- Post
- #1343246
- Topic
- Star Wars: <strong>The Rise Of Skywalker</strong> Redux Ideas thread
- Link
- https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1343246/action/topic#1343246
- Time
If the dark side is meant to represent the authentic human emotions that we often repress, like fear or anger, then I disagree. It’s the denial and repression of these emotions within us that leads to people becoming evil. If people were to acknowledge their inner dark side and have a healthy relationship with it, then that is perhaps what balance means.
You, IMO, have kernels of right, but you’re far off the mark. It’s not just repressing these emotions that leads to the dark side- it’s embracing them and feeding them. Feeling rage or jealousy or fear is natural, but the problem comes when you feed those emotions. This is something George addresses in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68dvgRT3Kx8
Force-wise, the idea is to recognize them, feel them, understand that they’re a part of you, but not letting them control you.
Here’s my view on the force, from a post I made a bit ago elsewhere, including my citations.
You can’t destroy the dark side. It’s a natural part of all life. It’s death, it’s rage, and sorrow, and doubt, and greed. It’s entropy. That’s the Lesson of The Cave. There’s potential for great darkness in all of us, and it must be confronted and understood. (Sources: The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Last Jedi.)
While balance is in the center, so to speak, the center is not using equal amounts of both, or their being equal numbers of Jedi and Sith. A good case study in why this is not so is The Bendu; the Bendu is basically a parable about why actively seeking to be in between the light and the dark isn’t enlightened. He’s wise, and he’s powerful, but he’s also indifferent to the suffering of others and can be thrown into a murderous rage with light goading. All he cares about is himself. He is, as he so often claims, the rock in the river, and it is so very easy to dislodge a rock and send it hurtling downstream. (Source: Rebels)
The dark side will consume everything if not opposed, (source: Age of Republic: Qui-Gon Jin), so it must be opposed. The light seeks balance; the dark seeks only further darkness.
Take Mortis, for example: while it’s said that both siblings are needed for balance, there’s a trap on taking that at immediate face value. The Sister, the representative of the light, seeks only to maintain balance. She’s a dutiful servant of her Father. The Brother, the representative of the Dark, however, seeks to disrupt the balance. He is an inherently destabilizing agent. Regardless of whether you think Mortis actually happened or not, this is something worth considering. (Source: The Clone Wars). Also, for the record, Dave Filoni wrote but never implemented a scene where the force priestesses
The easiest comparison to make comes from the old Episode III novelization (a fantastic read that I highly recommend). It compares them to literal light and darkness.
When you remove the light in a room, darkness immediately swallows the whole thing. However, no matter how much light you bring into that room, you will never eradicate the darkness entirely, because by virtue of being there, you cast a shadow.
You will never be able to eradicate rage or sorrow or death or war or greed, but you should accept that they’re there, and you should not bend to them. You should not let them control you. That’s balance. The tension created by life resisting this cosmic entropy, this cosmic draw towards our worst impulses and base instincts.
