Star Wars on Trial by Keith R. A. DeCandido, David Brin, Tanya Huff, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Matthew Woodring Stover Read Free Book Online Page B

tragedy worthy of Oedipus-an epic tale of a fallen hero, trapped by hubris and fate.
    Alas, if that were true, wouldn't Star Wars by now have given us a better-than-caricature view of the dark side? Don't swallow it. The apotheosis of a mass murderer is exactly what it seems. And we should find it chilling.
    Only then it gets worse. Much worse. For you see, there is another Lucasian character that makes the adoration of young Darth seem positively benign.
    It's Yoda. One of the most horrid creatures ever to snarl at us from the silver screen.
    VICIOUS LITTLE OVEN MITT
    Remember the final scene in Return of the Jedi, when Luke gazes into a fire to see Obi-Wan, Yoda and Vader smiling in the flames? I briefly found myself hoping it was Jedi Hell, for the amount of pain those three unleashed on their galaxy, and for all the damned lies they told.

    Okay, now Brin has gone completely around the bend. What, in all the galaxy, could he have against little Yoda?
    Well, for starters, how about this simple challenge: can you name a single scene in which Yoda is actually forthcoming, informative or generously helpful?
    This supposedly all-wise figure rejects young Anakin, because he senses "too much fear." (Despite the fact that we spent most of The Phantom Menace marveling over a nine-year-old's dauntless courage.)
    He foresees danger, if the boy isn't trained properly... then refuses to train him.
    When Master Mace wants to inform the Republic that dire conspiracies are afoot, Yoda insists on secrecy, which only worsens the calamity. Just as his lies to Luke almost ruin everything much later. Lies that he conveniently gets out of explaining by pulling the old "death-fade" trick. (Well, Luke was always kind of a dim bulb.)
    Then there is all that smarmy lecturing-a withered old prune telling a virile young man that he shouldn't give in to the human yearning for "attachments." Forcing Anakin to fulfill those basic human needs in secret.
    Um ... all right. One can understand demanding that a young adept avoid undue distraction while focusing hard on his training. But to cut off all thought of loved ones, even when they are suffering? Where is the "wisdom" in that?
    Especially when it came to the tragic situation of Anakin's mother. Tell me, which approach is more likely to help the boy focus? Leave Mom to endure slavery on far-off Tatooine? Or maybe dip into the treasury to buy her freedom and get her a nice little house on Naboo, in gratitude for the way Anakin saved Amidala and all her people? Would it be too much "attachment" to get a nice card, once a year, showing her happy in her garden? Call it insurance, to keep such a powerful apprentice from getting ... well ... angry.
    Oh, but it gets worse. Later on, other Prosecution witnesses will discuss the charge that Star Wars is less than "elevated" in its attitudes toward women. Those writers focus (for example) on Princess Leia's decline from rambunctious, gun-toting senator and revolutionary bigwig to chained harem girl. Or upon the small-nay tokenpresence of females in the Jedi Order. But in fact, I do not consider these to be the most worrisome lapses in sexual subtext. After all, it is possibly legitimate for a space fantasy society to replicate the pattern that held in 99% of the real societies we know from the human past-in which most of the warriors were male. It's not politically correct-and I am proud of an America in which the skilled soldiery has largely turned away from that criterion-but Star Wars does, after all, promote nostalgia for feudalism. Therefore, it is only natural to expect some sexual distinction in roles.

    No, what's far more troubling is another aspect of this issue of "attachments." In a few passing lecture-moments, we are told that Jedi are free to enjoy pleasures of the flesh, but that they must not become attached to-or committed to-other people over the long term. Um. Right. Did anyone else catch how this is, well, the bachelor seducer's perfect