never in hiding at all.
After Ben saves Luke, he takes Luke to his home and begins telling Luke the story of his father. He tells Luke his father was a great pilot and a hero; he paints a picture of a man Luke instantly falls in love with as it fills every dream a fatherless son has of who their dad was. He then tells Luke that Darth Vader betrayed and murdered his father and hands Luke his father's old sword. Come on! He flat out lied and manipulated Luke to find and kill his own father. Basically, Obi-Wan's final revenge on his former pupil is to have the son kill the father. What a demented sick old bastard! Darth Vader isn 't even the "Big Bad" of Star War, but only a lackey of Tarkin. Killing Vader does nothing to aid the rebellion against the Empire: this is a personal vendetta Kenobi has against Vader with Luke a tool.
It is funny in an ironic way how Lucas altered his story so much that his heroes have become villains and terrorists.
I hope I have some friends left after reading this.
2 comments:
Interesting perspective . . . makes the story more human and real. That would make a great sequel.
I keep coming back to this post of yours; there's something inside your description of Luke's situation that speaks to me. Like you say, "How many coincidences do you need before patterns emerge?". Being used and manipulated by those who said they loved you for the purpose of settling an old score is a hard thing to come to terms with. The emotional bond between the manipulator and the one being manipulated is so strong that it impedes one from connecting the dots and seeing the underlying emerging patterns. What will Luke do once he confronts the truth? Will he be bitter and seek revenge or be compassionate and reach out? And if he did reach out would Ben be receptive and willing to admit the truth?
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