Captain America, Hero, or Criminal?

Once again, spoilers from the third captain america movie will be featured.  You have been warned.

Steve Rogers was born on July 4th, 1918.  Imagine that!  He was born on independence day.  This is ironic because the frail child that was born on that day would grow up to inspire thousands as the great Captain America.  "From small and simple things proceedeth that which is great."  The Lord chooses the weak things in the world to thrash the nations by the power of his Spirit.  The similarities are uncanny with Captain Rogers even though the writers likely never knew it.  

His parents died.  His father in the first world war, and his mother died of tuberculosis soon after.  Orphaned and alone, he felt weaker than ever before, but rather than breaking under the crushing weight of all that was crashing on top of him, he decided that he was strong enough to deal with anything that came his way.  He just willed himself to never give in to the darkness.  So he attempted to close himself off to the world, believing that he didn't need anyone's help.  Pride is one of his only undesirable qualities, though he is far from alone in that.  Some measure of it is embedded in every red blooded American.

Steve of course, wasn't alone.  Bucky Barnes was with him every step of the way.  He wouldn't let Steve do the lone gunslinger act.  He let him know that he didn't have to.  "I'm with you till the end of the line pal." he would say.

It was a friendship that would grow to define the both of them.  A brotherhood that would shake the very foundations of the world, through no intention of their own.  He found in Bucky someone he could count on.  

I say that Steve was a frail child not because of the condition that all infants find themselves in when they are born, but because he was a sickly child, and he never got better.  He was always frail, at least on the outside.  But his parents left behind an example and a legacy that Steve felt he had a duty to fulfill.  He felt he had a duty to his country.  He likely felt that his life wasn't worth much, but if he could just do this thing, saving his country, or more likely one of his fellow soldiers, that his life would be worth it.  

He was always reckless.  He would not stand for bullying, belittling or anything similar.  He would not run away.  It didn't matter to him how much he got beat up.  He would always get back up.  Is it any surprise that Bucky was so protective of him.  This guy would pick fights with people twice his size, fights he was doomed to lose.  In his first movie, Steve relates the many places he had been beaten up.  When asked about it he would say, "If you start running they will never let you stop."

He tried over and over to get into the army, but his country would not let him serve.  He even lied on his enlistment form over and over.  He isn't an idiot.  He knows that he is probably not coming back from such a fight.  But he wants it desperately.  Especially when his friend gets sent to the front lines.

A scientist saw goodness in the man and gave him the chance that he needed.  He became a super soldier, the first super hero.  Hearing his friend was in danger, he went alone behind enemy lines to rescue him and hundreds of prisoners of war.

After the loss of Bucky Barnes, and believing it was his fault, Steve led a reckless attack against the heart of the Nazi's science division, Hydra.  Fighting with their leader on a ship ready to destroy the eastern seaboard, Captain America destabilized the core of the ship, an ancient artifact of infinite energy, which killed the leader of Hydra in the process.  

Cap being defrosted after being found in the ice.

Steve Rogers was left with a choice.  There he was in mid flight in a death machine that could kill millions if it were allowed to reach it's destination.  He chose to die with the ship.  He pointed it towards the ground in the arctic.  He could have landed it safely.  There was time to avert such a disaster.  He decided his war was over, that he had defeated Hydra, that the only lose end he had was the woman he had left behind.  He was okay with ending it here.  He told himself he couldn't risk any kind of safe landing with this ship.  So he dived.  

The Captain was frozen in ice when he was found seventy years later.  He was not found in a sitting position.  He was found lying peacefully on his back.  One could infer that he was awake after the crash and just decided to lay down in this water.  He welcomed death.

What he didn't count on was opening his eyes and seeing the inside of a room in New York.  He knew everything was wrong so quickly because he chose to die.  He didn't intend to be found.  Yet here he was awake.  He charged out and found he was a man out of time.

He struggled to find something to live for.  This is a man who doesn't want to live, but will not take his life.  This leaves him as a man who can't live without a war.  He craves a heroic end.  He wakes up only to find that in every way, his sacrifice was in vain.  He had just neutralized the problem of the power source called the Tesseract, only to find that it is once again a problem and with his own country this time.  Is it any wonder that he comes across as a grumpy old man in the Avengers?

He watched as his own nation ordered a nuclear strike against New York City.  He discovered that the Nazi death cult lived on in a system he had been working for for a couple years.  He lost faith in people giving him orders.  He found that his enemies were in the very country that he wore the colors of on his chest.

