a lighter note

it's now under 1 year before the Star Wars Episode III will be released (http://www.starwars.com/episode-iii). If you an avid Star Wars fan(addict?), you probably agree that up to now, the prequels are somewhat disappointing. Hopefully, 'Birth of the Empire' will redeem George Lucas's franchise.

Curious aja, sadar nggak bahwa tiap episode dari trilogy (Prequels, Classic dan Sequels) punya episode dengan 'of the' nya? Dan basically, Empire Strikes Back adalah the best episode of the Classic Trilogy. Will Episode III dengan tema yang kurang lebih sama - both have the 'empire' in their names - akan mengulangi sukses Empire Strikes Back? Consequently, dua episode dari dua trilogi ini memegang kunci penting di 'alam' Star Wars, dimana Anakin 'is seduced by the darkside of the Force', dan Anakin/Vader mengucapkan kata-kata yang 'abadi' - Luke, i am your father.

Hopefully so.

Bagi mereka yang belum/tidak mengikuti Star Wars (where the hell have you been this last twenty years?!?!?!), bisa mencari data-data lengkap dari official sitenya di http://www.starwars.com/databank. Buat pembahasan dari para fan(addict?), try to keep an open mind while reading http://www.theforce.net dan http://212.168.23.160/creed/index.shtml. For spoilers, ini cukup menarik : http://www.supershadow.com. Ada juga info non-spoiler disana. Of course, informasi mengenai the Darkside of the Force dan the Sith tidak banyak ditemukan (apalagi since George Lucas tidak pernah mau memberikan detil mengenai hal ini di trilogi).

Balik to the story of Episode III, mungkin quote dari interview George Lucas describes it best. Ketika pertama kali melihat Starwars (Classic Trilogy), kita melihat cerita Luke Skywalker dan Rebel Alliance. Tetapi bila kita menambahkan the Prequel Trilogy sebelumnya, kita melihat bahwa kedua trilogi ini sebenarnya menceritakan Anakin Skywalker from pre-Jedi to the fall of the Emperor Palpatine. So, tidak mengherankan, hampir semua orang yang gue tahu dan mengikuti Starwars wanted to be Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader - the last lord of the Sith. Bukan Luke Skywalker or Han Solo.

Terutama setelah membaca extended universe Starwars, di mana kedatangan Anakin telah 'diramalkan' by Jedi from thousand of years before the kejadian yang ada di Episode I. 'the one who will bring balance to the Force', 'born of a virgin mother' and 'conceived by the will of the Force' - remember it's fiction - not blasphemy. I think that this story compelled so much people because tokoh/karakter yang seharusnya 'bak malaikat dari langit, the war hero becomes the fallen. Nama 'Vader' = yang merupakan 'the Sith word for torment/torture'. Dengan plot twist seperti ini, George Lucas berhasil menggambarkan cerita Anakin sebagai perjalanan yang most people can relate. Dan yang menyelamatkan dia di akhir hidupnya adalah sesuatu yang kita cari, sadar atau tidak. Cinta. LUke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo is a testament of the love Anakin felt for Padme. Bukan Queen Amidala atau Senator Amidala. Just Padme. The only other persion he loved besides his mother and perhaps Obi Wan Kenobi.

A contrast, karena the Jedi order doesn't believe/condone marital/romantical 'entanglements'. Terutama karena joining the Jedi order itu mirip dengan mengikuti sebuah ordo keagamaan yang 'meninggalkan semua hal duniawi' dan 'menyerahkan diri sepenuhnya'. This is a misconception of the Jedi order (and the Force).

The Jedi code:

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance. there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, There is the Force.

(you can just hear Yoda saying it backwads - hehehe).

Rather than reading it that Jedis are not supposed to feel, it actually encourages emotion - but controlled. Only thorugh a calm/peaceful mind can a Jedi be 'attuned' to the strength and will of the Force. All Jedi must seek knowledge (and wisdom) to be able to know what is true and what is not. Ignorance and passion clouds the mind, hindering judgement. So it is with emotion. Be like the undisturbed water, peaceful and serene. Only then will you feel the Force and will it guide you. All living things are part of the Force, though sometimes we are not aware of it. Look at a water in a glass and in the stream. They are the same, although one is still and one is moving. Put the stream water in a glass and you still have water. Put the glass water in the stream and it is the same. Just as life only thrives inside the flow of the water, so must the Force. SO it must with death.

Phew.

I leave you now with a passage from http://212.168.23.160/creed/journey2.shtml

'We must all realize that things happen for a reason, and that we should strive to understand that reason. Sometimes that reason is very close to the reason why we are fascinated with the illusion, the truth behind the simple mask. A truth that makes it so real that some of us take it very seriously to the point of fixation.'