Jedi Celebacy

Last night, I watched Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (Yes, the worst of the Star Wars titles), while trying to fall asleep. The movie came to the point, when Padme Amidala is in her room, sleeping, while Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker kept watch. Kenobi observes that Skywalker still was not sleeping well. Skywalker reported that he had been dreaming about his mother and that he would prefer to dream about Amidala, stating “Just being around her again is… intoxicating.” Kenobi retorted, “Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin; they betray you. You’ve made a commitment to the Jedi Order; a commitment that is not easily broken.” Kenobi’s retort catalyzed a thought of my own, Are Jedi supposed to be chaste?

Take into account the time frame. Firstly, ten years have passed since Skywalker has seen Amidala. Secondly, Skywalker is a 20-year-old male. His love for Amidala, which was a residual from his first meeting with her, is merely puppy love. When he sees her again, his initial reaction could be love at first sight, which at everyone’s first meeting where this happens is a physical attraction lust at a basic level). Skywalker confirms his lust by reference to the word ‘ intoxicating’, implying the physical and heady effects. If these theories are a given, then the assumption is that Kenobi was referring to Skywalker’s lust betraying him.

The other given is that the Jedi are not supposed to possess objects or people. Lust is not possession. So, a Jedi cannot take a spouse. Though, they do seem to be able to have companions and friends, given the whole Padawan, master and comrade aspect. Mixing all of this together, one might expect that a Jedi must be celibate.

If being celibate was part of a Jedi’s oath and this is George Lucas’s concept, then he really did not think the concept thoroughly. The whole introduction of the existence of Midi-chlorians makes the dogma of Jedi celibacy impractical. Midi-chlorians are intelligent microscopic organisms that live in all cells; however, some beings are more saturated with Midi-chlorians than others. The more Midi-chlorians in a life form, the more receptive they are to the Force. Because not all beings are Jedi, then reasonably, a person can conclude that the Jedi bodies must create an environment that promotes Midi-chlorian existence and production. In that case, the Jedi should promote reproduction among themselves. Jedi do come in both sexes; Princess Leia Organa was studying to be a Jedi with Luke Skywalker in books that took place after the movies.

A better policy for the Jedi Order would be to have a breeding program like the Bene Gesserit Mothers of Dune and the Psi-corps of Babylon 5. Kenobi strengthens this position with his words in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, “The Emperor knew as I did that if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him.” Perhaps if they had had a breeding program, Emperor Palpatine (then Chancellor) would not have been able to issue order 66 and have all the Jedi destroyed. Breeding toward a stronger Jedi, may have created Jedi who could have seen the circumstances of Order 66 coming, or even deter the plans of the Sith.

The fact of the matter is that Lucas should have left the Force as Kenobi and Yoda described it in Episodes IV and V: The Force is a mystical energy that binds everything together. The explanation conveys that the Force is a concept to be studied without distractions. This concept would give the Jedi the same motivation not to have sexual relations as monks of other Orders. The use of the Midi-chlorians as a scientific backup killed the whole reason for the Jedi Celibacy.

Robert Langdon is Getting Old

The main character of Dan Brown’s three books that are more popular: Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol, Robert Langdon is getting old. Maybe the more appropriate way of expressing this view is that Langdon does not grow as a character. Brown seems to treat Langdon as if he has a “reset the character” button at the beginning of each of the books.

When the audience first meets Langdon in Angels & Demons, he is a professor of Art, Architecture and Symbology at Harvard University. He is awaken in by a telephone call by Maximilian Kohler, the head of Conseil Europyen pour la Recherche Nuclyaire (CERN), because Langdon is an expert in ILLUMINATI art and symbols. Through a ambigramatic brand, the ILLUMINATI has taken responsibility for the death of one CERN’s leading Elementary Particle Physicist. After teaming up with Vittoria Vetra, the dead physicist’s daughter, Langdon learns that an antimatter containment (failing) unit was planted at the Vatican and counting down to annihilation. He and Vetra must follow the path of ILLUMINATION to track down the Hassassin, who can tell them how to find the antimatter canister and get it out of the Vatican. Through the plot, Langdon demonstrates denial that the ILLUMINATI could have reemerged, Skepticism that Hassassin could be working with the ILLUMINATI, and realization that the ILLUMINATI tactics are alive and well.