However, he found a reason to live.  Bucky Barnes was alive.  Broken, yes, but alive.  He fought to destroy his enemies from the past, but his best friend, controlled, stood in his way.  Cap did what he had to to secure freedom for his country, but after that.  Captain Rogers did something he had never done before.  He refused to fight.  He dropped his shield into the Patomic.  He would not fight Bucky.  And this was enough to help his friend win the fight for his mind.

Once again Steve was willing to die, Bucky saved his life, dragging his lifeless body from the wreckage.

Now we come to Civil War.  We come to the reason why Captain America is still a hero after the events of that movie.  The world is fed up with these Avengers leaving wreckage in their wake after they save the world.  The UN wants to tell them what to do, where to go, and when.  Captain America has seen what becomes of trusting in his elected officials who are so mired in corruption that it isn't the America he grew up with.  And more veterans of that war would turn their back on what the country has become than you might realize.  But he doesn't.  He just decided that he will do what he knows is right.  No listening to the whims of politicians.  He had his share of being treated like a dancing monkey.  So he will not sign on.

Then the UN tries to make Bucky their scapegoat.  If they wanted Captain America to stand against them, that was the way to do it.  It was perhaps the most inflammatory act of his life to stand between the world and his friend.  But ask yourself, would he be a hero if he didn't? Would he be a hero if he took the easy path and let them kill his friend?  Is that the kind of justice that we stand for in America?  So he did what many saw as stupid and off the reservation.  But no matter who was giving the orders.  It was wrong.  So Steve, being every bit the legend he is made out to be will not move.  Not even if the order comes from his friends.

By the end, he even has the support of Iron Man who had been hunting him from the beginning of the accords.  

But Steve made a mistake.  He knew information that implicated his friend in the deaths of Tony Stark's parents.  He didn't share it.  It was really Hydra that did it, but Steve feared that it would send Tony on a war path if he told him, and he couldn't risk Bucky's safety, not now that he is the only thing left of his past, and a man who had given his life to save him.

This of course, did send Tony on a completely understandable warpath when he found out.  It fractured the Avengers, and two friends at the core.  After defending Bucky, and neutralizing the great Iron Man, Tony began saying that Steve was not worthy to be Captain America, that the shield didn't belong to him.  And Steve had the strength of character, not only to give up the heroic mantel for Tony, but also was big enough to apologize over a letter for hurting him.

Is there any selfishness there?  He gives everything he has. Can anything more be asked of anyone?

So I leave you to decide.  A man who values his life as nothing and always thinks of others, never asking to be thanked, and always choosing what he believes to be right, no matter who is ordering against him.  A man who admits when he is wrong.  

Steven Rogers, hero, or villain?

Redeeming Seargent Barnes

Spoilers for Captain America: Civil War will be in this character study.  You have been warned.

The Winter Soldier, alias James Buchanan Barnes.

The Winter Soldier in this story was responsible for the deaths of hundreds in the seventy years between his death and the return of Captain America.  Most of them were good people.  He served as the murderous arm of a Nazi death cult called Hydra.  He followed their orders without question, without mercy, and without remorse for decades.  It is easy to see why governments all over would want him to suffer.

What they fail to realize is that he has, and continues to suffer more than they could ever imagine.

Let's turn the clocks back to the early forties.  Bucky Barnes was a capable young men who defended those that couldn't defend themselves, particularly his best friend Steve Rogers.  He was content to go on dates and visit science fairs at home.  But his country was at war, and the only thing that his best friend wanted was to be a part of defending the country.  Perhaps he wanted to stay because he wanted to make sure Steve was defended.  Perhaps he was afraid of going off to die in a country he didn't know, and who could blame him.  Whatever his reasons, he waited until he was drafted and dragged into the fighting to make his heroic entrance.  Of course he told Steve that he enlisted.  How could you say anything else to someone who would give anything to go?

While fighting on the front lines his entire regiment was captured as prisoners of war.  Assigned to hard labor to build hydra's super weapon, Bucky was hand picked to be experimented on by the red skull's second in command, Dr. Zola.  Trying to replicate the formula that created the hero known as Captain America, Sargent Barnes endured torturous procedures.  How he was hand picked is left a mystery.  It could be that he was being made an example of for the other prisoners.  Perhaps he was again defending the weak, and was now paying the price.  Whatever the reasons for being singled out, the experiments performed on him allowed him to survive certain death.

