Discerning the Spirits of the Force, Episode I: What Inside Out Gets Right and Star Wars Gets Wrong

I love Star Wars.  It is fair to say that I was born and raised a Star Wars fan.  And even though my interest in the series began to wane when I began to discover its weaknesses, as I studied philosophy and theology (plus, my general disappointment with the prequels and multiple edited re-releases), I still happily retain a great deal of the positive themes and elements that can still be found, as well as simply enjoying years of entertainment and inspiration.  I’d be lying if I said that my Christmas break (which I was blessed to have, as a full time college chaplain) did not include three viewings of The Force Awakens, many conversations with friends and family about it, and reading articles, reviews and analyses, ranging in perspective from spiritual (here, here), to psychological (here), to fan-speculation (here).  And I enjoyed them all thoroughly and equally.

Among the key themes that mark the imminent value of these stories, these three have often stood out most to me:

1)      The Link Between Faith & Vocation: We all have greater potential than we often know and were made to do great things in life.  Yet, realizing this great calling and becoming the hero we were made to be involves beginning to believe in and entrust ourselves to something beyond ourselves (although, we will discuss some important fundamental differences between Christian faith and that portrayed in Star Wars).  And as we see boldly in the latest installment, realizing that this faith is not a fantasy, but that “It’s all true” changes everything.

2)      The “Father-Wound” & Family Ties:  Many have observed and written about the “Father-Wound” in human experience, from both psychological and spiritual perspectives.  Its roots are found in Eden, when we rejected our Father and first became alienated from Him, but reflections can be found throughout life experience and almost ad nauseum in stories found in pop culture.  The importance of this to Star Wars goes without saying.  Furthermore, other family ties are very important to the story and to understanding the development and growth of the characters.  While the pain of how these relationships are broken is strong, equally strong is the pull these inescapable relationships have upon us.

3)      Hope of Redemption: For me, this is actually the thing that stands out most powerfully.  The story of redemption in Return of the Jedi still moves me to this day, and I could not have been more thrilled to see it as a theme running so strongly through The Force Awakens, as we begin to realize how much pain and tragedy our heroes have experienced since last we saw them on the big screen, yet they are moved forward in a beautifully stubborn hope that redemption is still possible. 

Amidst all of these positive themes, however, I think it is also important to note some important flaws in the understanding of reality presented, which I think has influenced people in ways that deserves to be talked about a bit more often.  So, while I continue to love Star Wars, I think it is important to take an approach that I call discerning the spirits of the force (consider 1 John 4:1).  It is always important to take a critical approach to what we take in.  Many stories and other works of art that are flawed in some ways still have great value that should not be discounted.  But, we have to be very careful about sifting out the good from the bad, especially if we are persons of faith.  Otherwise we may fail to notice that when we thought we were noticing similarities to our faith, we were in fact adopting notions that are actually foreign to our faith, philosophically flawed, and can have a negative impact when we apply them in life.  These flaws can actually be found quite often in Star Wars.  Much of the “wisdom of the Jedi” holds some truth that is worth heeding.  But, some of these famous maxims are actually quite problematic.  The errors essentially all flow from the essential differences between Christian faith and “using the force” (which constitute the reasons I’m always a little leery about comparing the force to the Holy Spirit or grace):

1)      The Force is Not Personal: Our God is not a mysterious force or mystical energy that we tap into and reach out toward.  He is our Father who endlessly reaches out to us, even when we neglect, resist or ignore Him.  He is our Savior, Brother, and Friend.  He is three Persons in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, perfectly united in relation to one another and seeking relationship with us.  This makes all the difference.

2)      The Force is Created: Some would contest this, and it may derive from inconsistencies in how it is explained in the movies, but if you listen closely to multiple descriptions in the movies, you are left with a distinct impression that the force is not the Creator, the Source of all being, but rather derives and flows from all living things.  This is quite different from our God, who is the Source of all creation and holds the beauty, order and design of reality, which He has imprinted upon it to reveal to us a glimpse of His own Beauty and Wisdom.

