A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....four nerds gathered in a movie theatre to watch the early screening of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. No wait. That's not what this story is about.
A few nights ago my wife and I saw the latest in the Star Wars franchise and it dawned on me that:
1. Thankfully there are no more really bad Jar Jar Binks characters in any of these movies, and
2. There might be some BIG themes here not everyone else was picking up on.
So as my unsolicited public service to you dear reader, here are 3 hidden themes from Star Ware Rise of The Skywalker:
Note: there are no spoilers here, but a few intergalactic sized life lessons for us to each take home, regardless of if your world has one moon or two. And if something's intergalactic, well, then you know it must be pretty important.
1. Star Wars is a Space Opera
Star Wars is a nostalgic Space Opera: So yes you Star Wars haters, that intentionally means melodramatic moments, repeated sequences for fandom, and over the top, expect no less, plot developments.
This also means when someone dies they probably didn't actually die, until they're really killed and then they probably still aren't actually dead yet either.
That is, well, unless you're a slightly jolly rebel resistance fighter in red flying an X-wing. If that's you then sorry, your ship will get hit once, and you'll die what appears to be a slightly agonizing death heard across the radiowaves by all your coworkers (ok, so many one minor spoiler). #Awkwardchristmasparty
The Space Opera theme also means epic interplanetary battles and big cinema 3-D escapism at it's finest. But all that shiny helmet razzle-dazzle might have caused a few of us to miss the two other big but hidden themes in the Star Wars movies.
2. The New Star Wars Movies Are The Virgins Promise
For mythology nerds or movie buffs, you likely already know Star Wars A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi applied a "Hero's Journey" mythology taken from Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
In the Hero's Journey, all is mostly right in the world, until a dark force takes over i.e. Darth Vader and his "move along" stormtroopers. Then the hero, aka Skywalker, reluctantly sets off on a number of trials and adventures, eventually bringing things back to how they were before.
But in the latest trilogy reboot, Star Wars exists in an already dark place run by the New Order. This dark galaxy far, far away is a place the hero grew up in, doesn't like much, and wants to change. And that is by definition The Virgin's Promise., a new archetypal structure where the hero also no longer wishes to live up to existing expectations, and is willing to find her inner strength to move forward, and to work towards her own dreams: To change the world to something different.
Insert Rey here. And a whole lot of seriously unmanaged trauma. Which brings us to our third theme...
3. Star Wars is All About Trauma
If you believe Star Wars is all about "The Force" then you may have missed one of it's biggest sub-themes inside each Star Wars movie ever made. And that theme is how trauma can screw up a bunch of ridiculously well-bred and gifted people who seemingly could have everything going for them.
But because of past full blown trauma, or perhaps in spite of it, a blinding malice overflows spilling toxic nastiness into pretty much every area of their lives. So instead of being all around awesome, these tormented souls, both good or bad, close their feelings off, deny themselves peace, and fail to unlock their best, hidden inside. See the inspired theme now!?
I wonder if Kylo-Ren and Rey were sat down for a full day to experience Wim Hof superhuman breathing, to find their inner peace, or took a full day of Holotropic Breathwork for transcendental healing magic, just how different things could have been. On the other hand though, all that destruction was probably good for the war economy? But I digress...
So the next time someone cuts you off while driving to work, or a coworker you know is a mindless selfish jerk, and you want to scream at them or worse, maybe take a look inside and see how those feelings of yours are doing first.
After all, we're all Hero's or Virgins on our own journeys. In worlds we like or ones we hope to change, from a Force within.