Rescued by Steve Rogers, Bucky must have thought he was dead for a moment.  The shock and happiness he must have felt seeing his best friend as strong and whole must have felt like heaven for a moment.  Then he realizes that he is indeed alive, and he finds himself in a role he is not comfortable with.  He is the little guy, and Steve has to save him from trouble.

He remained Steve's strongest supporter, even getting in over his head trying to protect him.  It was such an urge to defend his friend which landed him on the side of a train about to fall to his "death."

And so, Bucky Barnes died a hero.  The loss broke Captain Rogers.  But he survived the fall.  He was taken in secret and through torture and psychological deconstruction.  He was unmade.  His thoughts were clawed out, and he was reduced to a mindless drone of destruction.  He was brainwashed.  But he was awake.  They froze him between missions to make sure Bucky Barnes didn't return.

It has been said that the worst thing that could ever happen to a good man is to force him to hurt the ones he cares about.  To see through their eyes that they were the source of destruction and pain.

Bucky Barnes woke up during the fall of Hydra.  He wouldn't kill Steve Rogers.  That is what finally short circuited his programming.  Horrified at what he had become, Bucky ran.  The boy who didn't want to go to war returned.  He remembered.

Now we come to the events in Civil War.  After one too many incidents, the governments of the world are out for the blood of the Winter Soldier.  Captain America isn't about to abandon his friend now, no matter who is against him.  When he finds him, it is hardly the reunion that Steve hoped.  Bucky tries to pretend that he doesn't remember Steve.  But of course, Steve knows when his friend is lying.  Why he lied is anyone's guess, but I believe that the most likely reason is that he feels like he doesn't deserve Steve's friendship.  After all of the things that he has done, he doesn't feel like he is worth saving.  But Steve still sees his worth.

Sacrificing everything, Steve saves his friend once again.  In the final scenes of the movie, it is revealed that two of the many people murdered by the Winter Soldier are Tony Stark's parents.  Tony is understandably furious and is ready to kill this man.  What shows Bucky's character is that he is almost reluctant to flee.  Perhaps he doesn't want to leave his friend with an murderous Iron Man, or perhaps a part of him wants Tony to succeed.  He feels that he deserves it.  There is so much anger in Tony's voice when he demands of Bucky, "Do you even remember them?!?"  And there is so much pain behind his reply of, "I remember all of them!"

This is a tortured man.  This is a good man who has to live with the fact that his hands choked out a boy's mother.  His fist beat a boy's father to death, and he felt every stroke, powerless to stop it.  And hundreds more.  It's no wonder he doesn't think he is worth the friendship that Cap so freely gives.  But that alone gives him hope.  His friend is so stubborn, so unyielding in his belief that Bucky can be saved.  It gives Bucky something to live for.  It gives him the strength to hold on for a cure.

One day when Steve Rogers can no longer hold the shield it may be this broken individual who will wield it.  So, one could ask, "was it all worth it?"  I believe I know what Cap's answer would be.  And one day Bucky will get the chance to show the world what he is made of.  I look forward to that day.

If He Be Worthy...

The sword in the stone.

It is the ultimate test, and it is one of the soul.  Who would be willing to try to wield a weapon that can come down in judgement upon you?  It is a weapon that can only be used by those who are pure in heart, by those who have more than self assured authority, in short, by those who are worthy.  Such is the case with that of a certain hammer in the movie, "Thor."

This is a lesson of a space prince, desperate to prove himself in all of the wrong places for a father's love.  Blinded by his hubris and his strength, he loses respect for the power that he holds and acts out in violence, not for honor, or self defense, but for the adrenaline rush of bludgeoning the very souls, if his racism would see passed their blue skin, that he had just sworn to protect.  Described by his father as a "vain, greedy, cruel, boy," he is cast out of his presence to live as a mortal man.  Stripped of his grand halls, of his friends, and of his power, he is left as a broken shell of a god, and barely a man.

His father, wise in judgement, trusted in mercy for his son by sending the only means of help that would change his wayward heir, a chance to earn all of it back.  He does so by sending Mjolnir, the mystical hammer to Midgard, or Earth, saying the words, "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."

Believing his stay on the mortal world to be nothing more than a child at time out, when Thor hears of the hammer smashing down in the desert, he assumes that he is on his way home.  After shaming the government officials surrounding the place, he looks upon his weapon with an award winning smile.  In triumph, he reaches for the handle, and pulls.

But to his shock and dismay, it will not budge.  The rain cascaded down like tears as he agonizes over it.  Pulling with his might, he is left weak and broken.  Falling to his knees and screaming at the sky for anyone to hear the injustice, Thor wonders if it is some sort of cruel prank, or if this is his real punishment, to have his way home, but to never be able to use it.

