52 Comments

Honestly some great insight you have here. It's not a connection I ever made before, but since Yoda is quite literally the embodiment of Lucas's original concept of the force, which always came off as kind of a hippy "Just go with the flow, man" kind of deal, it tracks that he could also be exactly what the hippies became, which is the boomer generation. Obviously that's grossly oversimplifying it, but you get what I mean.

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I've been critical of Lucas as of late. There is no denying the SW universe is huge and interesting, but the jedi code is in my opinion a 1960's misinterpreation of budhist philosophy, a phenomenon in fashion while Lucas was a young man. My favorite character in the lore is Count Dooku, because he sees tru all the jedi mumbo-jumbo and has the guts to oppose it.

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Fair enough, there is an alternate EU Jedi Code which is a lot better, maybe I'll analyse a bit of that one next week and contrast it ever so slightly with the main code.

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That's kind of what I was trying to get at but my caffeine hadn't kicked in yet. Yes, it was all very much inspired by the hippy-era counterculture's misinterpretation of Eastern spiritual teachings, which, in and of itself, isn't exactly bad, per say - there's nothing inherently wrong with the "take it easy" and "trust your gut" and "go with the flow" - but at the same time, when it becomes ossified and sclerotic and stuck in its ways, refusing to change... it's not really "going" with any flow anymore. I actually liked where The Last Jedi seemed to be going in a more critical direction of the Jedi order, the Jedi code, and the whole balance between the light and dark (i.e. too much of even the light side is throwing things out of balance), but the people behind that movie and certainly the other ones were not up to the task of sticking the landing and exploring it in a way that was very thorough, and it felt more like it boiled down to a simple "old thing bad" message rather than a more nuanced take of yes, the old ways had problems, but there were merits to it and it needs to be amended, not destroyed. One could make the argument they paid lip service to that idea when Rey saved the old Jedi texts from burning but, at that point, I feel like it's quibbling and splitting hairs.

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I don't approve of the TLJ or where they went, but to be honest it was Luke who explored things in the EU in a nuanced way and sought to make the necessary changes. What's interesting is that the Jedi have sought to explore and change over the millennia however Yoda stripped away all the changes for reasons that bewilder me.

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perhaps Yoda was born in a time of peace and prosperity and was simply what a Jedi should be on paper. People who've never lived tru struggle can only theorize and phantacize about it. Had Yoda been born in a time of crisis either one of two things would have happened: He would have matured and adapted much sooner and died or he would have matured and overcame and lasted as long as he did being a war hero.

the fact that Yoda is just an ascetic monk is perhaps by design, to show how the jedi were complacent with the status quo and lost their purpose as a warrior elite, much like the samurai in peace centuries of Japan (Edo Period).

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Very awesome analysis, I never actually thought about the ascetic monk versus warrior-elite aspect! In a way victory defeated the Samurai after Osaka Castle just as the Jedi's victories over the Sith defeated them. I like it!

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You will find many parellels between Japanese Budhism and Star Wars. The Warirror Monk is a trope George Lucas used ad nauseum. I wish you continued writing on the philosophies behind Star Wars as its the cornerstone of our generation ( i was born in 1996)

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Hmm, I always assumed Odan-Urr represented the Light Side (Odan Urr was invented by Lucas), but I guess Yoda also makes sense.

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Hey, you're more versed in Star Wars deep lore than me, so I'll take your word for it. My knowledge is restricted to the first six movies and some of the extended universe books, but I never much got into the Old Republic or anything beyond that. I guess I didn't mean that Yoda was literally the embodiment of the force or either side of it, so much as a character that represented the light side, at least in the first three movies. I do appreciate the insight into the wider canon, though. Makes me want to go dig up my old copies of the expanded universe books I had and revisit them.

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Hahahaha np, and honestly it has been 15 years since I deep-dived into this stuff. Seems to me like you've got a really great understanding of the lore already.

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Star Wars used to be my jam. When I was younger, I read every book I possibly could, but unfortunately I never had a system I could play KotR on so that one flew under my radar. I still hold great affection for the original six movies, but Disney's meddling has done a lot to temper my former love for the series.

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I love your analysis of Yoda's role in Anakin's turn to the dark side. I always thought Yoda bore some responsibility because he tried to make emotions into this forbidden almost evil thing. Yoda would have gotten along well with Vulcans.

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I think he'd have liked them too much and broken his own rules about attachments lmao.

But in all seriousness I'm glad you enjoyed it, I too always felt that he bore some responsibility even as I kind of pitied him. He should not have done what he did with attachments.

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There was a point in my life i was decided to turn Buddhist, and it just so happened i was practicing detachment, and a loved one got cancer. In my foolishness i thought my buddhism would be strenghentened if i "detached" from the inevitable emotions. The person died, and a year later, after giving up on buddhism, i broke up in mad grief and became a very broken man. I have recovered, but only by embracing the feeling, not detaching from it.

