Editorial: Darkness and Light in The Force Awakens

force_awakens_sunset_-_h_-_2015Warning: This piece will contain spoilers for The Force Awakens. Many of them. If you haven’t seen it yet, I suggest you get yourself to a theater before reading this.

 

There has been an awakening. Have you felt it? The Dark side…and the light.

 

Those were the first words we heard of the new Star Wars. After the sale of Lucasfilm and the long wait for any information on what the sequel trilogy would bring, this is what we were told. A mission statement of sorts. Star Wars has always been about good and evil. The righteous struggle of those who wish to do good and respect life against those who would control it and take dominion over it through sheer will and power. But within those powers of good and evil are the darkness and light. The eternal struggle within every human being that determines whether they are a good person or not. It’s within those forces of internal struggle that I think the main focus of the sequel trilogy lies, and Abrams brought that to the forefront through his use of light and dark imagery in The Force Awakens.

 

One of the most frequent questions directed at this movie since the reveal of Jakku was, why are we on Jakku and not Tatooine? Do we really need another desert planet? While I’m sure there are many reasons, logistical, story based, and otherwise, I think one has to do with the look of the planet. Tattoine was the frontier. It was dirty and used. Varying shades of brown in every direction. Jakku, in that regard is not Tatooine. The desert here is bright white. It is pristine, except for the skeletons of At-AT’s and Super Star Destroyers that dot the landscape. Jakku is very literally the graveyard of evil. It is the place tyranny dies and hope lives. And that hope lives in the form of Rey.

 

Force-Awakens-Battle-of-Jakku

 

Rey, the very vision of hope rising from the ashes of the Empire’s death. Her name literally represents light. (No one ever said JJ wasn’t a bit on the nose with this imagery. That’s right Poe, we’ll get to your comments later). Rey is optimistic and hopeful to a fault. She is reluctant to leave Jakku and begin her life because she believes her family will return for her there. She is the flicker of light at the end of the universe. An ember of the fire of hope that has been extinguished in the absence of Luke Skywalker.   And when the darkness of the First Order comes to Jakku, that fire is stoked and begins to spread.

 

NEW-TRAILER-RELEASED-FOR-STAR-WARS-THE-FORCE-AWAKENS

 

Oh, but that First Order is dark. The first shot of the movie after the opening crawl is so very telling. The Star Destroyer literally blotting out the light of Jakku. They descend on the village in darkness. They crush the light wherever they go. This is not the empire. The Empire was gray everywhere you looked. A toneless mass of industrialized homogenization. But in contrast, the First Order is dark. Literally. Compare an Imperial Star Destroyer to Kylo Ren’s ship. It’s so dark on that bridge, I was worried the officers might start nodding off at their stations. Their uniforms are black, where the Empire was gray. Snoke’s chamber, where he communicates with Kylo Ren and General Hux, is so dark we can hardly see. This is not an empire looking to impose order on a chaotic society. This is evil. Fanatical worshipers of the darkness.

 

kylo-ren-bridge-star-destroyer

 

We see it in Kylo Ren. Leia says “there is still light in him.” A notable departure in wording from the “good” Luke saw in Vader. Kylo Ren himself monologues that he feels a “call from the light” that he needs to stamp out once and for all. And that darkness that is in Kylo and The First Order seems to spread. Han’s freighter is a mass of darkness as it swallows up the Falcon. Inside the Falcon is bright and hopeful, imbued with the hopeful enthusiasm of Rey and Finn. But once they leave the Falcon, they are surrounded with the melancholic darkness of Han’s new life in the wake of his son’s betrayal. Leia on the other hand, does not lose hope. In Leia, and her Resistance base, we see the only pocket of light outside of Jakku. The resistance is an oasis of hope awash in a sea of despair. We see this contrasted in our brief look at the Republic capital on Hosnian prime. A dark city-planet, reminiscent of Imperial Coruscant.