Losing the will to fight, he finally begins.  Finally blinded, he saw.  Utterly broken, he began to be fixed.  It is where he was at his lowest, where he felt he could fall no farther, when all traces of hope was taken away, and there was no way out for him that he was finally in a place desperate enough to be taught.

Is this not a familiar story?  Is it not everyone's story at least at some point in our lives?  Are we not all sent here with by a Father with a way back home where a throne awaits?  Are we not all pouty children crying over our toy, yet destined to be kings and queens on high?  And is there not a power on this Earth that can only be wielded by those found worthy?

This is the human condition, and it is the moment that Thor discovers what it truly means to be a man.  Losing his power makes him a better man than he ever was as a god.  Not even knowing what it means to be worthy, he begins to become such.

What does it take to be worthy?  Thor's lesson for all is that such power can only be used to help other people.  It is not for personal gain.  If this were a scripture story, you would call that Priesthood Power, and you would call what Thor experienced a, "Mighty change of heart."  And what a description for the god whose name is synonymous with the word, "mighty."

So, lift the hammer with your might.  cry to the sky for answers to the seemingly unjust questions of the heart.  Then look inwards to see why those doors are not yet opened to you.  Like Thor, you may just find that a true hero is not measure by the size of his strength, or by the titles you have, but by the strength of ones heart.  Serve others, and you will find inside the hero who was broken and torn by pride.  Such a thing will take sacrifice, and it may not have a hero's welcome at the end.  But living like that is worth every effort.  Ye are gods.  Act as you are one, and not as a child pouting over a toy.

Lift, and be found worthy to stand.

Understanding Superman

There have been many who have derided the character of Superman as a character that can't be done effectively on screen because he is too powerful and therefore has nothing to lose, and no one to match him as far as a villain goes.  While this may be true, the key to understanding Superman is not in his power.  That is just the popcorn part of his character.  No, Superman is more complex than that.

The key to understanding Superman is in his isolation.  The son of Krypton was raised to be the same as everyone else in his little farm community.  He was not one of them.  He had all of these abilities that he had to hide, and all of that power in a struggling lonely boy isolated him in a way that no one could really reach him.  No one could understand.  Yet with this great power that he did not ask for, comes the great responsibility that he never wanted.  But being raised by great foster parents, he was taught of goodness, truth and justice.

Recently, movies have realistically shown how the world would react if the man of steel showed up in our world.  You would start with some thing pure and exciting in the wonder of all that this being could do.  Some would probably worship him as a God, others would give way to fear that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and believe that one day he would turn into a villain.  It would get political and rubbish really fast.

So here we have not a god, or a devil, but a farmer from Kansas that wants to do what is right, and because he is a good person, he goes out and helps many, but he has to live with the idea that even he with all of his strength, cannot save every child that cries out in fear.  He can't defeat every bad thing or take away every heartache.  He has to hear the outcry of "Why didn't Superman save my (insert loved one here)?"

Personally I would want to run away from it all.  Not belonging and having that kind of guilt riding on your shoulders would be difficult.  Of course he is taught through recordings of his birth father that it is not necessarily his job to solve all of humanity's problems.  He is there to be a light or an ideal to strive towards, that one day after their stumbling and pitfalls, they would join him in the sun.  There is a certain metaphor that could be made there about him being a Christlike figure, but I would like to focus on what really makes Clark Kent a compelling character.

He is in every way that matters, human.  He wants to make his family proud.  He loves his girlfriend.  He has a job.  He has friends.  He wants to sit in front of a television once and a while.  He wants to go out and have fun.  He wants to have a family some day.  Yet every moment he takes to be human, and do human things, people are dying that he has the ability to save, but he chooses not to.  I could see him one day becoming very frustrated with the guilt of it all.

Clark has the ability to put the world under his thumb and conquer it should he decide that humanity cannot be trusted with it's own freedom.  He has the power to tear the whole thing down if he chooses to.  He doesn't because he was always taught to believe in people.  But the potential for destruction is there.

In essence, Clark is a man without a home.  He is not really part of his Kryptonian ancestry, as he never grew up in their ways, and never knew that life, but he isn't human either.  He is separate from the rest of humanity in ways that he cannot ever reconcile.

