Is it ok to feel like Yoda sometimes?

[CoffeeCat]

In Star Wars III, Revenge of the Sith--Yoda realizes that he is outmatched. Despite his powers and his belief in fighting against "the dark side" he retreats to exile.

He realizes that "the dark side" has grown too powerful and that he must save himself.

I hate to admit it, but sometimes I feel that way too. Sometimes I don't want to be in this country anymore. This doesn't feel like America anymore. I feel as if I'm witnessing a slow death of a dear, respected loved one.

I fear for the future of my children.

I feel like a traitor. A quitter. Maybe I am. However, I'm starting to feel that things are just getting worse--and that maybe leaving might be an option.

Can you be a good American while thinking that "Into exile, I must go" sounds like a not-so-bad idea?

[TheBaldyMan]

1. didn't Master Yoda go a bit dark side to save himself

in the fight against Palpatine in the senate? Check out his eyes in the close up just before he repels Palpatine.

[CoffeeCat]

5. Interesting! I'll have to check that out...

Maybe that's why Yoda inevitably left. He realized that the only way to beat the Sith
was to become like them.

[TheBaldyMan]

8. Please don't go over to the dark side! n/t

[leeroysphitz]

6. Good Catch!!!

He felt anger and it gave him strength but instead of using it he held true to his convictions, stuck to his training and did not GIVE IN. He showed wisdom and more importantly patience and prevailed in the end. This is the definition of FAITH.

(oh gOD I am a dork...)

[TheBaldyMan]

9. the force is with you leroysphits n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

2. We Must Never Give Up. There Is Far Too Much At Stake

It is going to be a long, hard, tiring and testing battle, but one we must not fail in winning. We can do it, and will do it all in due time. But it is going to be painful, and is already so painful to watch the destruction of our beloved country right before our eyes. But please, friend, never forget, It is up to us. It is all up to us. We cannot turn tail and run on this one. Not this time, not any longer. I sympathize with your feelings, however, and sometimes feel it is too much to handle as well. That I just want to leave politics behind and get back to the 'ignorance is bliss' way of life and enjoying my family I once had. But I know when I feel those ways it is temporary, because what we are out to achieve here transcends any one of us or our own wants because the cause is far too important. We must continue to fight, always, until we win.

[CoffeeCat]

3. I appreciate your perseverance...

...it is inspiring.

I feel like Yoda sometimes. Then, at other times, I feel like Obi Wan--battling it out with Anakin and never giving up.

It's just difficult sometimes.

Inspiring post. Thanks for your thoughts.

[mike_c]

4. don't you mean...

..."Is it OK like Yoda to sometimes feel?"

[laststeamtrain]

7. It's probably best NOT to base anything on children's entertainment...

...products.

[CoffeeCat]

11. Star Wars surpasses children--and also appeals...

to adults as well.

Lessons learned from Star Wars are applicable to all ages.

I thought it was incredibly interesting that Anakin said, "You're either with me or you're my enemy" after he had turned to the 'dark side.' Gee, who else talks like that? (Hint: "You're either with us or against us.").

Obi Wan's reply to Anakin was also interesting, "Only the Sith think in absolutes like that!"

[laststeamtrain]

14. But what would Little LuLu do? Or Dr. Strange? Or....

..sorry, no sale. The Force/The Dark Side. Black Hats/White Hats. Cowboys/Indians.
It's fine as recreation. I guess it's no better or worse than most pop culture which means I think it's a time-waster. There's too much good art and thought to waste time over-thinking a space opera. For me, anyway...

[DerekG]

22. Actually, the prequel trilogy eschewed the manichaeism you speak of

Save for Natalie Portman's character, there are no "black hats/white hats" to be found. The vaunted Republic is owned by corporate interests, the Jedi are arrogant dogmatists, and two of the antagonists--Count Dooku (Christopher Lee's character) and Anakin Skywalker--are misguided utopians. Even the text to the opening crawl to Episode III ("There is good on both sides. Evil is everywhere.") suggests a nuance that didn't exist in the originals.

Lucas is many things, but he's no dummy.

[Deja Q]

17. Paralleling or parodying topical politics does not instantly grant a movie

the status of "all time classic".

S W III is absolute rubbish and if it hadn't been for paralleling some dialogue, it would have been worse.

I don't need the hints. I do not need to be patronized like this. I did not need to give that revisionist twerp $10 just to be preached at either. (he's mucked up every other classic film he's done from the 70s and 80s just because his feelings on some trifling issue changed.)