All this to say i absolutely despise the Jedi Code. You cannot supress human (or humanoid) emotion. You must deal with it. 900 years of meditation made Yoda a cold motherfucker, not tru resilience, but tru apathy. I also suspec loosing everyone around him for generations made him too apathetic.

I'll say this. In struggle we grow, in apathy we bottle up. Maybe it explains why Yoda is half mad when Luke finds him on Daggobah.

Excellent article!

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You're absolutely right, there's a reason Kreia says that 'apathy is death' in KOTOR II. I always thought she was absolutely right in a lot of ways.

I'm glad you enjoyed the article, I do think Yoda's continuous suppression of his feelings and what not has made him go half-mad with grief as you rightly pointed out.

I'm considering doing more of these sort of analysis essays on Star Wars (seems to be good for drawing readers), and also of contrasting Yoda as a mentor and figure with that of Draco from Dragonheart, and analysing and contrasting Bowen with some of the Jedi from SW. I think that Dragonheart is a good counter-image as there are characters who fall, and pick themselves back up in similar and yet different ways.

Glad you enjoyed the article my friend and I"m sorry about your loss, I myself have been there when it comes to the grief at losing more than one figure in my life.

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Thank you for the great reply, i would LOVE more articles on Star Wars. Your way of writing about it is very non-cliche.

i don't know dragonheart at all, is it a book series or a movie series? in any case, i'm enjoying more and more of your work, keep it up my good man!!

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Bienvenue, you're more than welcome and I'm happy to continue analysing Star Wars, I always thought of myself as a very boring and traditionalist thinker in regards to Star Wars, but glad you think it non-cliche.

As to Dragonheart it is a movie from 1996 with Dennis Quaid and is the single-most philosophical movie of the 90s I've ever seen and my favourite from that era.

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i will surely watch it, thanks for putting it on my radar, and again, do more alysis on the SW EU, your writings are most welcomed

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So sad. I've seen many folks disappointed and hurt emotionally and spiritually by Buddhism, and other faiths, frankly. Buddhism has some truth in it, but not the fullness of grace, Truth and love so it can only disappoint and fail you in the end. And why settle for only partial of anything? When you can easily have the whole thing, and a Greater Joy?

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Good point, my own faith in Christ has given me considerable joy, though I tend to include some ideas of other faiths that I like along with various schools of philosophy (especially Stoicism). You're very right in many ways TMR.

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I have to say I agree with you seeing it from this perspective. Yoda needed a hug.

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And some chamomile or earl-grey then a serious talk, preferably by Mace who only ever tried so hard 'cause he wanted to please him but never seemed able to.

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Has to be the Earl Grey breakfast. We all have had a Yoda in our lives, I will say Anakin definitely should have talked to Mace instead of Palps. That dude. Lol

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I know right? lol weirdly Mace would have understood on some level.

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😁

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Never trust anyone over three hundred man.

Yoda being 900 years old, the rest of us are tantrum throwing children. 900 years ago the First crusade started. The Jedi that Yoda would remember and look up to would be myth, like Roland and Robin Hood. Probable the worst choice for a twenty year old kid to ask advice.

If they had played it up as Yoda having lived a life and is now jaded and had finally learned better. "Been there have I, Young Skywalker." Showing him a Holocore of pictures.

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Good point lmao, and 900 years ago was also a much more incredible era in some ways, what with the battle entre the Capetiens & Plantagenets.

But yeah I suppose, those are some good points.

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"Apathy is death."

When Shmi died and Anakin went on a rampage the problem wasn't the attachment to his mother but the uncontrollable grief he felt. He had never been taught how to control and channel his emotion and so they come out in wild outbursts. Yoda misses this, for he is apathetic, and is more droid than the droids themselves. Unfortunately, Anakin believes he is meant to look up to Yoda and, for whatever reason, doesn't feel like he can share his fears of Padme's death with Obi-Wan. Yoda's advice is akin to him repeating what Younglings are taught so presumably Anakin already knows he's meant to detach, the problem is he can't and more meditation isn't going to help.

Widening the scope we can ask should he detach? Should a Jedi become a mere tool of the Force? If the Force is life itself then surely becoming detached is turning your back on it. Should life not be lived, thus strengthening the Force and the bonds it represents? There's no reason this automatically leads to the dark side. Jolee Bindo, Qui-Gon, dare I say Revan and (some of) the Jedi that followed him seemed to understand this. The severing of attachment seems to be from an abject fear of the dark side without understanding why people turn to it. The attachment is not the issue, the response to emotional shocks is the issue. Yoda's advice leaves Jedi totally vulnerable and, I think, more likely to fall to the dark side.

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Just to correct something you said; Qui-Gon did not understand this. He may have loved people, but all throughout Obi-Wan's training he tried to force those teachings upon him. And when Obi-Wan rejected some of these ideas as a youth, Qui-Gon would manipulate him and report him to Yoda, and give him ultimatums.

Jinn embodied Yoda's teachings better than even Yoda did.