The key to understanding Superman is Lois Lane.  As was recently stated in the most recent movie, she is his world.  She is the place he calls home.  She is that place he feels accepted.  She is the place he finds peace in a world that expects too much of him.  She is his link to humanity.  She is the reason he is able to get out of bed in the morning and do as much as he can for ungrateful and sometimes evil people.  She is the reason he is able to go out an be a symbol of hope.

The biggest problem with this is she is always wanting to help people as well, and always throwing herself into trouble in the hopes of helping him.  It would be wise, I think to have her out of harm's way so that Clark could never lose his link to humanity.  What would become of him if one day he was too late to save her, and he lost everything that he cared about?  What if he lost the reason he found to live.  What would a person with that much power bursting out of him become if he was suddenly fresh out of empathy.

Of course, if Lois was willing to put herself in a cage and let Superman save the day, she would not be Lois Lane, and Clark Kent wouldn't love her.  So they are locked in this dance, this limbo.  Superman is busy doing his thing, saving the world, and he has to pause and place a premium on saving this woman who is constantly getting into trouble.  If it were a choice between Lois Lane and the world, Clark would choose Lois, because she is his world.

Therein lies the danger of Superman, and therein lies the key to understanding the boy.  The world around him and the responsibilities on his shoulders is too much for anyone to handle.  The guilt of not saving everyone, and the frustration of being misunderstood, has to be swallowed up by the most human thing of all.  He loves this girl, and that is all he can think about.  Can anything more be asked of a simple farmer's son from Kansas?  Much less the very last lonely son of a family and people he never knew.  Give the boy a break.

Expecto Patronum

I have, in recent readings of the Harry Potter series, come to a realization.  The third book is best written story of the bunch.  Many would not agree for valid reasons.  Nevertheless I believe it is the best for the simple reason that Harry is given his best character arc for growth.  He wrestles with his inner demons and his hatred for the man who killed his parents and in a surprising act of mercy, spares his life.

But far more important, I think, is his battle with the dementors.  This is also the subject I wish to discuss.  For those of us who need a refresher, dementors are among the foulest creatures in the wizarding world.  They are found in places of deepest evil.  They cannot be killed. They cannot be manipulated.  They cannot be bought.  They cannot be negotiated with.

A dementor is so terrifying not because it is a disturbing mixture of a ghost, grim reaper, and a ring wraith.  It is because it reduces even the most brave man to a crying heap just by being in the vicinity
of the monster.  Dementors feel on every dark thought, every painful memory, and they feed on the soul.  They leave you in a state of complete despair from which you cannot escape.  

In short, they are the living personification of depression.  

This is a beautiful story of how to fight it.

As I said, they cannot be killed.  So how does one fight it.  Well, chocolate is recommended to recover from the effects after an encounter, and it makes sense. Chocolate makes everything better.  But unfortunately, chocolate does not drive the creatures away.  To do that, a wizard has to create powerful magic and find help beyond themselves, but it also demands something of them.  

This is called the patronus charm.  The desired effect is a glowing light usually in the form of an animal to come to your aid and chase away the dementors.  This requires a wizard to in that depressive wretched state, think of a powerfully happy memory and grip it tight till it burns their hand and say the words "Expecto Patronum."  

It is difficult to master, and it takes Harry some time to get it right.  In the end he summons a patronus  so powerful that it drives an entire hoard of dementors away.  It was not the last time he faced them, and he didn't always win, but he beat them in the end.

What hit me so powerfully about this story hit me when I found out what expecto Patronum means in Latin.  It literally means, " I await a guardian."  How powerful is that?  How many in their darkest hour cried out for a guardian, a savior, someone who could save them from the pain in their soul?  How many have felt something empowering in that moment as if they were filled with light?  

I submit that a patronus represents the Spirit of God.  It is the only thing of which I am aware of that can effectively fight against depression in a definite win.  But something is demanded of the individual.  They must not give in to the despair.  They must allow for a particle of faith that everything is going to be okay, and so it is, and so will it always be.

Until next time, mischief managed.

Into the Forest

Inevitably in stories darkness has a part to play.  It is in a measure what makes the story worth telling.  It is the darkness that provides the emotional weight necessary for an audience to care about the characters in a meaningful way.  It is because of this, because stars are only visible in darkness, that I often say that a story is only as good as its villain.  If there is a villain that is no real threat, then the hero is never really in any sort of peril.

Sometimes in order to keep the darkness at bay, or for the hero to even survive it, it requires something of the hero that they would rather not give.  This is called sacrifice.  It is among the most powerful of story plot points.  What is the character willing to give up in order to achieve his goals?  It is the mark of the greatest of heroes, that they value the lives of others more than they do their own.

