Everything you think you know about Star Wars is wrong.
If you think the Star Wars franchise is a story of good vs evil set in space with cool coloured laser swords, aliens and space ships, while technically you might be correct you are missing about 90% of the franchises charm. The film has much more to do with mental health and self actualisation than most people, besides fans, understand.
When I first saw Star Wars I was 5 or 6, it was in London which, for a Chester lad, was special in itself, I didn't get to see it again until the advent of VHS, and it was every bit as special the second time as it was the first. However it wasn't until my late teens and early twenties that I started to understand and unravel the subtlety of the initial trilogy which has had the same message through the later prequels at the turn of the millennium, to the final three more recent films.
Whilst at it's core, the premise of the movies hinges around the light side and the dark side or good vs evil, the juxtaposition of these two extremes is subtle, thoroughly explored and astute. The process of growing up, discovering our identities and choosing who we want to be, is at the core of the movie franchise theme. But the lessons it teaches us, are relevant to any age.
At the beginning of the story we get the sense that the galaxy is mostly well managed, calm and a pretty cool place to be. Besides a disagreement over trade terms between a few rogue elements of the republic (a democratically run ruling power supported by the selfless Jedi) most of the many varied alien species work well together in harmony through tolerance and understanding of difference. Sure, some systems have slavery still, but they're ruled by gangsters (like the Hutts), not the republic. However things go awry when the greed and the selfish needs of one, influential and cunning man, affect the balance in the senate.
During this time we see a young man called Anakin enter the story. He has the potential to become an adult with a good heart, selfless and with a seemingly unlimited potential to help others, as we all do when we are young. But, like us, as he grows up he struggles with feelings of inadequacy and fear; the path, as Yoda tells us, to the Dark side, or the path, as we we might prematurely conclude, to poor mental health and illness. You see the Jedi are supposed to be selfless, and this is something Anakin couldn't master. We know, carrying out selfless acts for others is good for the soul. Ironically, helping others usually benefits us more than helping ourselves. This is also the Jedi way. In training, Padawans (young Jedi students) are taught to be mindful of thoughts that predict the future, mindful of their feelings towards others and what they may think, which are, in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy terms, thoughts that can have very negative effects on our own judgement and our actions. The path to the Dark side (of our brain) is an easy one to follow, unless of course we are mindful of the dangers; predicting the future, and predicting what others think being two of them. But the others aspects of CBT are relevant too. Anakin repeatedly tells others he 'should' be more powerful, using should can be damaging in everyday thoughts as things often aren't how one person thinks they 'should' be. He's also extremely self critical of himself, he 'catastrophises' about the future.
We get other wise words of wisdom from Yoda that reinforce the view that the Jedi way is a mindful and holistic approach to life. For example:
"Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose."
"Impossible to see, the future is."
"Of the moment, be. In the moment, live. The art of remaining in the present, learn. Neither the past nor the future exists."
"Attachment leads to Jealousy, the shadow of Greed that is."
When Yoda tells us "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering" he's talking about desires. 'Fear' means the fear of loss. The loss of something to which one might place too much importance on either keeping or acquiring. For Anakin, this is not only his thirst for power and recognition that he so desperately wants, but also he is fearful for the loss of his Mother and his wife, Padme, both of whom he had premonitions of dying. After he failed to save his Mother and gave in to rage and hatred in the form of revenge, he chooses to partner with the side that promises him recognition, status and the power to change the fate of his wifes untimely demise, he chooses greed and thus completes his path to the dark side.
It's these messages that are at the heart of everything in the Star Wars universe, the force that holds the universe together. The Force is our energy field and it's influenced by us. While we don't have the power to move objects, (or cast lightning from our fingers) we all have the power to affect our aura, our influence and space. In essence we have the power to effect how other people respond to us, as the Jedi's have mind control, we too can have positive influence. We've all had days where the negative thoughts and fears beat our feelings of hope, tolerance and love, and it's those days that are our darkest. It's these lessons that the films do such a good job of teaching us.
UPDATE November 2020
If you like this and want a further insight into the thought process behind the force listen to this explanation by George Lucas.
When I first saw Star Wars I was 5 or 6, it was in London which, for a Chester lad, was special in itself, I didn't get to see it again until the advent of VHS, and it was every bit as special the second time as it was the first. However it wasn't until my late teens and early twenties that I started to understand and unravel the subtlety of the initial trilogy which has had the same message through the later prequels at the turn of the millennium, to the final three more recent films.
Whilst at it's core, the premise of the movies hinges around the light side and the dark side or good vs evil, the juxtaposition of these two extremes is subtle, thoroughly explored and astute. The process of growing up, discovering our identities and choosing who we want to be, is at the core of the movie franchise theme. But the lessons it teaches us, are relevant to any age.
At the beginning of the story we get the sense that the galaxy is mostly well managed, calm and a pretty cool place to be. Besides a disagreement over trade terms between a few rogue elements of the republic (a democratically run ruling power supported by the selfless Jedi) most of the many varied alien species work well together in harmony through tolerance and understanding of difference. Sure, some systems have slavery still, but they're ruled by gangsters (like the Hutts), not the republic. However things go awry when the greed and the selfish needs of one, influential and cunning man, affect the balance in the senate.