Qui-Gon's actions against Kenobi even drew criticism from his some-times lover, other times friend Tahl. She was a maternal figure to Obi, and often claimed Qui-Gon was something of a cruel taskmaster to Obi-Wan, and that he expected too much from him. Trouble is that Qui-Gon would be cold one minute to Kenobi, when he displayed emotions, and then when he didn't he was praised.

It is why he's so messed up himself in Eps 1, and is divorced from the universe on an emotional level and him and Jinn can't seem to get on well.

But yeah there is that factor with Yoda being little more than a droid in some ways. So that the teachings break him and he succumbs in time to depression I think on Dagobah.

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I had no idea about all that for Qui-Gon but it does shine a light on the odd relationship him and Obi-Wan appear to have in Episode 1. Thanks. Which book/s is this all from?

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This is from Secrets of the Jedi, where Qui-Gon discovers Obi-Wan got together with Siri Tachi, and disapproving he reports it to Yoda. This in spite of the fact that Qui-Gon had a similar relationship all his life, for nigh on 40 years.

Obi was not to resume the relationship until after Qui-Gon died and it was on and off, but it does present one of the great 'what ifs' and it shows Jinn as having had growth.

As a Ghost in the Last of the Jedi series, he expresses regret at what he did, and tries to push Obi-Wan to stop being Ben Kenobi psychologically and to let go of his pain. Obi-Wan though can't listen, and can't stop self-flagellating until Luke redeems Vader. And in the Ep 6 novel it is hinted that Luke perceives that it is not only Vader who requires redemption but Obi-Wan.

So that this is why while I like Jinn, I consider him to have kind of damned Obi-Wan, and that had he lived he'd have been the worst possible Master to Anakin. Obi-Wan was much kindlier, and more patient and less controlling.

Oh and for Qui-Gon's relationship with Tahl check out Jedi Apprentice volumes 7-16

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Ps- forgot to add-I'm a proud "boomer". And I'm not a lefty hippie by any means but maybe it's because I'm on the cusp-edge of "boomer-hood".

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Eh, I love baby-boomers of most areas, I just chose the title for clickbait. I dislike the hippies movement, but have met in many anti-hippie boomers over the course of my life. I was raised by right-wing French & Irish boomers, who belong firmly to tradition loving mentality. Most boomers of France, Quebec, South-USA & Japan I've met rock, same with those I've met from England & Scotland.

Most boomers are reasonable and even kind, in my experience.

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Interesting. I always saw the theology of Star wars as a combo of gnosticism and pantheism so although I ❤️ the story and the characters, I bristle a little at the spirituality. At the same time, at least there is some spirituality. Anakin is a tragic character. A lost soul in a empty, loveless places. And yes, I agree that attachment is a virtue, not a burden. We were made for attachment. We were literally made for ❤️, in fact, deep love, a love the Greeks call agape, which is a powerful love. That kind of love makes us stronger, not weaker. That kind of love is the most powerful "force" in the universe. You made me see Yoda in a much different light, so thank you for that. It's good to be detached from things or distractions. But not from love. Great post.

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Could not agree more, love is the antidote to all the worst woes and pains of the universe love your comment!

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I’ve always wondered where to go if I wanted Star Wars comic that are official canon. Are they As convoluted as Marvel & DC?

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At this point yes, just stick to the Old Republic comics from the 90s, those are great. The ones involving Naga Sadow, Exar Kun & Darth Bane I mean.

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I don't know the Star Wars books and lore and all as well; I just know the movies mostly and Matthew Stover's novelization of ROTS, but let's be honest, even if we concede Yoda's advice in the moment was bad (I don't know that he knew about Padme or that anyone knew other than Obi-Wan, but maybe that's in the books?), Anakin was on a path to the Dark Side long before that scene. At the very least, when he killed Count Dooku on the Invisible Hand, that was a turning point. As Stover points out, it was his first cold-blooded murder. Naturally he didn't tell anyone about it other than Palpatine, the only one who knew, which gave Palpatine leverage, and well, there goes the ballgame.

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Good point, that is the moment Anakin was set no the path, I think though that the next major point was the fear of loss confession, and that he might have been saved had he confided in someone else and gotten decent advice.

But yeah Stover's novel is a great one, glad you've read it X)

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I've not only read it; I've listened to the audiobook by Jonathan Davis. Several times. Possibly my favorite audiobook ever.

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I should give it a listen, while I'm writing my novels. Thanks for the recommendation my friend.

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I'll say one thing: Davis' narrationof General Grievous, combined with Stover's text, is more intimidating and significantly improved over the movie.

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Cool!

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"Me, trouble with, is, pompous fool, I am..."

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"Whoops, delayed too long to attack frightened Sith, hmmm maybe tea and nap-time is in order..."

Lmao

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In some ways, definitely. Aging hippie VW van driver turned boomer.

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Ah ok, I thought it was mostly exclusive to Canada considering you just described most of the boomers I know in Ontario.

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Best to turn to one’s own kind for advice on how to be.

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