This can be sacrificing an object like the holy grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, a boatload of treasure in Treasure Planet, a wish for a genie's freedom in Aladdin, a prophecy for the lives of friends in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Black Suit in Spider Man 3, or immortality for Jack Sparrow on more than one occasion in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  This is usually the hero learning not to be selfish, or the villain has someone they care about at gunpoint.

Sacrifice becomes more powerful when it is not an object that they have to give up, but a relationship with someone they care about.  Some examples of this would be Thor destroying the Bifrost even though it's his only way back to Jane, Harry breaking up with Ginny at the end of Half-Blood Prince, Peter Parker severing his connection to Mary Jane at the end of the first Spider Man movie, or Hermione's relationship with her parents in Deathly Hallows.  They can sacrifice their reputation like Batman at the end of the Dark Knight, or Dumbledore in Order of the Phoenix
.

In the end for the hero, the only true conclusion is death.  The hero does not cower to death.  That would belittle life.  It is the final thing that can be done.  Sometimes those who know the hero deem his quest too important to fail, and so become heroes themselves by laying down their lives.  Examples include Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope, Boromir in the Fellowship of the Ring, the Potters in Harry Potter, Harry Osborne in Spider Man 3, Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, Dobby in Deathly Hallows as well as Neville and pretty much everyone else in that book, and many more.

Then the last of all is where the main character is willing to pay the ultimate price.  Examples include Batman from the Dark Knight Rises, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man in the Avengers, Harry Potter,  Cooper in Interstellar, Hercules saving Meg, Aslan from Narnia, Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings, Jack Shepard from Lost, Robert Neville in I Am Legend, Anna in Frozen, Baymax in Big Hero 6, Wall-e, Flynn Rider in Tangled, and many more.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."  The reason such sacrifices resonate is that it is the most powerful act of love that anyone can achieve.  But also, such sacrifices often reflect the last and greatest sacrifice of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  He is represented so often, most recognizably as Aslan, Gandalf, and Harry Potter, as they all came back from the grave.

It is Harry Potter in particular that I want to focus on.  He found that after all his efforts, Dumbledore's plans did not include him surviving.  He was to be sacrificed for the greater good to bring Voldemort down.  The worst part was that Harry would have to be told that he was raised as a lamb for slaughter, and he was expected to walk willingly to his death.  It is a testament to his character that he walks without a weapon willingly into the dark forest.  He willingly gives up his life.  His only comfort is to talk to those who have gone before.  After that bravery his sacrifice has magical power that the dark lord knew not.  His sacrifice for his friends made it impossible for Voldemort to hurt any of his friends.  It was essentially an atonement.  That's why I compare his story to the Savior.

These are the stories that really matter, where things seem most dark, but in the end the sun shines out the clearer.  These stories and many others stick around with you because they mean something.  That there is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.

There Has Been an Awakening.

Star Wars is among the newest mythology to show up on this little blue planet.  That's what mythology is in the end, stories.  There are all kinds of things to be learned from it.  It's characters are known to the general public even if they haven't even seen it before.  There are many possible reasons for it's popularity, and now is not the time for me to list them.  I only wish to theorize that a reason for its enduring popularity, and the popularity of other movies, may be that it has an abundance of truth.  No, I don't believe that the events actually or indeed could ever happen.  I'm talking about spiritual truth, and not just about good and evil.

Let me begin by saying that there will be no apologies given in referencing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It is in point of fact, the reason the website is here at all.  And with Star Wars in particular, there parallels are numerous.

My theory is that some of the most iconic stories resonate with audiences on such a deep level because that is one of the ways that the Holy Ghost can reach out and touch the hearts of the general public.  That is in some measure why some stories have almost a religious following.  It is because they felt something special that they feel ever so rarely.  The Holy Ghost testifies of all truth.  And Star Wars teaches what was thought to be fiction to the hearts of receptive souls everywhere, about good and evil, redemption, life after death, a force out there that accounts for things, even recent history.

The Jedi Order is favorably compared to the early church established by Christ in Jerusalem.  The Jedi order was not destroyed by enemies from without, but from within.  Anakin Skywalker can be compared very easily to Judas Iscariot.  One by one the Jedi were hunted down and destroyed, creating an apostasy in the force.  The same thing happened to the early Apostles resulting in an apostasy that lasted nearly two thousand years.