And if such drivel starts winning awards (it's up for the Peoples' choice award, but that doesn't sound very worthwhile to me... people are more concerned about the great deals at best buy than they are anything regarding reality... or maybe they're the smarter ones; not going bananas due to anxiety. :think: )

[CoffeeCat]

19. You must be misunderstanding my post...

I wasn't patronizing you at all.

I apologize if my post came off that way.

I thought the parallel language (Anakin-->Bush) was obvious to anyone--including yourself.

Sometimes my sense of humor doesn't translate well on the screen.

[Deja Q]

23. It's my turn to apologize...

I was speaking of S W III, not you personally.

I thought and hoped you would have recognized that Lucas' writing style, particularly in the S W series of movies, is highly uninvolving, preachy, petty, and condescending -- yet being fairly 'lightweight' and 'lacking in depth' at the same time; Lucas has a knack for being very superficial. (And there's a reason why "The Empire Strikes Back" is by far the best of the flicks; he didn't write it! )



S W III was very obvious. Even somebody like myself could see it. :eyes: (To clarify, this sole sentence is my response to your coy dig at me.)

And I should have clarified I was talking about Lucas' inability to write something halfway decent in the first place.

[henslee]

29. Lucas is an unspectacular storyteller. His achievements in advancing

cinema technology are way more interesting than any story he has told. Also, the Star Wars franchise really took hollywood down a regrettable path in that character based films really took a backseat to corporate blockbusters for a long time. I do like that Lucas chose to resign from the director's guild because they wouldn't allow him to roll the titles at the end of Starwars instead of the beginning, something he did anyway. I like that he's his own man. I like his do-it-yourself autonomy.

[Yoda Yada]

10. Of course....

...to tower above deceit, you ARE TALL ENOUGH.

(You are stronger than you think. Never give up.)

[CoffeeCat]

12. Thanks Yoda...

Wow, I write a Yoda post and a Yoda shows up.

:)

Yoda also said, "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to suffering."

I should cross stitch that on a pillow.

[Richard Steele]

13. YODA didn't go into exile for HIMSELF...

He hid away for a few decades FOR THE GREATER GOOD.

He could have "gone out in a blaze of glory" if he was an Egocentric Freeper-type...

But he wisely chose instead to live alone, in ignomy, unloved and forgotten...
until the day came when he could once again SERVE THE GREATER GOOD.

Any Testosterone-huffing fool can DIE for "what they believe in"...
but only the wisest among us can bear the TRUE burden of LIVING for it.

[CoffeeCat]

16. Thanks for that clarification....

...that was beautiful.

I loved this, "But he wisely chose instead to live alone, in ignomy, unloved and forgotten...
until the day came when he could once again SERVE THE GREATER GOOD."

[Richard Steele]

21. BEAUTIFUL? Now I'm BLUSHING like bugs bunny...

I do have my moments, though...
and I am HONORED that a fellow human being found some TRUTH
in that particular one.

You seemed abit SAD and forlorn..I hope I helped change that.

Or, at least,
Perhaps I pointed the way to a DOOR which had previously gone unnoticed....

[artemisia1]

31. Good point. He lived to fight another day. /nt

[DerekG]

15. Yoda does not flee to save himself; he foresees an alternative to fighting

One of the more fascinating elements to Lucas's (unfairly maligned) prequel trilogy is that the Jedi Order, and the Republic they served, were in tatters long before Palpatine hatched his machinations. The impetus for the Empire's birth wouldn't have existed if there hadn't been discontent with corporatists and broken bureaucracies. America, too, was broken long before the neocons sauntered into the casa blanca. (Some of our more perceptive historians saw the destruction of our republic as far back as the 40's, when the Truman administration decided to declare war on communism...by way of the national security state).

Yoda's defeat in the Senate represents the failure of all his comrades and peers; and one can clearly see his exile as an exercise in self-flagellation. And yet, he doesn't concede total victory: he and Obi-Wan concoct a plan that allows for redemption, but only through the young.

Similarly, the hope for "an America that never was" (to quote one of my favorite poets) may lie with our children, and those yet born.

My advice: give the world children of conscience, and they may very well give the world a conscience.

[CoffeeCat]

18. Did you write that last line?

"My advice: give the world children of conscience, and they may very well give the world a conscience."

That's really AMAZING.

I liked your Star Wars thoughts, too.

