Seeing Star Wars Anew Again

This article was originally published at the venerable Coffee With Kenobi

Attack of the Clones was on TBS the other day. I dutifully and joyfully put it on. This under-appreciated episode of the Saga is much maligned, and I think that is wrong. While viewing this visually stunning masterpiece, I realized that I was reciting all of the lines along with the movie. Like some people sing along to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Sweet Caroline” or “Frankenstein,” I find that speaking along with these movies is comforting and helps me to find new depth in them. So then the question arises: How can we see these movies for what they are, and not what we expect them to be? By this I mean an even more basic question. Can we ever see these movies new again?

For the past decade we have been treated to The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, each of which has offered new insights to Episode II (among other things); and I would say that it has made it an entirely different movie. So, I ask myself, can I see this movie fresh, or is it constantly going to be colored by preconceived notions that I, myself, bring to each viewing? What if I had seen Episode II after the various cartoon series? And if I had, what would have changed? Certainly not the cinematic output, but me. I would have changed with more insight, or having been at a different stage in my life.

The Cave of Wonders and Rebirth

This article was originally published at www.coffeewithkenobi.com 

There is nothing you know that can’t be known.  Eternity has invaded and fulfilled creation with its fullness.  Everything we learn is only that which has been passed on from some masters who found intimate and profound connection to the source of knowledge.  And this lesson is at the core of what Master Yoda has been trying to pass on to us younglings and padawans since 1980 or so.  Never stop educating yourself.  Never stop going to the source of goodness and growth and finding the lessons found in that long sought after place, for they are the beginning of eternal life.

Forgiving Anakin, Giving Thanks with Luke

This article was originally published at www.coffeewithkenobi.com 

Dear readers, I am preparing for quite a funk this coming holiday season.  My life is turned upside down.  Things are changing, and this is inevitable.  Changes have been coming for a while, but we all know that the holiday season can be taxing in such a situation.  And I want you to know that I am trying to remain thankful and hopeful.  Trying.  Will I succeed?  I’ll let you know in January.  Thanksgiving is the kickoff to the holiday season, and I intend to maintain and meditate on the hope that is imbued in the reason for the civic holiday.  I have blogged about hope many times.  I firmly believe everything that I have written for this grand community.  And the opposite of hope is despair.  This is a paradigm that has been central to my life for its entirety.  Let’s look at each in turn and see where that gets us. Read More

Force and Faith: Luke's Lonely Exile and Hopeful Return

Some very fun and creative parody accounts are on Twitter, spoofing Kylo Ren’s maudlin behavior, or the loneliness that Luke must be feeling.  Whichever comic geniuses were behind them, they had me laughing many times.  (And I make no endorsement of any blue material I may be overlooking).  They took these iconic characters and looked into their psyches for incredible comedic results.  But the online world of Twitter, Facebook and the like can actually lead us to feeling isolated, which is very similar to the loneliness that Luke must have felt on the heights of Ahch-To.  Luke was a man who grew up in a family, surrounded by friends, and joined the vast rebellion with its camaraderie.  In his exile, he must have experienced a profound loneliness that affected him.

The Force Awakens Review for Younglings

This is a letter that was written to a family with younglings that are quite interested in whether The Force Awakens is appropriate for them.  

I was very happy to be able to see the new movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens last night with my two boys who are ages 10 and 14.  Together, we watch a lot of Star Wars movies and cartoons because it is a good story with interesting characters and exciting battles.

            The new movie is just as exciting.  There are lots of new characters and aliens that make it really fun.  Rey, the young lady who seems to be the center of the movie, is a clever person that has lived on her own in the desert for many years.  She doesn’t complain about how harsh it is to live there, but she hopes for the day when she will be rescued.

Jedi Lessons from Skellig Michael

The last time we saw our Jedi Master, he was in triumphant celebration of the destruction of Death Star II. He was also in mourning for his newly-reclaimed father. His journey as a Jedi and as a man was headed in a unique direction after these events. In the poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Luke is conspicuously absent. We do not know why, but speculation abounds. We do know that Mark Hamill was seen filming at a remote location in Ireland. This location will become part of our enduring fandom consciousness, just as the desert of Tunisia, the glaciers of Norway or the redwoods of Northern California have. We are talking about Skellig Michael, an ancient island in Ireland that was once home to Christian monastics.