Then, we have a humble farm boy with no extraordinary talent on the outward appearance who gets called to become a new hope.  He then through patience and training becomes a hero and a legend.  Joseph Smith is called to restore the Gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth.  Luke Skywalker is called to restore balance to the force and restore the Jedi Order.

There are many other things that could be mentioned, but this suffices for my next point.  Recently a prophet has declared that this now is the time to hasten the work of salvation.  You could say there has been an enthusiastic awakening of spiritual duty and awareness.

Some have criticized the seventh Star Wars movie, "The Force Awakens," to be too much like A New Hope.  While that may be true, the context is different in the way it resonates with audiences.  The awakening in the movie illustrates that it is time to fight again for all the light that is out there, to stand against new darkness inspired by darkness of days past.  That is where we find Rey, someone with no past and no future, nothing but a scavenger on a forgotten planet cut off from the galaxy.  Then the force intervenes and she is swept up in a fight for the future of light and hope in the galaxy.  And when she is thrown into this adventure, she finds herself more equal to the task than she would have ever believed.  As she that her abilities and her worth are greater than she could have ever hoped, those around her see it too.  She finds out that she is much more than a scavenger.  Rather, she finds the potential deep within herself to become a Jedi Knight.  It is time for ancient ideas to make a comeback.  Ideas such as heroism, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, hope, humility and faith.  It is time for an awakening of new Jedi, so to speak, to fight the battles that will rage.  Unfortunately evil is not permanently destroyed, and heroes cannot defeat danger itself forever, but for a moment, they can free others from fear.  Let others find hope in their sacrifice.  Let those that knew them well speak of their fierce loyalty, unwavering convictions, and when the time came, their ultimate willingness to give all.  That's how legends are born.

It is for these ideals that we have to strive to be better, to become heroes, to not allow ourselves to squander our abilities and gifts on satisfying our lusts for revenge or power.  They are given to us to give others hope, to give others an ideal to strive towards.  So become Jedi, always in control of your thoughts and emotions, using them to help those in need. Now is the time to be heroes, to be guardians of peace and justice for all.

There has been an awakening.

Have you felt it?

Have you been paying attention?

Believe it.  Join the Resistance against the dark side.  You will have help.  You will find the strength within yourself like Rey in her fight against Kylo Ren.  Feel the force around you.  Listen to it.  If it were here on earth you would call it the Spirit and Power of God. (depending on the situation).

The Force: It's calling to you!  Just let it in...

Biff Tannen for President

Some of the best lessons in life are from people who made all of the wrong choices.  It is no different in movies and television.  This time Biff Tannen of Back to the Future fame is put under the magnifying glass.  Many may only remember him as the bully in the first movie, if they remember him at all.  He is characterized as dim witted, abusive, yet physically powerful.  Unfortunately such power attracts others in the high school environment, either to obtain some of that power for themselves, or to avoid falling victim to it themselves, so he has a few henchmen as well.

The subject of this post however is not of the teenager who got a well deserved punch from George McFly at the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance.  No, I will instead be referring to the unfortunate individual that he grows into in the second movie of the series.  Through some abuse of time travel, Biff find a way to give himself the key to nearly limitless wealth.  He uses this good fortune to mold the city in his own image.  The result is a nightmare for every person other than Tannen who sits in his lofty penthouse looking down on deliquescing city he grew up in.  He doesn't care if it rots.  He is taken care of.  He has everything that he ever wanted.  He doesn't care if the world burns around him.

The reason for the focus on such an unpleasant individual is his uncanny resemblance to a certain candidate running for president.  In fact, I would go so far to say that they are similar in almost every way, including the haircut.  I am talking today about leadership, and what makes a leader.

When I think of great leaders, images come to mind of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and many other great men in the world's history.  Other examples include Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings, Captain America, and Harry Potter to name a few.  There are many reasons that Biff Tannen does not find himself on the list.  The largest of these being he is a bully.  From the cradle he has, I can only assume, learned that if he wants something, he must prey on the weak to get it.  It has been said, "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."  Should such a man be trusted to make the call on whether or not to help those in need, or to have negotiations with other countries?

Another thing that makes Biff so dangerous is his pathological abuse of women.  Seeing them as nothing more than objects for him to satisfy his own desires, he brings ruin to all relationships he enters leaving scars and damage that lingers for years, and in his arrogance and narcissism, he convinces them that they are the problem, convincing to mutilate their bodies to be good enough.