You are right...about America having problems before the neocons unleashed their warmongering on the world. In fact, the neocons have been plotting this for quite a while. Rumsfeld and Cheney are living out their lifelong dreams. For some reason--this time in history--is when they were allowed to gain power and escape accountability for their crimes. This has as much to do with the failures of the Dems--and American citizens in general.

[DerekG]

25. Barring some kind of subconscious recall, I made it up 20 minutes ago

The child's redemption of the father/mother is a motif I find attractive in mythology--or pop mythology, in the case of "Star Wars." When watching Peter Jackson's LOTR adaptations, I feared I would someday be in Bilbo's shoes, weeping over the fact my son (or nephew, as it were) was burdened because of my impotence.

It's not a pleasant thought.

[Deja Q]

27. He flees so he can train junior Luke there to do the dirty work for him.

Nice. (not.)

Luke didn't make the Empire or Vader what they were. So why should he have to be cajoled into defeating them? (and one teenie-bopper bringing down an ENTIRE empire? That's as unrealistic as it gets...)

Children are our future... and they probably do things out of abject rebellion and nothing more. Look how the hippie generation turned into the reaganauts and wince... or crap your pants, whichever seems more apropos...

Oddly enough, I thought of this scenario: if Hitler had a child, would it act just as hokey as Luke had upon finding out just who his daddy was? And would Adolf Jr be able to singlehandedly tear down the Nazi party, had it won in WW2? No.

One other thing: "Vader" is in the DU dictionary applet... :rofl:

[DerekG]

30. My thoughts

1. While a fair number of young people are, unfortunately, enamored with the more superfluous facets to rebellion (I suspect those sellout boomers you speak of were only interested in the aesthetics of the counter-culture, anyway), one should harken back to the idealists who comprised SNCC. Whereas some of their elders were hesitant to make demands from moderate politicians, or confront issues deemed "outside" the sphere of the civil rights movement (the Vietnam War, for instance), those youngsters were the ones who moved mountains.

2. Luke wasn't cajoled into defeating the Empire, he always despised it, as demonstrated in the first act of "A New Hope" (he's exuberant when C-3PO mentions the Rebellion). And there's no point in arguing logistics in a mythological construct (if David can slay Goliath with a slingshot, Luke can destroy the Death Star with a torpedo).

[ginnyinWI]

28. I think it's the best of the Star Wars films

I really enjoyed it for its political themes.

As for the United States, I fear we may be on the decline. Being the world's only superpower hasn't been healthy for us. We've become, in our arrogance, more of a threat to the rest of the world than a friend.

We allow our government to scare us--even though we are the world's only superpower. They lie to us and we thank them for making us feel "proud to be American", and all the while they are tearing our society down with their bankrupt ideas.

The things that will bring us down are not what most think--they will be things like poverty and ignorance. All great civilizations rise, then fall. Sooner or later another one will take our place, and then we'll be just another has-been country like Egypt, or Spain, or Great Britain, subject to the whims of the next big superpower, which I'm guessing will be China.

It won't be so bad; we'll just have to get over ourselves and find a little humility again.

[mikelewis]

20. No, it's never okay to feel like Yoda. If you feel like Yoda, call a...

psychiatrist and stay away from your children until you get on some medication.

As for running away, you're the only one who can make that decision. However, if you stay and do nothing, it would probably be better if you go. If you leave, leave America behind and leave her forever; but you're always welcome home whenever you like, no questions asked. If you stay and fight, when you win, you'll have guaranteed your childrens future, if you lose, same thing.

Glad, I'm not gonna try and tackle that decision.

[file83]

24. Unless you have a Millinium Falcon....

...you are stuck on this planet with the rest of us. The power of the U.S. is global as is the reach of pollution by Multinational corporations. Yoda was able to travel around the galaxy. Until we can do that, we've all gotta work on this bullshit hand we've been dealt.

Besides, you're no Jedi master anyway. You couldn't hack it in the swamps by yourself.

[AJH032]

26. Yoda never believes the "dark side" is more powerful than the "good side"

he simply realizes that after he fails to kill Darth Sidious, that the new Empire and its army is too powerful for two Jedi to destroy (Yoda and Obi Wan) and so he goes into exile until the time is right. In episode 5, Luke asks Yoda if the dark side is more powerful and Yoda responds that it is not more powerful, it is only "faster, easier, more seductive."

Wow, it is really sad that I know this. But I just watched all 6 episodes in the past few days, so I guess that's my excuse.