 

Towards the end of the movie, this dichotomy turns into a very literal battle at Starkiller Base. A weapon-planet that literally consumes the light of a star to bring destruction. It sucks the light from a solar system and weaponizes it, leaving darkness and death in its wake. In one of the least subtle moments of the movie, Poe externalizes the symbolism by calling out that as long as there is light left there is hope as the weapon gets close to finishing its power-up cycle. It may be on the nose, but no less moving as we transport to that fateful bridge where Han meets his son for the last time. As the light in the sky runs out, so too does the hope. Kylo Ren completes his turn to the dark side by killing his father just as the light fades into darkness.

 

starkiller-base_c089ce4c

 

It is after this moment that all hope seems lost. We find Rey and Finn lost in a deep dark forest. They are only illuminated by the glow of the lightsabers. Desperate to escape from that darkness, both Finn and Rey carry that torch as a weapon against the darkness. Rey’s face is illuminated by both her blue and Kylo’s red lightsaber as the force awakens in her and she fights back in a dazzling display of twirling blue and red light as the planet crumbles beneath them and Rey finds herself stranded on a dying planet over Finn’s unconscious body. But out of that darkness they are suddenly illuminated in the bright light of hope as Chewie and the Falcon arrive to save them. The glaring bright light shocks within such deep darkness as Rey looks up at the lights of that “piece of garbage” and the salvation for both Rey and Finn it represents.

 

As the Falcon and the remaining X-wings depart the base they leave that dark space behind them. The First Order is given a defeat, but at a price. Where the planets of the republic capital once stood, is only the darkness of space. And in the vacuum of leadership, one can assume that the darkness of the First Order will spread. But the light of hope remains at the resistance base. Even in the wake of such extreme losses there is a brightness and optimism to the resistance. But there is also that unbreakable optimism in Rey as she takes off in the Falcon to find Luke. And when she does, we find him bathed in the sunlight of a beautiful blue and green world. On top of a mountain, Luke dressed all in light colors stands as a beacon of hope for both Rey and the resistance going forward. A beacon that will try to focus that light to fight the darkness in the remainder of the trilogy.

 

Rey Crying

 

Where the saga goes from here is still an unknown. But with the themes at work and the dichotomy of Rey/Kylo against the backdrop of Luke’s failures as a teacher and Snokes seduction, I’d say that these movies want to examine that internal struggle. Not just the seduction of the dark side as we have seen in other Star Wars films, but in the ongoing pull of the darkness and light, even after you have chosen a side. These forces and icons of light and dark do battle at a macro level, while the crux of the trilogy will rest on the internal struggle of light and dark within Kylo Ren and Rey. Just like the defeat at Endor was not the end of the Empire, falling to the dark side or choosing the light is not the end of the battle. The struggle to do good or evil continues every day in everyone regardless of how good or evil they seem to be through their actions. I anticipate watching both Kylo Ren and Rey struggle against that pull from the other side in the next two movies.

 

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44 thoughts on “Editorial: Darkness and Light in The Force Awakens

  • December 23, 2015 at 10:19 pm
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    Nice editorial. It highlights how well thought-out the movie and symbolism were. JJ and Kasdan deserve every accolade they get.

  • December 23, 2015 at 10:39 pm
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    Very nice, Rebo. The use of lighting especially in Han/Ben scene was phenomenal. After TFA, I am even more excited for Rian Johnson’s take on the world JJ & Co. left him.

  • December 23, 2015 at 10:53 pm
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    Very nice read. Poe’s line that you mention was one of few lines that could have been cut for the better.
    Oh and there’s an unfinished sentence in there 🙂
    Excited about Episode VIII! It will get dark…

  • December 23, 2015 at 11:07 pm
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    Those are great points. I never made the connection of the sun’s light going out at the same moment Kylo gave in to the darkness. Very cool.

  • December 23, 2015 at 11:18 pm
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    Snoke theme from TFA soundtrack was almost identical with Opera music from ROTS.
    TFA and ROTS shared same darkness.
    Plagueis is Snoke theory was hinted by John Williams. JJ would tell a lie, music wont.

  • December 23, 2015 at 11:56 pm
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    Very good post. I have very simmilar toughts about the movie. A lot of simbolism in this movie if you pay attention. I like it…

  • December 23, 2015 at 11:58 pm
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    Great Piece.