During this time we see a young man called Anakin enter the story. He has the potential to become an adult with a good heart, selfless and with a seemingly unlimited potential to help others, as we all do when we are young. But, like us, as he grows up he struggles with feelings of inadequacy and fear; the path, as Yoda tells us, to the Dark side, or the path, as we we might prematurely conclude, to poor mental health and illness. You see the Jedi are supposed to be selfless, and this is something Anakin couldn't master. We know, carrying out selfless acts for others is good for the soul. Ironically, helping others usually benefits us more than helping ourselves. This is also the Jedi way. In training, Padawans (young Jedi students) are taught to be mindful of thoughts that predict the future, mindful of their feelings towards others and what they may think, which are, in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy terms, thoughts that can have very negative effects on our own judgement and our actions. The path to the Dark side (of our brain) is an easy one to follow, unless of course we are mindful of the dangers; predicting the future, and predicting what others think being two of them. But the others aspects of CBT are relevant too. Anakin repeatedly tells others he 'should' be more powerful, using should can be damaging in everyday thoughts as things often aren't how one person thinks they 'should' be. He's also extremely self critical of himself, he 'catastrophises' about the future.
We get other wise words of wisdom from Yoda that reinforce the view that the Jedi way is a mindful and holistic approach to life. For example:
"Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose."
"Impossible to see, the future is."
"Of the moment, be. In the moment, live. The art of remaining in the present, learn. Neither the past nor the future exists."
"Attachment leads to Jealousy, the shadow of Greed that is."
When Yoda tells us "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering" he's talking about desires. 'Fear' means the fear of loss. The loss of something to which one might place too much importance on either keeping or acquiring. For Anakin, this is not only his thirst for power and recognition that he so desperately wants, but also he is fearful for the loss of his Mother and his wife, Padme, both of whom he had premonitions of dying. After he failed to save his Mother and gave in to rage and hatred in the form of revenge, he chooses to partner with the side that promises him recognition, status and the power to change the fate of his wifes untimely demise, he chooses greed and thus completes his path to the dark side.
It's these messages that are at the heart of everything in the Star Wars universe, the force that holds the universe together. The Force is our energy field and it's influenced by us. While we don't have the power to move objects, (or cast lightning from our fingers) we all have the power to affect our aura, our influence and space. In essence we have the power to effect how other people respond to us, as the Jedi's have mind control, we too can have positive influence. We've all had days where the negative thoughts and fears beat our feelings of hope, tolerance and love, and it's those days that are our darkest. It's these lessons that the films do such a good job of teaching us.
UPDATE November 2020
Of course the story of Anakin, is ultimately a story of failure or the loss of will-power, which perhaps explains why it wasn't the first trilogy to be released in the cinema. For clarity episodes 1,2 and 3 (the prequels) were released at the turn of the millenium, but the original films (episodes 4,5 and 6) were released at the end of the 70s and early 1980s. These focus on the story of Luke, born with the same strengths as Anakin, he is protected from temptation as he is forced to live in a desert world with his understandably over protective Uncle (Owen) and Aunt (Beru). When you know the story, all of the clues are in the original films. Like when Aunt Beru says 'He's not a farmer..' and Uncle Owen replies 'That's what I'm afraid of' (paraphrased so as not to include spoilers).
Luke discovers he has the ability to use the Force much later than Anakin but faces many of the same challenges. His friends are always the focus of his attention though, much to the distraction of his own development. Although his support from a Jedi Master is short lived in Obi Wan (perhaps for the better) he eventually finds the best teacher of them all, Yoda. His time spent with Yoda is brief but the lessons given are seemingly properly received and despite the temptation to give into more power and control over others, Luke ultimately chooses a different path to Anakin and shows great strength of character to restrain himself and put the consideration of others before his own desires. There are many theories to why this might be, but ultimately, he hadn't hung onto the things that caused Anakin so much pain and became impossible for him to live without. He hadn't wanted for so much, which perhaps made it easier to understand why the temptation was less, or he was just simply stronger. Nevertheless, the triumph of good over evil, selflessness over greed is clear and it's those lessons that make the (3x) trilogies such an amazing experience for so many.
The lessons from all three trilogies are profound and valuable to us all. The less we hang onto, materialistically and in relationships, the better we can live our lives. The easier we will find it when it comes to grief, loss or changes that are out of our control, that's not to say that we won't be sad when love one's leave our lives, but we will be able to cope better, it will be bearable as opposed to being unbearable, we will be mindful and sad, but never furious, angry, spiteful or revengeful. And it's this that makes the final trilogy so compelling. Many fans had hung onto the notion that Luke was perfect in every way. But in The Last Jedi, Director Rian Johnson actually pulls a blinder. The lessons are the same, but the tables are totally turned on the viewer. Just how much devotion and value had we placed on the original trilogy? What if, that too, was undermined and Star Wars just wasn't what we thought it was any more, how would we react? Many real true Star Wars fans might want to have a look in the mirror as those who declare themselves Jedi maybe reacted online in a Sith like way, there was a lot of hate after that film. We lost a hero, and we endured suffering as a result. Ironic... yes, I think it is.... maybe it's time to 'Let go of the past'?
Be selfless, love unconditionally, be helpful and supporting, be mindful and resist the urge to fall into the many traps of the dark side, those are the lessons of the films and that's why I love it.... "all of it".
If you like this and want a further insight into the thought process behind the force listen to this explanation by George Lucas.
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