Langdon next appears in The Da Vinci Code. In the beginning of the story, Langdon is led to the Louvre under the pretence of assisting Captain Bezu Fache in deciphering symbols, which the dying Director Jacques Sauniere drew on his body in his own blood. Agent Sophie Neveu, cryptologist, enters the crime scene, luring Langdon away to tell him that Fache suspects that Langdon is Sauniere’s murder. Through a series of coded messages left behind by Sauniere, Langdon learns that the Priory of Sion continues to be an active group, and Neveu needs his help to discover Sauniere’s real killer. However, the signs left behind by Sauniere have Langdon and Neveu on a quest for the Holy Grail. During the plot of the story, Langdon goes through the same process of denial, skepticism and realization. He is in denial of Leigh Teabing’s assertion that Mary Magdalene and her family line with Jesus Christ is the real Holy Grail. He is skeptical that the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar are still functioning. He realizes at the end of the book that Sophie Neveu Saint-Clair is a descendant of the Royal Bloodline.

In Brown’s most recent book to be released, Langdon is once again lured to the macro-setting, in this case Washington DC, under mysterious circumstances. He arrives at the Capital Building for his lecture to find that the lecture was a rouse. Just as he begins to figure this out, Langdon receives a telephone call from Mal’akh, who tells him that he has Langdon’s mentor, Peter Solomon, and if Langdon wants to see him alive again, he must decipher the Ancient Mysteries. To add to the threat, Solomon’s hand is found under The Apotheosis of Washington Fresco, and the hand has been staged as the Hand of the Mysteries.

From this point, the story is off and running, following the same plot points that Brown has used in the other two books. The over-zealous fanatical antagonist, a repetitive arch-type in Brown’s writing, wants the “Word” that will make him a god-like being that the Ancient Mysteries are supposed to reveal. Also like the other two books, Langdon teams up with the emotionally wounded female relative of the catalyst victim. Langdon goes through the same formula of denial, skepticism and realization. He denies that the Ancient Mysteries exist. He is skeptical that the Freemasons had knowledge of the “Word.” He then realizes that the “Word” exists in a form that is hidden in plain sight.

The formula of Langdon’s psychological development is no longer likely after The Da Vinci Code. Langdon has been through too many implausible situations for him to go through the same repetitive cycle of denial, skepticism and realization. After spending time with Vetra, who has been able to produce and contain Antimatter, Neveu, who is the last decent of Christ, and Katherine Solomon, who has proven that the human soul exists through scientific means, Langdon should learn to reserve judgment on what is and what is not possible. One key moment, which illustrates his inability to grow, is when he is trapped in a sensory deprivation tank where Mal’akh shows him a puzzle. Of course, he is given a time limit to solve the puzzle and goes through the inevitable panic; however, if Langdon was able to grow and learn, he would have remembered that Vetra once advised him not to try to solve a problem but to try to remember the solution. Furthermore, Langdon is an academic. His whole life revolves around learning and passing on what he has learned to his students. So, through facing fanatical zealots, he should know that the small snippets of truth that they cling to are the keys to unraveling the mysteries around them. This method is a key most teachers use to promote learning in their classrooms to help students understand a concept; use a student’s pre-existing knowledge to increase their understanding. Langdon has had two sets of extraordinary yet similar situations, his third time of repeating the acceptance cycle is just not believable.

Brown treats the character of Robert Langdon as if he starts fresh every time he uses the character. The character goes through the same psychological cycle for every new set of circumstances. Brown cares more about his plot than making a lead character that is a living person.

Did Dumbledore and Yoda make the same mistake?

In their respective genres, Yoda and Albus Dumbledore are considered the wisest and most powerful beings in their somewhat magical professions. Yet with all of their wisdom and power, each of them not only let the biggest threats to “good” come to power but also taught them the tricks of their trades. What were their motivations for letting evil rise?