3)      The Force is a Form of Dualism:  I’ll be honest.  One of my pet peeves is when people reduce the symbolic and thematic value of adventure stories such as these by saying “it’s all about the struggle between good and evil” or “good always triumphs.”  This is not only because there are much deeper themes that are being overlooked, but also because sometimes it is precisely the “struggle between good and evil” that is being presented in a way that is sometimes very intriguingly nuanced and also sometimes very seriously flawed.  This is very true in Star Wars.  The force divides all of reality, including all reality that we may describe as “spiritual,” into light and dark, good and bad.  This is NOT a Christian understanding of reality.  It is my opinion that the majority of Christian commentators on these stories who neglect this point do so because they take for granted that people already understand this, as it has been pointed out time and time again.  Yet, I think it is a very subtle misunderstanding that creeps often unnoticed into our ways of understanding reality, including in Christian circles, leaving behind a trail of damage.  Reality is not composed of “good” and “bad.”  On the contrary, He (see point 1) created all things (see point 2) good.  Evil is a privation of, a lack of, or a departure from the proper good that God wills for all of creation, as dark is an absence of light.  Even Lucifer (Satan) was created good, but chose evil, by choosing to reject the good that is God’s will.  There are many problems with the dualistic understanding of reality.  Besides being an over-simplification that causes us to fail to appreciate the goodness and beauty of God’s creation, including the goodness and beauty of every person, however evil their actions, it can also cause us to fail to understand the subtlety of how evil actual works, as it leads to a failure to recognize lies as lies.  Inevitably, this dualism leads to an understanding that these two sides of reality are “held together” and destined to be “in balance”.  It becomes increasingly difficult to choose the truth and reject the lies, as these two realities begin to be revealed as simply opposed to one another – even though one is called “light,” neither one is actually clearly established as Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.  Thus, this dualism also leaves one vulnerable to moral relativism. 

As I said, flowing from these essential differences, a number of flaws can be found in the so-called wisdom of the Jedi, while some other snippets are still quite good.  The most significant problematic statement is perhaps Yoda’s famous quote, “Once you start down the dark path forever will it dominate your destiny.”  Admittedly, this might be intentional irony purposefully built into the story, since Luke seemingly proves him wrong in Return of the Jedi, both by reclaiming his father and by the fact that even Palpatine doesn’t argue with him when he claims “I’ll never turn to the Dark Side,” after succumbing to the temptations of two Sith multiple times (not to mention that Jedi seem to be okay with telling their apprentices what they feel they need to hear, even if it is effectively a lie, which could also be an indication of intentional irony).

But, the example that I want to focus on – as I finally come to the point of the subtitle of this entry – is another insistence of Yoda.  Multiple times in different forms, Yoda tells us that fear, anger, hatred and suffering all lead to the Dark Side, that they belong to the Dark Side.  On the contrary, Christian faith teaches us the redemptive value of suffering, which we begin to understand more deeply every time that we meditate prayerfully on Christ upon the cross.  Furthermore, the notion that certain emotions are essentially dark and always lead to evil is neither a psychologically nor a spiritually healthy approach to our emotions.  Here, we find the dualism of the Star Wars universe applied even to one’s emotions.  Part of the journey toward the point when we can finally experience the redemptive value of our suffering is that we must give ourselves, or be given, the permission to feel what we are feeling, however uncomfortable or “negative” it may be.  We have to learn to not simply reject certain emotions, but to process them – acknowledge them, relate them to God in prayer, and perhaps to a trusted spiritual guide, and follow His guidance in how to respond to them in a healthy manner.  Furthermore, Catholic spirituality would promote virtue, in which we develop habits of moderating our passions (especially through temperance) and ordering them toward the Good, rather than simply rejecting those deemed as negative. 

U of I's team of FOCUS Missionaries (and friend) recreating Inside Out for Halloween

  Meanwhile, one of my other tasks for Christmas break was to start on the “Father, you should watch this” list.  This led me to finally watch the recent Pixar film Inside Out, which personifies our emotions in a way that is simultaneously charming, delightful and hilarious, but also incredibly meaningful.  Not since Up have I watched an animated movie and immediately thought, “I’m going to want to watch that again… often.”  The point that I think Inside Out gets right, where Star Wars gets it wrong, is that the film is a delightful little parable about learning how to understand and navigate our emotions.  At the beginning of the film, Joy wants to run the show, yet she also understands that Anger, Fear and even Disgust serve a purpose.  Even more strikingly, however, is the climax of the movie.  In the midst of a very difficult trial, and at a key stage of growth and development for the child, Joy begins to understand the purpose of Sadness, and it becomes clear that both of these emotional experiences serve a purpose and can coexist.  Beautiful!  This ability to allow Joy and Sadness to coexist, and the ability to understand the purpose of even our less comfortable emotions, and to navigate them accordingly can all be signs of both emotional and spiritual maturity.

How often do we have difficulty understanding and navigating our emotions?  If it’s more often than we would like, maybe we should ask ourselves what kind of view of reality we bring with us.  Is it possible that we are a little bit influenced by a dualistic worldview, like that of Star Wars?  If so, thankfully, that same story also teaches us the hope of redemption never dies!  May our Loving Father, who has made all things good to allow us to glimpse His Goodness, restore and heal whatever has been broken and lost, in order that we may better reflect His Goodness and Beauty to the world.                

Go to Episode II