His narcissism knowing no boundaries, he is completely convinced that whatever he does is right.  He never makes a mistake.  He never has to apologize.  He doesn't have to adhere to anyone else's rules.  He can say what he wants, do what he wants, and no one can stop him because he has the money.  He has the power.  He has little mindless yes men who will do anything that he wants them to.

Is that the type of man that should be as Abraham Lincoln once said, "clothed with immense power?"  Should anyone be worried if such a man gains popularity from stomping on the weak, or by insulting the powerless?  What would America become if it were to be molded into the image of Biff Tannen?  Who would lift up those who are struggling?  Who would the people turn to when they were most in need?  Is it really a good idea to have a bully for president?

The only answer I can think of is given by one of my heroes, Captain America:

"I don't like bullies.  I don't care where they're from."

Vader's Redemption

Star Wars, in my opinion, began the golden age of story telling.  There is something, or more likely, a collection of things about it that reaches out to people of all ages and fills them with wonder.  My first time seeing it when I was five was no exception.  I remember being captivated by the story, and being more than willing to continue with the Empire Strikes Back and the Return of the Jedi.  It is what started my love of movies.  For that reason, I find it the most appropriate place to begin.

Star Wars at its core is not only a story of good versus evil, but also a story of redemption.  These themes resonate with people of all ages.  It hits close to home.  Everyone has a constant battle for the soul.  Everyone struggles against the pull to the darkness.  Anakin's failure and his subsequent redemption gives people hope not only for themselves, but also for their loved ones who have fallen off the deep end.  Does Anakin deserve redemption?  It's not really for me to say.  But it's a good question to consider.  This is a man who murdered children, betrayed his friends, massacred his entire religion/police force, overthrew a peaceful government, murdered the closest thing he had to a father, to say nothing of his twenty-five year reign of terror in a galaxy suffocating in fear of him.  This is a man who abused, physically and psychologically, his pregnant wife.  It is easy to see why Obi-Wan would counsel Luke to kill such a man.  This is not the picture of a man easily saved.  Yet time and time again, we hear, "there is good in him." Or, "I know there is good in you."  

The question should probably change from, "does Vader deserve redemption?" to "can such a man change?"  I am not a fan of deathbed repentance as a general rule.  But Vader's choice is of such magnitude that it has an effect on, presumably, every living thing in the galaxy.  Why would such a man who had buried everything good about himself in a way similar to how we treat the darkness within ourselves, decide to do a 180?  What could make such a monster that had so long been past feeling remember the good man he use to be?

The answer of course is the appearance of his son.  For all of the big talk about the dark side and trying to corupt Leia, there was conflict within him.  This is a man who lost everything and locked himself away in the darkness.  But suddenly he discovers he has a son, and Anakin begins to reawaken.  He even revives his plan that he had for Padme, to rule the Galaxy with his remaining family by his side.  He finds his son more noble than he had hoped.  What must throw Vader for a loop is that Luke sees past the fright mask and actively seeks Vader's redemption.   Vader's arguments against Luke are, "You don't know the power of the dark side.  I must obey my master." And, "It is too late for me Son."  Essentially, he thinks that were he to try, Palpatine would kill him.  But also, this is a man who understands with the rest of us, that he had done too much that was too wrong.  Essentially, "Look at me, I'm unforgivable."  But Luke keeps coming with the unforeseeable.  Luke is willing to forgive him, after everything that he has done.  He continually reminds him that he can change and he shows him not only the man he use to be, but the man he should have been when he says, "Never!  I'll never turn to the dark side.  You've failed your highness.  I am a Jedi! Like my father before me."  Then Anakin finally has his opportunity.  It was his son's belief in him that gave him the strength to return to face the light again, knowing it would cost him his life.  And he finds on the other side that, to his everlasting surprise I'm sure, he was welcomed there in that place of light, and that he died a Jedi knight.

That hope of redemption resonates with all.  As does the effect that loved ones can have on those making bad choices.  This doesn't mean consequences are taken away.  Anakin's bad choices inspired his own grandson to commit atrocities in his name across the galaxy.  This I'm sure continues to cause the reformed Jedi pain that his legacy has such bloodshed attached to it.  So yes, Anakin is saved, but his family still bares the cost of his actions.

This is what I see in movies.  This is why I roll my eyes at those who immediately think of the dollar bills in executive's wallets.  These stories are far more important than entertainment.  They may not be real life.  But they show us what life really means.  I could talk about the lessons of Star Wars in greater length and depth, and I likely will.  And this is the point of this blog, to redeem the media, and show what is already unconsciously understood, that we love stories for a reason.