From the moment the audience meets Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the character is reckless. He antagonizes a Dug, Sebulba, who in no uncertain words tells Anakin that he will kill him. He brings absolute strangers to his home without telling his mother that they would be having company. He even scavenges for parts, which he steals under the nose of his master, Watto. This slave boy has no sense of self-preservation.

Master Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn finds Anakin on the run down planet of Tattooine. Anakin Skywalker, then a ten-year-old boy, wins a pod-race, which essentially brings the Jedi Master enough money to fix his broken down Naboo-ian Space Ship. When Qui-Gon Jinn presents Anakin before the Jedi Council for consideration to join the Jedi Order, Yoda attempts to read the boy’s future. Yoda explains that the boy’s future is clouded. The Jedi Council agrees at once “the boy will not be trained.” Qui-Gon Jinn argues that Anakin is a person that a prophecy claims will bring balance to the force. After the battle of Naboo Independence from the Trade Federation, Obi Wan Kenobi decides that he will honor the promise he makes to Qui-Gon Jinn while the master is dying after a duel with Darth Maul. In a dramatic turn of events, Yoda tells Obi Wan that the Jedi Council agrees with that the boy should be trained as a Jedi against Yoda’s reservations and recommendation. The audience is left to speculate that the reappearance of the Sith accounts for the reason behind the Jedi Council’s reversal.

In the book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore uses the pensive to show Harry his first meeting with Tom Riddle, or Lord Voldemort. Before being taken to Riddle’s room, Dumbledore first meets with the head of the Orphanage in which Tom Riddle has lived since his birth, Mrs. Cole. Mrs. Cole, under the influence of some heavy gin drinking, informs Dumbledore of some strange going-ons surrounding Riddle. She suspects Riddle of hanging a rabbit that belonged to a fellow orphan with whom Riddle had had a run-in. Further, Mrs. Cole tells Dumbledore of her suspicions that Riddle had tortured two other orphans during an outing to the sea shore. Dumbledore is then taken to meet with Riddle in person. The eleven-year-old Riddle refuses to talk to Dumbledore because he believes that Dumbledore is a doctor [psychiatrist] that Mrs. Cole has brought in to have a look at him. Dumbledore uses a Freezing-Fire Charm on Riddle’s cabinet to convince the boy that Dumbledore is a wizard. The burning cabinet reveals objects that Riddle had stolen from fellow orphans. After this demonstration, Riddle is quick to believe that he is also a wizard. He tells Dumbledore that he can control people and make them hurt if he wanted to. Riddle also reveals that he can speak Parseltongue, meaning that he can talk to snakes. After reliving this encounter in the Pensive with Harry Potter in tow, Dumbledore states that he did not know that he had just met the evilest wizard of all time but had resolved himself to watch him carefully. Dumbledore chooses not to tell his colleagues about his concerns about Tom Riddle.

Both Yoda and Dumbledore express concerns about the pupils they take on prior to the pupils attending classes. Yoda is insistent that Anakin Skywalker’s future is clouded and should not be trained. Though the exact reasons for the Jedi Council reconsideration of Anakin is unclear, the Jedi Council overrules Yoda. The one consistent value that Dumbledore has is his willingness to allow second changes, or his belief that people can change for the better. However, the fact that Dumbledore keeps his suspicions from Headmaster Dippet is disturbing. At the time when Tom Riddle was getting ready to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Hogwarts), Dumbledore would have been well served to inform the headmaster. As headmaster, Armando Dippet had the right to consider Tom Riddle’s worthiness to study at Hogwarts.

In conclusion, Yoda and Dumbledore made very different mistakes. Yoda showed solidarity by not fighting the Jedi Council about Anakin Skywalker’s inclusion into the Jedi Order. Yoda may have found keeping the Jedi Order at peace in a time of adversity more important than pressing the issue of Anakin clouded future. Dumbledore chose to act on his own by not revealing his reservation about Tom Riddle to others. Dumbledore did a serious disservice to the school and the wizarding community. The fact of the matter is that the only person responsible for his / hers actions is that person. Neither Yoda nor Dumbledore are responsible for what their pupils had become.