Without sinking too far into the unnecessarily convoluted politics and bureaucratic trash that makes up a large part of the Star Wars Prequels, I'll try to address the basic missions of each side of The Force. From the very first installment in the series, it is made painstakingly clear to the audience that the Jedi are the good guys and the Sith are the bad guys. That's it. We need no further explanation, as everything is implicitly spelled out: It's the fascist regime of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader with its homogenous army of faceless minions versus the relatable, peace-seeking, and ultimately human underdogs. The choice of who to root for is a no-brainer.
That said, the Dark Side's mission is to rule all inhabited worlds in the Star Wars galaxy with an iron fist, and the Light Side's mission is to prevent them from doing that. In peacetime, the Jedi serve as protectors of the good people of the galaxy as well as advisers to its numerous governments. Since the relationship between Jedi and Sith is one of constant battle, with no negotiations of any sort ever attempted, their attitudes are hostile and uncompromising, and their decisions black-and-white. If a Sith confronts a Jedi, he/she will show no mercy (as seen, of course, in the famous first duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader) and vice versa.
It becomes quite clear, then, that the dueling forces of Night Watch are toned down quite a bit. When the events of the film begin, the Light and Dark Others have been at peace (at a truce, rather) for hundreds of years. Things have quieted down, and each side has come to openly accept the presence of the other in their daily lives. Because of this now-traditional familiarity, Light Others interact, converse, and tolerate Dark Others, albeit not without a bit of underlying tension.
Jedi and Sith draw power from the same source: a seemingly sub-atomic, intangible presence of energy known as The Force. Once one discovers that he/she is able to manipulate the Force, he/she will have to make a decision regarding which side they will fight for. Similarly, in Night Watch, once one discovers that he/she is an Other, he/she must make a choice, as Yegor does in the final moments of the film. The common energy source of blood is another aspect that unites the Light and Dark Others rather than drive them apart.
Ultimately, while Star Wars sends a message of the importance of standing up for what is good, Night Watch forces us to examine the subjectivity of good itself. Consider a war between two countries - Greenland and Australia, for instance. We know that not every single soldier (no matter which side they fight for) will necessarily be a good or bad person, despite the overall intentions of their respective governments.
And so it is in the world of Night Watch. The final scene, in which Yegor defies his father and joins the Dark Others, makes it clear that the child's decision is not rash or uninformed. In fact, it makes the audience empathize with him and understand his motivations - we know that Anton is not a fundamentally good man, as Luke Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi are. Consequently, we also know at this point that Dark Others are not necessarily evil. Thus, what Night Watch accomplishes that Star Wars does not essentially boils down to a more balanced and nuanced (and above all, realistic) vision of two warring establishments.
Thank you for not talking about The Lord of the Rings. That would have been quite a blog post that none of us would have been very interested in, although it probably still would have been better than having to talk about Star Wars. I was wondering if you were also pondering the idea that perhaps Night Watch is better at realistically portraying the struggle between good and evil than Star Wars as a result of cultural norms in Russia that maybe tend towards more questioning of what is good? As Americans, we tend to pride ourselves on questioning authority, but only when it is perceived as the "bad" kind of authority. The Sith rule we see in Star Wars is very anti-Americanism, and it is therefore, without question, Bad. But what authority is telling us that it must be bad? Why should we not question that authority? Who is to say that the actual people of the Dark Side of the Force cannot be just as human (or whatever species they are) as the Light Side? I suppose it could also be contributed to a desire to reach a wider audience that might include younger viewers who don't always grasp the concept that people are good and evil in varying amounts, but rarely are people simply good or simply evil. Beautiful Times New Roman by the way, O.
ReplyDeleteDoes the movie make the point that "good" is subjective? I'm not so sure. It certainly suggests light and dark others aren't purely on one side or the other, but that's not the same thing, right?
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you don't say more about the truce. Remember, it came about because it was clear to Gesser (sp?) that the forces of light and darkness would annihilate each other. So, we have this truce that no one wants to accused of breaking. Doesn't this add an interesting wrinkle to the good vs evil formula? Dare I say a radical wrinkle?
I agree with most of your points, but I thought it was interesting that you said that in Star Wars the characters must pick a side when the learn to use the force. It is important to note that in Star Wars, force users' affiliation less has to do with a decision as circumstance. People who are part of the light side of the force (sorry referencing prequels a little) have been part of the Jedi order their entire lives; they were raised with their values, it was not a conscious decision. Even Luke was watched over by Ben/Obi-Wan Kenobi growing up. The dark side on the other hand is joined through temptation, which affects all people, only the Jedi are skilled at resisting those temptations. This is an integral part of the story, as if there were no chance of Luke ever joining the dark side it would be a simple series of hero saves the world events.
ReplyDeleteIn Night Watch, anybody who is considered an Other is faced with a direct choice between two sides. However, in Star Wars it is usually more of a start out good and then become corrupted and move to the dark side because you want to rule the galaxy. It is very clear in the series which side is the better one or the more morally correct one, those who journey over to the dark side are generally manipulated or corrupted. The choice is not always up to them.
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