Why I'm Not a Jedi
Dec. 6th, 2004 12:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forsythOr, Why the Jedi Order Fell (Though It Deserved Better than a Whiny Brat to Kill It)
In which I lecture on about philosophy and metaphysics and stuff in the guise of pop culture, again.
Ah, the Jedi. icons to those of us who grew up before the Prequels came out. Nifty powers, mystic secrets and, of course, lightsabers. Who didn't want to be Luke when they were kids? Besides the people who wanted to be Han, and the girls, most of whom were obsessing over Han, though Luke has his fangirls too. But anyway, even lightsaber aside, I'm sure plenty of people have thought "it'd be cool to be a Jedi." Considering my friends list, this is a pretty safe guess.
In the Prequels, we learn a number of new things about the Jedi, some new, some things that were implied in the originals. Some of these are just plain stupid, with the Prequels, we can't count out the possibility that something is just Crap(tm). But besides the detachment and ossification and beauracracy that had overtaken the then-hidebound Jedi Order, there are several fundamental problems with the Jedi. Or at least, things I fundamentally disagree with, anyway, and since I'm always right, they're wrong. Besides being fictional.
The biggest fundamental problem with the Jedi is the one that, when exaggerated, led to the fiascoes of the Prequels, their disconnection. A Jedi is supposed to have no attachments. That just plain doesn't work. Not only because of human (and other sentient) nature, which is a biggie, and is also impossible, which is another biggie, and also it goes counter to what the Jedi are supposed to do. Everything is defined by its interactions with other things. Without the interaction of light and a box and your eyes, you can't see it. Without the interaction between your hands and a box, you don't feel it. If something doesn't interact, it might as well not be there. If something doesn't interact with anything else, for all practical purposes, it's NOT there. Jedi can't separate themselves from the Universe and other people, because the Universe is other people. And it also tends to make Jedi either go crazy, quit, or evolve strange coping mechanisms.
Actually, that sort of covers most of my disagreements with the Jedi, which boil down to their taking the wrong approach toward life. Life happens, you can't cut yourself out and look at it from above (or beside, or behind, or below, or whatever), that doesn't work. Trying to quit the game doesn't help you or anybody else. You have to care about people, you have to be willing to go down and get involved in things, otherwise you end up doing worse things, or ignoring other bad things. I'm not being very eloquent here, I know what I'm trying to say, but the words for it aren't coming.
You can't just shrug and say it's the Will of the Force that people ended up where they are, or in the trouble they're in, that's just a cop out to avoid doing anything about it. You can't get so caught up in the pursuit of Perfect, or the Greater Good, that you ignore the Pretty Good, or the Little Good. Maybe the fact that it's 12:40 is part of why the words aren't coming right. I may try a take two at this later on.
But the point is, I think that I'm trying to make, is you can't try and stay uninvolved. You're already involved. Trying to deny it is just lying to yourself and the Universe. You have to care enough to put your foot down and say "No, these things will not be tolerated." Otherwise, what's the bloody point?
"Monstering is, ultimately, about giving a shit. ... It's the Journalism of Attachment. It's caring about the world you report on. Some people say that's bad journalism,there should be a detached, cold, unbiased view of the world in our news media. ... I want to see humans, talking about human life, personally. I want to see people who give a shit about the world." - Spider Jerusalem
In which I lecture on about philosophy and metaphysics and stuff in the guise of pop culture, again.
Ah, the Jedi. icons to those of us who grew up before the Prequels came out. Nifty powers, mystic secrets and, of course, lightsabers. Who didn't want to be Luke when they were kids? Besides the people who wanted to be Han, and the girls, most of whom were obsessing over Han, though Luke has his fangirls too. But anyway, even lightsaber aside, I'm sure plenty of people have thought "it'd be cool to be a Jedi." Considering my friends list, this is a pretty safe guess.
In the Prequels, we learn a number of new things about the Jedi, some new, some things that were implied in the originals. Some of these are just plain stupid, with the Prequels, we can't count out the possibility that something is just Crap(tm). But besides the detachment and ossification and beauracracy that had overtaken the then-hidebound Jedi Order, there are several fundamental problems with the Jedi. Or at least, things I fundamentally disagree with, anyway, and since I'm always right, they're wrong. Besides being fictional.
The biggest fundamental problem with the Jedi is the one that, when exaggerated, led to the fiascoes of the Prequels, their disconnection. A Jedi is supposed to have no attachments. That just plain doesn't work. Not only because of human (and other sentient) nature, which is a biggie, and is also impossible, which is another biggie, and also it goes counter to what the Jedi are supposed to do. Everything is defined by its interactions with other things. Without the interaction of light and a box and your eyes, you can't see it. Without the interaction between your hands and a box, you don't feel it. If something doesn't interact, it might as well not be there. If something doesn't interact with anything else, for all practical purposes, it's NOT there. Jedi can't separate themselves from the Universe and other people, because the Universe is other people. And it also tends to make Jedi either go crazy, quit, or evolve strange coping mechanisms.
Actually, that sort of covers most of my disagreements with the Jedi, which boil down to their taking the wrong approach toward life. Life happens, you can't cut yourself out and look at it from above (or beside, or behind, or below, or whatever), that doesn't work. Trying to quit the game doesn't help you or anybody else. You have to care about people, you have to be willing to go down and get involved in things, otherwise you end up doing worse things, or ignoring other bad things. I'm not being very eloquent here, I know what I'm trying to say, but the words for it aren't coming.
You can't just shrug and say it's the Will of the Force that people ended up where they are, or in the trouble they're in, that's just a cop out to avoid doing anything about it. You can't get so caught up in the pursuit of Perfect, or the Greater Good, that you ignore the Pretty Good, or the Little Good. Maybe the fact that it's 12:40 is part of why the words aren't coming right. I may try a take two at this later on.
But the point is, I think that I'm trying to make, is you can't try and stay uninvolved. You're already involved. Trying to deny it is just lying to yourself and the Universe. You have to care enough to put your foot down and say "No, these things will not be tolerated." Otherwise, what's the bloody point?
"Monstering is, ultimately, about giving a shit. ... It's the Journalism of Attachment. It's caring about the world you report on. Some people say that's bad journalism,there should be a detached, cold, unbiased view of the world in our news media. ... I want to see humans, talking about human life, personally. I want to see people who give a shit about the world." - Spider Jerusalem
