Star Wars: A message lost
- by Mary Shaw
www.OpEdNews.com
Like most Americans, I was standing in line recently to see "Star
Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith". Just ahead of me was a man
with three young boys between the ages of 6 and 12. They were
playing "Jedi" games, pretending to cut off each other's limbs with
their imaginary light sabers, and squealing with delight about how
"cool" it was to cut off arms, legs, and heads.
The father played along and encouraged it. He promised them that
there would be some really good bloody scenes in the movie we were
about to see.
There was no discussion of good vs. evil, of the Jedi practice of
using violence only as a last resort in defense against the evil
empire. No, as the children were playing, it seemed that there was
only the simple delight in violence for its own sake, because
cutting off limbs with light sabers is "cool". The bloodier the
better. That, it seems, is entertainment.
Boys will be boys, and childhood war games are considered normal and
acceptable in numerous cultures across this planet. It's a
testosterone thing, I suppose. But if we are going to glamorize the
violence, shouldn't we at least put it into a proper context, and
(unlike our Star Wars dad) teach our children a bit about the moral
and ethical aspects of violence and war?
If we fail to do so, and go on glamorizing violence and encouraging
mock violence in play because killing and maiming seem so cool in
the movies, do we risk the possibility of raising a generation of
potential sociopaths?
Does this lead to the kind of adult personality that signs up for
the military so that he can go to Iraq and "kill some towelheads"?
Does it foster the kind of mindset that led American soldiers to
make necklaces from the ears of slain civilians during the Vietnam
War?
Does it therefore become that much easier to justify killing, or
even to enjoy it?
I don't know for sure the answer to any of these questions.
But I do know that, if I were the parent of a young boy, I wouldn't
want to take that chance.
Not even Darth Vader would kill for the glamour of it. When he
fought and killed, he did so on principle, however dark and
misguided his principles may have been. He didn't draw his light
saber against Obi-Wan in order to be "cool".
I encourage all parents to take their children to see the new "Star
Wars" film, if they believe their children are mature enough to
handle the graphic violence in it. But please don't glorify the
violence for its own sake. Use the film as an opportunity to teach
them the principles of right vs. wrong, and the consequences that
lay along the path to the "dark side".
As Yoda once said, "Ohhh. Great warrior. Wars not make one great."
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Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist. She currently
serves as Philadelphia Area Coordinator for Amnesty International,
and her views on politics, human rights, and social justice issues
have appeared in numerous online forums and in newspapers and
magazines worldwide. E-mail mary@maryshawonline.com.
Read more of Mary's writing in the archive:
http://www.opednews.com/archivesShawMary.htm
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