  • December 24, 2015 at 12:10 am
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    I really like this… Didn’t make the connection between Rey and a “Ray” of light. It puts things in a different perspective. I’m going to see TFA for the 2nd time tonight, I’ll keep all this in mind as I watch it.

    • December 24, 2015 at 2:45 am
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      I pointed out in another reply the same thing. The name Luke means light in latin…. “Ray” of Light…. I tried to make that convincing connection between the two…. that Rey is in fact another Sky— walk—- er……

      • December 24, 2015 at 3:00 am
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        The Latin for “light” is “LUX”, not Luke. Latin for Luke, not surprisingly is “Lucas”.

          • December 24, 2015 at 3:13 am
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            The name Luke is Hebrew in origin, because of the Apostle, of course. But it is different in every tongue. There is Luke, Lukas, Luca, Lucas, etc. And again, the Latin version of the name is Lucas. IDK where you got your information, but there is no such word as Luke in Latin.

          • December 24, 2015 at 3:16 am
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            the link i posted has the information as well as other links… I was also taught that in my religion class… Luke the Gospel writer… Luke meaning the “bringing of light’ I guess everyone interprets it differently….

          • December 24, 2015 at 3:28 am
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            Right, but again, that’s Hebrew, not Latin. And it’s just a coincidence, as we all know that Lucas named his protagonist after his own last name; he just changed it to the Hebrew version, which is also used in English.

            The same could be argued for Rey, actually. The word means “king” in Spanish. Maybe the name is in reference to “ray of light” and it’s just a coincidence that it means king in another tongue, but it’s true all the same.

          • December 24, 2015 at 8:09 pm
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            Luke is the English form of a Greek name and Luke the apostle probably was from a culturally and/or linguistically Greek region. It means “man from Lucania”.

          • December 24, 2015 at 8:43 pm
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            Hey that’s pretty cool info, actually. I didn’t know the origins of the name, just that it obviously spread because of the Bible (just like Mark, Matthew and John) and that it’s not the Latin word for “light”. Thanks for clarifying.

  • December 24, 2015 at 12:19 am
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    My impression is that the intention of the writers with Kylo was to reverse the traditional point iof view we are used to seeing on Star Wars. Traditionally, we see the light apprentice who struggles to resist the pull of the dark side. With Kylo, we have the perspective of the dark apprentice who fights the pull of the light, which is quite interesting.

    • December 24, 2015 at 12:29 am
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      I totally agree

    • December 24, 2015 at 1:18 am
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      I agree with you Mabruno.I had notice this too.

    • December 25, 2015 at 12:52 am
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      Totaly agree. And I think some are missing the point of Ren’s character and inner struggle. Ren is obsessed with Darth Vader. Not Anakan, but Vader. Ren see’s Vaders seduction back to the Light, at the hands Luke, as Vader’s failure. That is why in a couple scenes in TFA you see Ren confronting himself and Snoke over the fact that he indeed feels the pull from the Light, but promises that he will not be seduced by it. And as Snoke says, Ren’s biggest test will be confronting his father. Much like Luke’s biggest test, was confronting his father and the Emperor. Ren realizes that in order to prevent any possible seduction to the light is must kill the very ones that could cause such seduction…. his parents. Ren is obviously brainwashed and believes that what he and the First Order are doing under Snoke, is right and just. He killed Han as a means to ensure he stays on the Dark side and finish what Vader started.

  • December 24, 2015 at 12:28 am
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    To add to that the first time we see Rey she is in a dark star destroyer with a light on her head as the only light. Pretty symbolic of how she is the new hope and light as darkness surrounds her in the stomach of a ship of the Empire that represents the old and she is the new.

  • December 24, 2015 at 12:47 am
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    Great Job in pointing out and explaining one of the film’s main visual motifs!

  • December 24, 2015 at 1:15 am
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    Thanks for the excellent analysis between light and dark.

  • December 24, 2015 at 1:37 am
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    Yeah but guys this film is a carbon copy of a New Hope and its total trash that a baby could have written better and makes the prequels look amazing (cos they are) and Lucasfilm are Nazis for discarding all the great EU stories that make TFA look like even more trash. Women Jedi pfft Mary Sue…

    Am I doing it right?

