Star Wars

In the six canon films, has the phrase "Light Side" ever been used? Light side shows up in the EU a lot, but there's no example of the phrase used within the movies. There's "The Force", and it clearly has a "Dark Side" that can "seduce" people. In the canon films, the Jedi are represented not as an authority, but as beside it. Jedi refuse the trappings of office -- they dress in brown, drab robes, and they live simple lives. (Compare their opposite, the Sith, where Palpatine revels in using his powers to gain wealth and ultimate influence.) The Jedi are enforcers of the greater good, but they constantly debate whether they should intervene in politics, if at all. When Anakin is brought to the Jedi, the wording is very clear. He's not there to "bring out the light" or "bring out the good"... he's there to bring BALANCE to the force. The word "balance" is used, where "light side" is not. Star Wars is highly influenced by other science fiction. For example, Asimov's FOUNDATION series has Trantor, the capital of the empire and a world completely covered in urban sprawl. (Compare to Coruscant in Star Wars.) Some of the Foundation members are so advanced in psychology that they appear to have special senses ("your eyes can deceive you") and are able to plant hypnotic suggestions just by talking (the Jedi mind trick). Herbert's DUNE has the obvious Arrakis/Tattooine comparison, but it also has the Bene Gesserit, "witches" who are also so advanced in psychology (mind tricks, again), as well as the spice, which can give people enhanced senses. In both FOUNDATION and DUNE, there is no moral absolutism -- people are shown doing things mostly for their own self-interest. And in DUNE, especially, many themes of Jungian shadow-self are observed, where characters are "seduced by their own dark sides" into indulging their worst vices. While it's rather facile to say that the Star Wars universe has a "good/evil" dichotomy of moral absolutism... that's just not present in the six canon movies. It says more about the audience, who want there to be a light side, when the movies only talk about balance and the seduction of the dark.

Norman Rafferty