Posted by:
Amyjo
(
)
Date: January 27, 2018 05:49AM
"'Star Wars' has always kept its fingers close to America's spiritual pulse.
In the '70s and '80s, the interstellar saga explored Eastern traditions, mainly Buddhism and Taoism, just as many "spiritual, but not religious" dabblers were doing the same.
At the turn of the millennium, "Star Wars" caught the McMindfulness craze. "The Phantom Menace" opens with two Jedis talking about the benefits of meditation. Riveting, it was not.
But the latest film in the saga, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," touches on trends in American religious life in some surprising ways, especially for a franchise that's so nakedly commercial. ("The Last Jedi" was the highest-grossing movie in the United States last year and raked in nearly $1.3 billion worldwide.)
"It is very much a movie of this time," said the Rev. angel Kyodo williams, a Buddhist teacher, social justice activist and "Star Wars" aficionado who lives Berkeley, California. "It draws on ancient teachings, as well as what is happening in this country right now."
But there's some debate about what "The Last Jedi" intends to say about modern religious life: Is it warning about the end of organized religion, or a parable about spiritual renewal?
'Do, or do not. There is no try.'
"Star Wars" is, at heart, a story about the rise and fall of an ancient religion.
When we meet the Jedis, in Episode I, they're mindfulness-meditating, axiom-spouting space monks who keep order in the galaxy and swing a swift lightsaber.
By Episode VIII -- "The Last Jedi" -- the once-great order is reduced to a lone soul, Luke Skywalker, serving a self-imposed penance on a remote island.
When Rey, the young heroine, shows up seeking spiritual training, Luke refuses.
The Jedi religion is over, he says, a victim of its own hypocrisy and hubris. Luke even prepares to burn the ancient Jedi texts.
(In a bit of historical irony, the island on which the scene is filmed, Skellig Michael, was home to medieval Irish monks who "saved civilization" by rescuing ancient Christian books.)
But the film hints that Luke might not be the "last Jedi," after all. Even without his help, Rey is remarkably skilled at connecting with the Force, the mysterious energy that pervades the galaxy.
This is where some cultural commentators see an argument against organized religion. In previous "Star Wars" films, using the Force required joining the Jedis and spending years learning the "old ways" from established masters.
Luke seems to say that none of that matters anymore.
"He is making a very modern case for spirituality over organized religion," argues Hannah Long in The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine. "If all roads lead to the Force, then the dusty tradition and doctrine doesn't really matter."
In The Atlantic, Chaim Saiman makes a similar argument. "The Last Jedi" seems to reflect many millennials' ideas about religion, namely their waning interest in "structured religion" in favor of "unbounded spirituality," he writes.
But is that the whole story?
'Always two there are: A master and apprentice'
George Lucas, the creator of "Star Wars," says he wanted to do more than entertain the masses. He wanted to introduce young Americans to spiritual teachings through "new myths" for our globalized, pluralistic millennium.
"I see 'Star Wars' as taking all the issues that religion represents and trying to distill them down into a more modern and accessible construct," Lucas has said. "I wanted to make it so that young people would begin to ask questions about the mystery.""
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/26/us/star-wars-religion/index.html