Star Wars has captured the hearts and minds of countless people for over four decades.
Even those not versed in the Star Wars universe have likely heard of lightsabers, the Jedi, Ewoks, R2D2, and Darth Vader.
This is the last of three posts examining facets of the Star Wars universe through the lens of coaching.
The first post was a character study of sorts on Anakin Skywalker (a.k.a. Darth Vader) and how he could have benefited from a life coach.
The second post dissected ten of Jedi Master Yoda’s best quotes and how they apply to life coaches.
This third and final post examines how the Jedi get it wrong in denying themselves the experience of emotion.
The Jedi Code
The Jedi lived by a code that promoted peace, harmony, and justice, but also the denial of self, emotions, and forming attachments. They believed the latter pulled them away from serving the will of the Force and towards acting on passion and selfishness, core tenets of the Sith.
The Jedi are to possess nothing and to love no one. The latter is only in the biblical sense; they are to have a general love for all humanity/species. They must subdue their emotions. Ultimate purity in the light side of the force requires absolute control of one’s emotions.
PANDAS
Sorry! I meant just regular old pandas. Why? Well, it’s amazing that the Jedi even exist at all what with their belief system (akin to pandas’ libido) that seems at odds with procreation… Brief aside over.
Feel the Feels?
Control of one’s emotions does not mean embracing and learning how to feel all the feels. Instead, it means self-deprivation—not feeling those emotions.
To feel emotion is a shameful act for a Jedi for it is imbued with failure. Feelings, possessions, attachments are pathways to fear (of loss).
Pumbaa, a paragon of Jedi stoicism.
One of Master Yoda’s famous quotes that did not make last week’s post is, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
Who wants to let Yoda down? Not me! He’s the cool grandpa we wish we all had.
The Redemption of the Sith
Think back to the original trilogy from the 1970s-80s. At the end of the third film, The Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader saves his son, Luke, from certain death at the hands of Emperor Palpatine (and his sweet Force lightning) by grabbing the Emperor and tossing him down a shaft to his death.
Vader turns from the dark side of the Force to the light side. Did he do so by suppressing his emotions like any good Jedi?
NO! He did so by allowing himself to feel love towards his son. By allowing himself to feel attached to Luke. Vader became Anakin reborn when he embraced love.
A similar case could be made for the redemption arc of Vader’s grandson, Kylo Ren. It was steeped in rediscovering love (of his parents and for the protagonist of the latest trilogy, Rey).
So if love and attachment are the transformational forces that redeem Sith (ignoring the fact they have committed countless atrocities), then how can the Jedi reconcile this with their Code?
Simple. They cannot.
These examples demonstrate that Force-wielders brought balance to the Force because of, not in spite of, love. And by doing so saved the protagonists including the Jedi themselves. Yet the Jedi irrationally cling to their Code.
Is There a Goldilocks Solution to This?
So the Sith are evil. That’s a no-go.
The Jedi are all super-repressed, could be ticking time-bombs of emotion, and are generally disconnected from normal human experiences. Awesome.
Are there any other options? Bueller…?
Oh wait! Yes, turns out there is!
We have the light and dark sides of the Force always seemingly portrayed in simple good/bad narratives without nuance. But that’s not entirely true.
There have been glimpses of sophistication. Some might say—no, don’t say it—shades of grey (dammit!). Or shades of gray—you said it again—however you want to spell it.
The Gray Jedi
The Gray Jedi are Force users who can dabble in both the light and dark side of the force with losing themselves to the dark side. Most often, they are (former?) Jedi who operate outside of the formal Jedi Council structure and thus are not bound by the strict Jedi Code. They commonly do not employ use of dark side of the Force and follow a path of good. They do not subscribe to emotional deprivation
In the common Star Wars cannon (movies and TV shows), there have been three Jedi who could be classified as Gray Jedi:
- Qui-Gon Jinn – Qui-Gon is the main Jedi in the first prequel movie, The Phantom Menace, who discovers Anakin and decides to secure his freedom to train him, against the wishes of the Jedi Council. Qui-Gon is not on the Jedi Council despite being a Jedi Master.
Qui-Gon breaks with Council because he believes love and compassion are strengths, not weaknesses. He knows he needs to care for Anakin to help him through separating from his mother. Dave Filoni, who has shaped the Star Wars world only second to George Lucas (the creator) explains Qui-Gon’s importance vis-a-vis Anakin Skywalker beautifully in this brief two-minute video (on Twitter).
