I've been watching bits of the animated series "Clone Wars". It makes a lot more sense if you interpret the Jedi as the villains and the "separatists" as the heroes.
What's wrong with being a separatist? What right does the Empire have to demand their obedience?
There's one fnord that presents the Jedi as heroes. The Jedi are all humanoids. The rebel army is all robots. If a Jedi kills a robot, that isn't evil. If the rebel soldiers were humanoids, then the Jedi would be evil for killing them.
The Jedi are a complacent and inefficient bureaucracy. The Jedi think they're doing good, but they're just pawns of the future emperor.
There was another episode where there was a moment where the Jedi were portrayed as really evil, but that wasn't emphasized as the main point. The Sith Lord had captured a child with force powers. The Jedi recovered the child. They told they parents that they would take care of the child for them.
The parent protested "How can I be sure that my child will be safe with you?" The Jedi reassured the parents, perhaps with a Jedi Mind Trick. That point wasn't emphasized, but that scene has a hidden meaning that the Jedi are evil.
Anakin Skywalker later slaughtered all the Jedi children. The Jedi broke their promise to take care of the child. That point wan't emphasized there, but when I saw that scene I thought that the Jedi was a scumbag, responsible for the child's future murder.
I joked to my parents and my sister "When I watch 'The Clone Wars', I'm rooting for the Sith Lords!" They got angry. They also told me to not tell anyone else that, lest I be ostracized. My parents don't want me to discuss my free market ideas.
In "The Clone Wars", the Jedi represent the State. That makes the Sith Lords the heroes. I noticed that, in most movies, the villains get all the good lines. The villain can say things that the hero can't.
I wonder if that was an intentionally hidden message in the story, that the Jedi really are the bad guys. The Jedi are a complacent and inefficient bureaucracy. They are totally manipulated by the future emperor. The Jedi represent the State.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Clone Wars Fnord
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2 comments:
Clone Wars is pro-war propaganda for sure, but I disagree that the separatists or the Sith are the good guys.
The Jedi and the Clones are simply dupes. Take Yoda for example, he is very very good. See the episode where he had to compete with the separatists for the loyalty of the blue flying people. See how Yoda acts toward the blue flying people and how he treats the Clones under his command.
The emperor tricked them, he manipulated them. He fooled them into thinking or going along with war, which is never ok. He turned them from peacekeepers into almost-willing warriors, and this infected their young ones, like:
- Anakin, whose aggressive tendencies become valued.
- Ahsoka, who tho full of beauty and intelligent uses her anger too much
- the young Jedi who thought he could take on Grievous all by himself.
I've seen all these episodes myself, as my son loves Clone Wars.
The Clone Wars and especially episode 3 are heart-breaking.
But the Jedi are not consciously evil. They've simply been duped, their good qualities turned against themselves.
FSK,
Love you, love your blog. I agree with you the vast majority of the time, but I can't back you on this one. Think in terms of the non-aggression principle. The Empire is in violation of it constantly, like how the Death Star murdered billions of innocent people when it destroyed the planet of Alderann, or when the Trade Federation, under the control of then-Senator Palpatine, acted to blockade and invade the planet of Naboo. As for the Jedi, yes, they resemble the State in many ways with their Jedi Council, and how they're used as the bulldogs of the Republic. But it seems to me the non-aggression principle is kind of built into their Jedi code-- they only fight when they have to. Anyway, think it over, and keep up the good work.
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