    #trollpractice

    • December 24, 2015 at 1:39 am
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      you have almost completed your training.

    • December 24, 2015 at 10:10 am
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      No. Your blast shield’s down you can’t even see. How are you supposed to troll?

    • December 24, 2015 at 1:04 pm
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      Almost bit,just about to hit caps lock then I got to the end,well done,ya got me.

  • December 24, 2015 at 2:30 am
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    To add to the darkness & light motif….When Rey is outfitted for her “Desperately Seeking Skywalker” adventure, she dons GREY attire and is presented to Luke as such. Grey being the balance between dark/light. So…here’s the prophesied one. NOT Luke, but Rey is the one.

    • December 24, 2015 at 10:14 am
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      “The prophesied one,” you might recall from TPM, is supposed to be conceived by Midi-chlorians. So unless Rey is conceived by Midi-chlorians, it’s still Anakin.

      • December 24, 2015 at 10:50 am
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        Well, my theory is that Anakin was created by Darth Plagueis. In ROTS, Palpatine clearly says Plagueis could create life and stop death. Anakin was Immaculate conception. So…Plagueis crated Anakin, Anakin created Luke and Leia, Leia created Kylo and possibly Luke created Ray. So basically all the Skywalkers descend from Plagueis, who is think Snoke will turn out to be. Just a theory.

      • December 25, 2015 at 6:56 am
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        Or the Jedi just read a botched translation, or something. It wouldn’t be that hard to retcon it.

        • December 26, 2015 at 4:54 pm
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          The Jedi were pretty inept.

    • December 26, 2015 at 2:29 am
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      Very interesting ! I didn’t catch that, but it makes a lot of sense. I’ll have to pay more attention to the use of light/dark when I’ll see the movie again. Maybe it shows that Rey is supposed to bring a “new” use to the force. More balanced that the Jedi (or the Sith), in a way that Luke wasn’t able to.

  • December 24, 2015 at 4:58 am
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    Very nice analysis =) I’d like to add that when Starkiller base is destroyed, it turns into a sun. This plays into the imagery you’re talking about, as it could represent a sort of indomitable seed of light that rests at the heart of even the darkest beast. It was there in Vader and it may still be in Kylo. Also as someone else pointed out, Luke is dressed in grey, not in white, making his appearance and future role all the more ambiguous (although I don’t doubt he’s still a good guy).

    • December 24, 2015 at 1:02 pm
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      Rey was also in grey at the end of the film,noticed both these points last night.

  • December 24, 2015 at 7:22 am
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    sorry if i’m repeating a comment, but one of the most amazing light/dark motifs in the film is when the starkiller base finishes sucking up the sun. this occurs when han and kylo are facing one another. kylo asks, “will you help me?” han says,”yes, i’ll do anything.” when han places his hand on kylo’s saber, the entire space goes dark, as though all the lightness left in kylo is overshadowed, giving him the “power” to kill his own father. it’s kind of subtle, but definitely there. and it’s incredible.

  • December 25, 2015 at 6:54 am
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    My idea for how Episode 8 and 9 could go:

    For 8, picture a storyline divided up into three subplots: One focuses on Finn and Poe becoming partners who embark on a secret mission to infiltrate the First Order. The second focuses on Rey trying to convince Luke to come out of his exile, and while she’s with him we learn more about the origins of the Jedi, as well as the big reveal about her parentage. The third is Kylo Ren being sent on a rite of passage quest by Snoke, to complete his Dark Side training, as a kind of twist on how Empire Strikes Back depicted Luke’s Jedi training.

    Then the big climax is the New Republic finally engaging the First Order in a huge assault with the aid of the Resistance, and just when all hope seems lost, Rey and Luke arrive just in time to combine their powers and completely decimate the First Order. Snoke, however, is able to flee in the battle, and rendezvouses with Kylo Ren deep in uncharted space.

