The Point (or moral) of Star Wars

People don't fully realize what the theme of the movie is- it's a movie about human emotion, yes, and a movie of good vs. evil. But most people often credit Luke with being the "good", but he isn't.

It is Anakin. He kills the Emperor and takes responsibilty for his sins. Star Wars is a film series of redemption. Anakin goes from innocence to impressionable, and impressionable to evil, and evil to remorseful.

Discuss.

i don't know about that. I agree with most everything you said. The story ultimately is about Anakin Skywalkers redemption by his son; and on the surface it is a basic good vs. evil storyline. Now Anakin Skywalker being the "good", i don't necessarily see that.

Even if you were to separate Anakin/vader into different people it still doesn't work for me. We all know about Vader so i won't discuss his character. Anakin may have been naive; but he nevertheless made choices and they were bad ones. I think this kinda disqualifies him from being the "good" in the series. He may have had good intentions; but like so many us that road is paved to hell.

I think you could say that the Star Wars saga is about Anakin NOW; however, I think the original film in 1977 was more about Luke Skywalker and his hero's journey. Lucas borrowed heavily from mythology and the work of Joseph Campbell (The Hero with a Thousand Faces) to create a modern myth. The story closely follows the stages of a hero's journey, and that hero is Luke Skywalker.

As the sequels came out, Vader became a bit more into focus, but not until the prequels does the whole saga take a different tone.

I think Anakin and Luke fall into two definitions of "good": Luke is the Good Son, who's excellence lies in his obediance to the rules set out for him. Anakin is the Good Father, who's excellence lies, as was mentioned, in the taking of responsibility for his own actions. This is the more mature kind of good, because it requires the hero to deny his own self.

*I think you could say that the Star Wars saga is about Anakin NOW; however, I think the original film in 1977 was more about Luke Skywalker and his hero's journey.*

i thought somebody would say that. the story of ANH would definitely about LUKE. hell, even ESB could have been about Luke. but when i saw rotj, i realized something- the hero all this time is anakin.

and i'm not saying that just because, like many elemantary school-agers would do, fall into Anakin's mystic and couragousness, but because he brought balance to the force.

I think the central lesson of the whole Star Wars story(keeping in mind that ep.3 is still yet unseen) is not moral, but metaphysical: The universe is constantly rotating through light and dark. Its the same kind of lesson to be learned from history books, actually.

I don't think there is a consistant moral or ethical lesson served by the story.

agreed

Everyone has a destiny, but your choices are important in shaping. There's a high road and a low road, a path through human weakness or human strength. You can make the selfish decisions, the wrong ones, and become a monster. Or you could make the right ones and become a hero. Everyone has it in their hearts to be either one, as the galaxy as a whole is a balance of light and dark. Beware the choices you make.

Star Wars, like many works from the ancient Greeks and Romans, explores the relationship between fate and freewill. This theme is central to the overall story of Star Wars as it draws heavily from the myths of the distant past to present a futuristic tale that explores many the same age old themes. Was it meant to be or just chance? Was it predetermined or of someone?s doing? There are always hidden hands and higher powers guiding the mortal players in this galactic drama. To this end, Lucas presents us with 2 kinds of mythic heroes to both compare and contrast to one another: the relunctant hero (Luke) and the tragic hero (Anakin).

Yes, Anakin was fated to bring balance to the Force, but how exactly he was going to accomplish this was not known by anyone until the end the tale via the redemptive power of his love for his son Luke. Was it Anakin's destiny to become Vader? Maybe, maybe not. One thing is certain is that fate--let's call it the Will of the Force--made sure the prophecy would come true one way or another regardless what choices Anakin made along the way. That's how fate works in relation to freewill. Had Anakin not turned into Vader, then perhaps he would have brought balance to the Force as a light-side jedi; but because he turned evil (which is what happens to a classic tragic hero) fate ensured his kids would survive so that one day he could fulfill his destiny. The point I'm making is that no one in the story, not Qui-Gon, or Obi-Wan, or Yoda, or Anakin himself, knew what would transpire or be able to change Anakin's destiny.

That's it! I've got a migraine now.

My 2 cents.

I think that the moral of Star Wars is that you should not become set in your ways or following any idea or philosophy too strictly.

We see in the PT that the Jedi are like this. They are stuck in their ways. They prefer to stick to their traditions and ceremonies. They also like to "be mindful of the future." All except Qui-gon Jinn. He prefers not to look ahead but to keep his head in the "here and now." He reacts to what happens around him in whatever way seems proper when the situation "presents itself." I would argue that Luke is a lot like Qui-gon in this regard. While he does sense the future somewhat, he reacts to it immediately, he doesn't try to forsee things and plan around them.

This is what leads to the Fall of the Jedi. They are stuck in their ways and always looking to the future so they don't see all the corruption around them. This ultimately leads to their destruction.

The Sith also fall prey to this. Sidious, like the Jedi, forsees many things and plans accordingly. When a problem arises that he had not forseen in Luke being able to turn Vader away from the Dark Side, he is unable to react appropriately and is destroyed. Vader also dies so the Sith are destroyed.

Lucas wants us to see that always looking to the future and being stuck in your ways is not the way to go. Be aware of what is going on around you or you will miss it. Miss the wrong thing and it will destroy you.

You can't see the forest through the trees! Hah..just kidding. (Old thread arguement) But it does raise an interesting point. With all the powers of good and evil and the force etc. it is inevitably humanity and family that are the strongest forces in the galaxy. While everybody is focusing on the force, they miss that which is stronger. Anakin with his good to bad etc. is a premise not a moral.

Ive always thought of it as the story of a family set in a time of conflict. The main overall events center around how the skywalker familly reacts to this events and how they influence them. It is all about power. Your choices affect those around you, those in power affect the course of nations. Star Wars is about a family that has power but they differ in their use of it

The story of the family is powered by anakins trails and tribulations.

Anakins rise from a young slave to a hero of the clone wars to a terror sweeping the galaxy and then he throws it all away to save his son. In the Star Wars universe we spell Redemption SKYWALKER.

Achilles0702

I see SW as a story about the choice between good and evil. The choice you make will shape your life and you will always be responsible for your actions. I don't see Anakin as the "good: guy, because I always thought another theme in SW was that there is good (Luke) and evil (Palpatine), but that it's not always black and white (Anakin). Anakin is the grey area between dark and light; spending most of his life paying for his evil actions, but joining his jedi friends in the end.