Movies News Talk
Ever wondered about those Force-wielding Jedi folks in Star Wars and how they achieve that mystical "balance?" You're not alone! Even George Lucas, the big cheese behind the entire saga, was a little vague on what exactly balance meant. It's been a mystery for ages, with those pesky prequels making it even more confusing. But luckily, Jar Jar Binks himself, AKA Ahmed Best, is here to clear the air.
Turns out, Lucas saw balance not as a 50/50 split between the light and dark side of the Force like some kind of cosmic tug-of-war. Nope, it was much simpler! Balance is all about the good stuff, the light side. Why? Because the dark side, according to Lucas, is all about the wrong choices, a shortcut, an easy way out! It's a kind of cheat code, leading down a slippery slope of power-hungry shenanigans.
So how do those Jedi maintain balance? By shining their lightsaber beacons of goodness! They embrace the light side, that's what. In this grand Force chess game, Jedi are all about picking the light side's pawns and strategizing towards a well-balanced board, avoiding the dark side's enticing pawns at all costs! Think of it like avoiding that super-sized cheeseburger when you know a salad would make your insides happy. It's about self-discipline and going with the "light side," the choice of wholesome righteousness!
When people talk about the Force and balance, they often pull out the classic Yin and Yang analogy: two opposing forces creating balance. That's kind of misleading! According to Lucas, the Force is more about pure light being the good, the balance, with the dark side just a pesky "off-balance" temptation, an unfortunate aberration. It's not about light and dark being equally strong; it's about light overcoming the lure of the dark!
Remember, we've got the light side, which is the pure Force and represents good, and we have the dark side, which, to put it mildly, is kind of evil, and just throws things off balance! So when someone like Darth Vader starts turning people into pancake batter, that's a definite "force-imbalance" in the universe. Even though darkness is present, the goal of the Jedi is to fight the dark, choose the light, and hopefully get a nice shiny Jedi robe to celebrate!
The Jedi aren't simply playing whack-a-mole against Darth Vader and his cronies, they're fighting against the temptation of the dark side. When faced with anger, fear, or lust for power, they know it's the dark side pulling on them! It's a real inner struggle, constantly battling that evil urge to succumb to darkness and wear a black cloak. They're essentially trying to win their own internal cosmic game of chess!
According to George Lucas himself, "The dark side is easy, it's accessible, it's corruption. It's the easy way out". So, basically, he's saying that the Force itself is a good thing. You just need to resist those tempting whispers from the dark side. You see, everyone's got a little bit of the Force, so we all have this internal tug-of-war between light and dark! But we can learn to use our power for good like our Jedi friends - and avoid falling down that slippery path of bad decision-making, which always seems to lead to bad haircuts. That's just bad form, everyone!