    And so then Episode 9 is about the manhunt for Snoke and Kylo, to bring them to justice and tie up all the loose ends. And perhaps this search brings the heroes to unknown regions in space, possibly extra-galactic, where they discover at last the long-forgotten origins of the Force, and with it, the final key to bringing balance to the Force forever…

    Thoughts???

    • December 25, 2015 at 1:55 pm
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      How can the New Republic engage the First Order when the Republic’s fleet has been destroyed ? We must of course assume that the Republic is now at war with the First Order, but it will take time for the Republic to rebuild its forces before it can strike back. Meanwhile, I assume General Organa is already looking for new allies in the galaxy now that the Resistance is vulnerable.

      • December 25, 2015 at 9:46 pm
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        Hopefully there are still some out there in the new canon…Hapans…Chiss…Mandalorians…say what you want about the EU, at least they had more creative extra-Republic political entities than “Banking Clan” and “Commerce Guild”.

  • December 25, 2015 at 11:10 am
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    swallowing a sun and then fire it was stupid. How could the starkiller base survive the sun coming towards it? And the ONE shot destroyed many plants, suddenly splitting into many rays. No, no no so stupid. Liked the Movie mostly, but that was abysmal.

    • December 26, 2015 at 8:03 pm
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      I’m sure it’s easy to overlook the fiction in “science-fiction” considering that Star Wars is about an energy field that gives some people magic powers. Yhea….. Totally stupid… Then why bother even posting here if you have an issue.

    • December 27, 2015 at 11:31 am
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      This is a movie about space wizards that shoot lightnining out of their finger tips and battle with swords made of laser beams. Get over it.

  • December 29, 2015 at 2:55 am
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    Very good analysis. I like the comments about Rey as “grey” and Kylo being pulled by the light. If we follow the theory of enlightenment this would be spot on. To be fully enlightened, you have to understand the concept of good and evil, light and dark. You have to “see” the light in others, even if on the surface they are all dark. You have to have empathy and compassion for the other person even if you don’t agree with them or like what they are doing.

    So Rey has this perspective now. She can see the pull of the Force and the pull of the Darkside and how it affects people. it’s the whole freewill thing. You cannot chastise someone like Kylo for seeking the dark side when he has freewill. But you can see the light in him and appeal to it. Conversely, someone committed to the Light cannot be so fanatical to dismiss anyone who is dark. it’s the same problem as someone who only sees dark, only in reverse. You can make this argument against current religious zealots. A Jedi who thinks their way is the “only” way will not see the fallacy in that thinking. You have to see “all” the different ways.

    I think we saw Luke struggle with this in Return of the Jedi. The only way he could kill his father was to channel his hatred. It freaked him out. he was so pure, he hated himself for it. But what I think we will see with 30 years of reflection and enlightenment is that it is necessary to channel your “dark side” every now and then to keep your overriding lightness in check. You can be too light and too dark. What you want, and I think Luke learned this is that you always need a balance. Not too much light. Not too much dark.

    Always good and light without an adversity, what can you learn from that? It’s like life. An always perfect life teaches very little, while an always hard life also teaches very little. We need conflict and tragedy to grow. Luke was too young to understand that.

    And I see Kylo having this sensibility as well. He knows too much darkness is not healthy. Rey doesn’t know it yet. But she will. This is about restoring order. Harmony. Balance of light and dark. Jedis will always be swayed by the darkness. It’s ok. it happens. What we need to see is more of the stormtroopers like Finn being swayed by the light. It has to happen as well.

    it’s not about eliminating light or dark. And I take from the other poster. It’s about the grey. Maintaining a healthy balance of the two. Much like some of the Eastern religions and even martial arts. I was told by a Master that Kung Fu was all about healing. That the fighting was only for self defense. But it needed to be taught, in step with healing. Many of the same energy gathering techniques are used for both,. Remember, not matter how peaceful monks are, they have had for centuries to fight others. And they can be quite good at it. How can they maintain their spiritual pureness and yes, still fight and kill others to protect them and their villages?

    I stole this from another poster, but it kind of sums up the point:
    “”Basic Buddhism doesn’t say anything about non-violence or harmlessness. It teaches the “middle way,” the path of moderation. Buddhism isn’t necessarily pacifist”

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