pocket

May 22, 2006

The wonderful world of France

Ahh France. I never thought much about it until a few days ago when I arrived and was promptly robbed on the subway... They say be careful and hide your money, so we did. They say don't be fooled by distractions, and try to avoid crowded areas, and once again... we did! The truth is that it seems like we did everything right but I guess these guys are pros, not to mention there are no police anywhere useful in France. We found some chilling in the crepe shop, and some more chilling near the fountains, but none on the north subway (the notoriously dangerous north subway that comes directly from the train station where all of the tourists get off). All the locals knew to avoid it, even the police warned us once we had been robbed... So how about upping the security at that stop boys?

Anyways, we were robbed and lost nearly $1,000 US cash money and some photos and credit cards. The robbers (who were more like NY gangsters) then proceeded to attempt over $3,000 in Visa charges at the local shoe store, all of which were all declined. So... if you are ever riding the subway in France and three large black guys crowd you into a corner of the train and start pulling on your packs and pushing you around don't be fooled, it's not just some wierd cultural thing... You are being robbed.

After the whole thing was over we spent nearly six hours reporting the crime at the police station which had a gigantic line (as shown below) presumably because the French police force prefers documenting crime over preventing it.

Posted by pocket at 09:04 AM | Comments (2)

June 09, 2005

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Conservatives / Liberals / President Bush?

Well, lately Hollywood film commentators have been noting that many of the events in Star Wars Episode III are allegorical in nature, the metaphor being the Bush administration and the Iraq war.
Most notably the lines:

If you're not with me your against me! -Anakin Skywalker

The real world parallel being President Bush's state of the union speech where he also tell the terrorist of the world if you're not with peaceful democratic nations, you are against us. And the lines said by senator Padame:

This is how democracy ends, with applause. -Senator Padame

The metaphor being that of the house and senate applauding after George Bush's Axis of Evil speech.

Although a superficial examination of the film reveals the film personifies right-wing, hard line conservatives as the evil Sith, a deeper examination of the events of the film reveals that elements of both liberal and conservative thinking are present in both the righteous Jedi and devious Sith.

All Things Equal

A common element you find in liberal thinking is the idea that all things must be equal. The shining example equivocal thinking is communist / socialist ideas, specifically the idea that no one individual deserves more than another and therefore all should receive equal access to basic human rights: housing, food, employment, medical, etc. Another example is the liberal notion that all cultures are equally valuable, resulting in college students taking English Literature as well as Native American literature classes.

In Episode III this element of liberal thought is not present in the Jedi but in the Sith. In the scene where Senator Palpatine/ Lord Sidious and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker are in the futuristic opera house, Palpatine convinces Anakin that

The Sith seek ultimate power but the Jedi also seek more power. I see no difference between the two. -Palpatine

A direct byproduct of this equivocal thinking is moral confusion - the inability to determine right from wrong. If you ask most liberals about their stance on the Iraq War they usually say: It is wrong of us (United States) to impose our beliefs and values on another culture. If you ask a liberal, however, if Saddam Hussein is an evil person, they will often either dodge the question or retort with the statement: Bush is no better than Saddam, Saddam invaded Kuwait, Bush invaded Iraq.

When you equate everything the definition of good and evil becomes a shade of gray. Good people have lapses of evil actions and evil people have lapses of good actions. In Episode III the Jedi are reduced to asking Anakin to spy on Senator Palapatine and are reduced to killing their enemies instead of capturing them. After the duel between Anakin and Sith lord Count Dooku, Anakin is encouraged by Palapatine to kill him. Later Anakin is not scolded and punished for his actions but instead receives praise from his Jedi mentor Obi-Wan.

Through the creation of the oppressive empire, the Sith do indeed create some form of peace throughout the galaxy. Both sides commit actions which are unbecoming of the true good and true evil and therefore the statement Palapatine made about Jedi and Sith being equal should be correct. If you ask any Star Wars fan, however, you will find they associate the Jedi with absolute good and Sith as absolute evil. Why is that? Although Jedi have lapses of correct moral behavior their intentions always remain good.

Moral Confusion

This moral confusion, although reflective of the shades of gray that exist in real life decision making, can be unhealthy when confronted with true evil. What ultimately causes the downfall of the Jedi order?
They were unable to detect the presence of evil. Palaptine is able to mask his identity as a Sith lord and keep the Jedi unaware that he is true evil.

The dark side clouds the force.
-Yoda.

His force power of persuasion You don't need to see my identification effectively influences senators to liking him and supporting him. Although one can argue that those helpless senators were unable to resist his powers, just like Tango it takes two to be persuaded. By the way the force power of persuasion only works on the weak minded.

Convincing strong minded Jedi for the Sith Lord required an appeal to emotion and intellectual deception. In the film Anakin is more easily persuaded to join Lord Sidious after Sidious/Palapatine convinces him that the Jedi and Sith are equal and then convinces him that the Jedi are evil. Anakin is also motivated by intense love for his young wife senator Padame and the desire to save her. Palapatine plays on Anakin's emotions and entices him with the learning of a force power to prevent death. Instead of accepting Yoda's wisdom of rejoicing at death and celebrating their life, Anakin chooses to greedily choose saving his wife's life and killing anyone who gets in his way.

Lethal Force Powers

Finally the largest metaphor in the movie is that the evil Palaptine manipulating the Jedi and Senate to start a war and after the chaos becomes a dictator. Most movie goers would equate this to the actions of George Bush. The use of lethal force is usually abhorred by liberals, preferring negotiation rather than start war. Conservatives usually favor war when they are unable to negotiate with un-reasonable people. It is true that the Jedi are more a defensive organization than an offensive organization.

The Jedi are peacekeepers, not solders. -Jedi Master Windu

Although the Sith use lethal force to achieve their selfish goals, to say the Jedi do not use their power lethally is also inaccurate. In Episode I when Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jin are sent to negotiate with the trade federation they use their force powers to slice and dice their way through trade federation droids. No further attempts are made at negotiations throughout the film. As mentioned before, the Jedi recognize the evil of the Sith and take every measure to exterminate them with the rational that they are too dangerous to let live.
Ignoring the complexity of the issues presented in the Star Wars films and Episode III would do injustice to George Lucas's masterful sci-fi creation. If one critically looks at the films it becomes clear that both elements of liberal and conservative thinking exist in both Jedi and Sith.

Posted by pocket at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)