Dave Filoni on the importance of Duel of the Fates in 'The Phantom Menace'pic.twitter.com/0HCpMbryCQ
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) May 10, 2020
- Ahsoka Tano – Ahsoka is Anakin’s Padawan (trainee) in the cartoon series Clone Wars who becomes disillusioned with the Jedi Council’s handling of her as a suspect in a bombing case even after they find her innocent and acquit her. The Jedi Council threw her under the bus and demonstrated that she was dispensable. So she strikes out on her own eventually joining the Rebellion in their fight against the Empire.
Ahsoka differs from Jedi in sporting white lightsabers (casting aside the typical green or blue of the Jedi), believing in the value of the individual, and having no reservations seeking revenge for crimes committed. She has one of the most compelling story arcs through now three different shows, most recently brought to the live-action world in last week’s episode of The Mandalorian. On several occasions, she has stated, “I am no Jedi”—my favorite being when she duels with her former master, Darth Vader:
- Rey – Rey is the protagonist in the most recent trilogy. In the second film, The Last Jedi, Rey seeks out teaching from Luke trying to figure out “my place in all of this,” and interestingly wears the color gray throughout.
In the last film, The Rise of Skywalker, she accidentally discharges Force lightning and blows up a ship as her emotions get the better of her in a confrontation with Kylo Ren. She also forms an attachment to Kylo Ren, and they romantically kiss at the end of the movie.
I think we are dealing with competing directors’ visions for Rey and that JJ Abrams (who directed the last movie) had no inclination to make her a Gray Jedi, but maybe accidentally did due to sloppy storytelling and retconning galore.
I would consider adding Luke Skywalker to the list. Specifically, Luke in The Last Jedi (before he was retconned in The Rise of Skywalker) in which he claims that the legacy of the Jedi is failure due to their hypocrisy and hubris.
What stops me from adding Luke to the list is that he does not navigate the Force as a Gray Jedi. He instead cuts himself off completely from the Force (as well as others by isolating himself physically as well) for fear he would turn to the dark side.
Some believe this to be his ultimate (noble, even if misguided) act of pacifism. Yeah, maybe. Or he couldn’t handle his emotions and had to cut himself off from Force since he can Force sense those he loves and could not process all the feels!
Okay, That Went a Little Too Far Into the Weeds, Nerd
Fair point, sorry. Let me circle back.
I mention the Gray Jedi to demonstrate that even within the Jedi there are those who found their own path of good that did not involve ignoring or suppressing their emotions.
To do so is to deprive oneself of the full experience of life and to have any chance of developing skills to deal with negative emotions.
This avoidance or suppression of emotion means the Jedi are emotional children, or in their terms, emotional Padawans.
Adults Are Just Large Children, Right?
Emotional childhood means they do not take responsibility for how they feel because they have not learned how to manage their emotions. Not fully, anyway. By denying the experience of half of the possible emotions, they cannot learn to process those emotions and live with them to learn how to truly stay in control.
Emotional children blame external factors for their feelings, the actions they take, and even the results they achieve.
Throughout the prequel films, the Jedi externalize blame to the dark side of the Force and start taking unprecedented (thank you 2020 for ruining that word forever) action by forming an army and becoming commanders on battlefronts.
They lose complete sight of what they strive for—true Jedi do not lead combatants into battle. They are not aggressors. They use their powers and lightsabers only for defense.
This occurs because they do not know how to process their fear and anxieties because they have not been taught to do so. The Jedi admit their judgment is clouded (but they blame the dark side instead of themselves—classic emotional childhood move).
They eventually become unrecognizable even to themselves. So much so, that they unintentionally play directly into the hands of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious (a.k.a Emperor Palpatine) and help orchestrate their own literal demise.
And all because they stifle their emotions instead of learning to accept feeling the negative emotions as well as managing attachment from some of the positive emotions.
At least they have laser swords!
This concludes my series of three posts exploring the world of Star Wars through a coaching lens. I cannot promise I won’t lapse and write future Star Wars related posts, but for now, you’re safe.
You can find the other posts here:
Let me know your thoughts below in the comments section.
If you haven’t subscribed to my email list, then do so below so you don’t miss my new posts or my weekly updates (only for subscribers).
I’d also be most appreciative if you shared this post with anyone whom you think would benefit from the content or message of the blog.