“May the force be with you,” is undoubtedly one of the most iconic movie quotes of all time. Now let’s face it, without the force Star Wars would be just like any other Sci-fi movie. It’s the reason why this series has become so popular. I mean none of the movies are extremely well written, or acted, outside of the force nothing stands out as extremely unique; it’s really just the strangely uplifting idea of the mysterious force that compels the popularity. 

But what is the force? Obviously I am ignoring the metachlorian bullshit from the prequels. one idea is the force is meant to be the seed of life; the flow of life; the force is the reason to be, rather than not to be. I suppose that could be too hippie-dippy. I could make the argument that the force is something similar to the Monolisk in 2001:Space Odyssey, a symbol of the unsolvable in which our projections provide the substance. However, I like to believe the force is something a bit less cryptic. Maybe Obi-Wan knows best. 

Obi-Wan smiles and then allows Darth Vader to strike him down, what happens next is open to debate. His body appears to disappear, its as if he was vaporized. Is he dead? What was meant by “if you strike me down I will become more powerful than you can imagine?” A few things are provided that can illuminate what’s going on; there is the way the camera zooms in on the neatly folding robe of the now disappeared Obi, expressing the idea of intimate purpose. If you or I had just suddenly disappeared, our clothes would not land so neatly.   

Obi’s plan is deliberate, instead of fearing death he has chosen to willing join the force. The openness of his actions have freed him from the physical silliness. We are told early on that the force is the thing that acts upon every aspect of life, binding together all things. But what if one isn’t open to joining the cosmic river. 

In order to really understand the force, we got to talk about the dark side. The Jedi Knights were the warriors who used the force to maintain peace in the galaxy, but we are told the Dark Empire has destroyed these peacekeepers. The result is a galaxy ruled by fear. What is everyone afraid of? Death. The evidence for this is easy, there is the massive death star weapon, a weapon with death in the name, that can be used to destroy any planet. The fear of death is understandable, it’s the great unknown. Potentially, the moment of death will bring eternal nothing. Such a notion is the opposite to that of the force described above. 

The big battle is here in the concept of death. If there is nothing waiting for us outside of this life, then seizing power makes some slightly disturbing sense. One would be foolish to blow there only chance at life by just trusting the whims of a more powerful being. Better to be the more powerful being. Alternatively, if death is just a transference of energy from one state to another, holding on so tightly will be mighty painful. Another way of looking at it is, by chasing power one would be causing chaos and darkness to the ever connected world of which they are apart of, essentially stabbing themselves in the foot. 

In genres outside of horror the good guys win and that’s very uplifting or whatever. But in this case I will side with the good guys. A world view of interconnectivity and continual life is much nicer then the alternative. Maybe that’s all the force is, just a choice. Red pill or blue pill.