The Glorious Nuance of 'Star War's

"The Jedis are the GOOD guys. THE END." Said the Tweet. This was likely an angry plea related to the newest addition to the Star Wars franchise, The Acolyte, which features a Jedi doing bad things. I've not seen The Acolyte as the toxic Star Wars fandom has driven me to avoid most Star Wars media that doesn't involve my unending nostalgia for the original trilogy. And that I can only enjoy in private, never sharing my love for it out of a strong desire not to associate with toxic Star Wars fans.

But, this Tweet triggered me. It set me off because it is so a profound misunderstanding of Star Wars and the nature of good and evil in George Lucas's universe. On a very base level, yes, The Jedi are the good guys. In the original trilogy, Luke Skywalker honed his inherited Jedi skills to fight on the side of good to defeat evil. But, what he didn't know while he was fighting the good fight was that he was also fighting a former Jedi.

Darth Vader, formerly Anakin Skywalker, is a figure of Shakespearean tragedy. His life began as that of an innocent come hero. He was naive but brave and both of those qualities helped him become a heroic Jedi. However, he was also headstrong and placed his personal desires ahead of the interests of the greater good. In his boldness, he was tricked into accepting the Dark Side, though he retained the skills of a Jedi.

That he is redeemed in the end by switching back to the side of good is a story arc, and quite a familiar one. Redemption arcs are a wonderful storytelling device. But for Anakin to be redeemed, he first had to go bad and become evil. In that way, Anakin is a cautionary tale of how, even the best of us, even a heroic Jedi can go bad. Without this tragic fall, Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker could not become the icon that he becomes.

It's a nuance, shades of darkness and light. Anakin Skywalker went to the dark side with the best of intentions. He believed he was saving the people that he loved. He was misled into thinking that the Jedis were a threat to the safety of himself, his family, and the galaxy. He sought the destruction of the Jedi out of fear and anger and a desire for power. But he also felt justified that the Dark Side was the best way to maintain order in a chaotic and dangerous universe.

The many layers of Darth Vader, his many shades and nuances are what make him such a great character. If Anakin Skywalker had simply remained a hero from childhood through adulthood, we would not know who he is. His tragedy, heartbreak, insecurity and quest for power make him interesting and his ability to heal and desire to do what is right, in end, are what made him an icon.

Yes, the Jedis are the good guys but they also have layers and shades. Their tragedy is their hubris which blinds them from the reality that not everyone is on their side. Not everyone believed that the Jedis were good for the universe. While Jedi leaders simply assumed people would follow them because their innate goodness, they were being plotted against, undermined, and killed. By the time we reach Luke Skywalker, the Jedis are a mere legend, driven underground.

The Jedis have flaws. They have vulnerabilitites and that is what makes them heroic. Their ability to make mistakes, be defeated and bounce back is what makes them the good guys. They are no immune to bad decisions, misunderstandings, or brute force. If the Jedis were all powerful and never wrong, they would not be interesting characters. Thus, Jedis in their piousness over their sense of their innate goodness can actually make terrific villains.

For instance, Luke Skywalker, a pillar of goodness. His personal insecurities, his inexperience and hubris lead him to act impulsively. He's vulnerable to Vader and the Dark Side because he's not perfect and he knows it. Luke is not a black and white character, he's got shades of gray. It's exactly that nuance that leads to his conflict with Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. He can sense that Ben is vulnerable to the Dark Side and may even be evil but he can't be sure of it. He can't kill Ben and the betrayal of trying to kill him, drives Ben to the dark side, to becoming the exact thing that Luke feared.

Ben Solo was both good and evil. He was the son of Leia and Han Solo and he was a headstrong young man who was vulnerable to the trappings of power offered by the Dark Side. Ben Solo/Kylo Ren is all shades of gray. He was born in the light, seduced by the dark, but always nursing a part of himself that doubted the path of the dark side and the light. The nuances of good and evil are his defining characteristic.

Qui Gon Jin, Liam Neeson's Jedi character from Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace is driven by an unshakable belief that he's found the one person who can bring balance to The Force. His belief in Anakin Skywalker is a flaw that leads to grave tragedies. He was pious in his belief that he was right and it led to great suffering, even as it also led to great triumph. Is Qui Gon Jin evil for being arrogant and pious? No, but he's not entirely good either because he's intentionally blind to the consequences of his piety. He defies the warnings of other Jedis because he can't see beyond his own narrow minded perspective. He's flawed, he's nuanced, he has layers and shades. We relate to him and care about him because of these traits.

If Star Wars were merely about good versus evil with Good coming out on top, we would not remember Star Wars. It's emotional shades that drive these characters. Their tragedies and their successes drive the story in equal measure. My favorite Star Wars story is literally the one where the Rebellion has seemingly lost everything, Star War Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back. Empire is completely awesome and that awesomeness comes from a series of tragic setbacks that our heroes will have to work hard to overcome.

It's bizarre to think that there could only be good and evil in the Star Wars universe. Han Solo, the badass, cool guy, hero of Star Wars was a smuggler of a particular moral flexibility. He was a criminal with a bounty on his head. He was a guy who, when threatened, shoots first, committing cold blooded murder to preserve his own freedom. He's not a good guy when the story starts. Hell, he's not fully on the side of good until he risks his life at the very end of the movie and even then, he had to leave first, abandoning his newfound friends before having a heroic change of heart.

Shades of gray define Han Solo. The same shades of gray are passed on to his son, Ben. These characters are rich and complex because they are more than just good or evil. Their experiences and circumstances help define them. But they would not be good without the parts of them that have been or are evil. You need the dark to illustrate the light. You need nuanced characteristics to create rich and textured characters who tell rich and textured stories.

Can a Jedi be a baddie? Can a Jedi be downright evil? In a particular context, in a particular story? Yes, of course. That's a silly question, honestly. Say, you have a planet that is being protected by The First Order, the villains of the most recent Star Wars franchise. You may not care for the policies and politics of division and ruling with an iron fist but you enjoy having safe streets and you operate a thriving business. You are a little evil for going along with the dictates of a violent dictatorship, but you are otherwise not a bad person. Suddenly Jedis arrive and begin a fight that destroys your business, a crash of one of their vehicles kills a member of your family. Are you the villain of that story? Or, would that person be justified in seeing the Jedis as the villain?

A Jedi goes to fight on behalf of a cause driven by someone they trust. That person, it turns out, has ulterior motives. They need this planet for their own personal gain and they have tricked the Jedi into doing their bidding. The Jedi, blinded by their trust for this person, acts accordingly and ends up killing innocent people. Is the Jedi evil? No, but they've committed evil acts and, in the eyes of the characters they are attacking, they are evil. Context, the complexities of storytelling, nuance, these things are devices through which we can tell a complicated story that lingers in the wonderful gray area between good and evil. Just because someone has the powers of a Jedi and calls themselves a Jedi doesn't make them a Jedi. The context matters.

If you want the simple good versus evil stories, go watch an old western. The guys in white hats are the good ones and the black hats are the bad ones. Me, I am going to keep watching the lovely grays of Star Wars. I am going to revel in the complex moral quandaries. My heart is going to ache over a son who wants so badly to have his father that he might consider turning evil. My heart will soar when the day is won and the seemingly evil father is redeemed. Good and evil aren't simple concepts defined by what hat you wear.