Friday 6 October 2017

#273 What does Luke mean by "It's so much bigger"?

With sixty nine days to go until The Last Jedi is released, now feels like it's time for me to join the thousands of speculators and come up with a theory as to what might be in store for cinema goers come 15th December.

Just one trailer has thus far been released although Hamill, who in my opinion probably swung five or ten percent towards the dark side a long time ago, did make an interesting comment about a trailer two release date of 9th October in a recent and quickly deleted tweet. In the meantime, the forums are still humming about the meaning of Luke's cryptic comment in the first trailer.

When Luke asks Rey to reach out and report what she sees, she replies "Light... darkness... the balance". In response, the last Jedi utters "It's so much bigger". So what could be bigger than the balance between the light and the dark side?

Luke's comment seems to suggest that there's something more fundamental than the pursuit of balance between light and dark. What he might mean is, no matter how much the Jedi hope for balance, they'll never achieve it permanently. Perhaps the nature of reality doesn't allow it. It might be necessary for there to be some balance. It might be equally necessary that there's some imbalance. In fact, there might even be a need for a greater balance between balance and imbalance. To illustrate this, I'm going to draw a see-saw.


Here we have Yoda and Darth Vader, representing the light and the dark sides of the force, currently sitting balanced on the see-saw. Rey sees them both. She also sees the balance.

Now, to really understand where Rey's coming from, we have to imagine that someone nice and well-mannered like Yoda has had the misfortune of being paired up with the despicable Darth Vader for a see-saw buddy.

Normally, the see-saw is supposed to be an enjoyable experience but Vader's going to be playing all kinds of nasty tricks on poor Yoda, sending him hurtling up into the clouds, bringing his butt down again with a crash and probably trying to kill him using force choke or force lightening.

Yoda is powerful too though and wise in the ways of the force, so he can probably hold his own, for a while at least. What Rey is imagining is that life would be more peaceful if both the light and the dark would stop fighting and rest peacefully in a balanced state.

What Rey is missing though, is that balance isn't the point of a see-saw. It's supposed to go up and down. There's supposed to be imbalance but that's not the whole point either. It's so much bigger...

When you have a see-saw, you can't have balance or imbalance all the time. You have to have a combination of balance and imbalance.

Ok, in theory many see-saws have a resting state of one side being higher than the other, meaning they're almost always in a state of imbalance but even then, there will be times when two people get on and it stays balanced for a while. Then they start using it and it becomes imbalanced.

It seems possible that the same could apply to the force. Maybe there's more to life than bringing balance. Perhaps it's also necessary to have a balance between balance and imbalance. That notion of there needing to be a bigger balance is my theory about the revelation we'll encounter in the eighth Star Wars film.

12 comments

Fizzfan said...

I like this post but have no idea where Rey is coming from as I don’t know who he/she is? Practically zero Star Wars knowledge.
I reckon life is like a seesaw though and the best place for peace is somewhere in the middle, quietly watching the extremes going up and down and someone flying off the end every now n then.

Profound Familiarity said...

You have an awareness of how cruel life can occasionally be, which shows up in your comments with some regularity.

Fizzfan said...

I feel like a really grumpy pessimist now:( but yes you’re right.
I’ve been relatively lucky in my life but have definitely witnessed people very close to me suffer catastrophic and quite dreadful misfortune. What amazes me is the different ways people handle it.
I’ve never been a rose coloured specs girl, but am a fan of positive thinking and humour. The rest is what we think we can handle versus what it turns out we can and adjusting accordingly.
I like to think of it as being realistic, but am often surprised at how some think of that as being cynical. Probably a bit of both :):( or somewhere in the middle thanking my lucky stars, raising a glass to friends and family and whatever happens, or remembering my Step Mother’s chide of “things can always get worse”.
Where do you see yourself?

Profound Familiarity said...

I see myself in a similar position.

Running on empty said...

I have been through almost as many bad things in my life as Job. Some good things have happened too. I'm resilient because of my faith, that gets me through. I don't want to grow old though, I'm tired.

Profound Familiarity said...

It seems reasonable enough to ask why you're faithful. You don't have to answer if you don't want to.

I imagine many people are faithful because of the environments they are raised in and don't tend to question the status quo. Some might become a Christian because they see the church doing good work and helping people. Others might find the idea of God appealing because of promises of eternal life or salvation from sin. Some might even follow him out of fear because they're convinced they'll go to hell if they don't.

Running on empty said...

I have seen miracles in my life.

Profound Familiarity said...

before you believed or after?

Running on empty said...

After. As a child I had the faith of a child. Now I just have childlike faith :)

Profound Familiarity said...

I see. As a child, did you start believing because that was what your parents believed?

Running on empty said...

I went to a religious school and church every week. That probably had more to do with it.

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