Star Wars: A Force to Contend With by John Erik Ege - HTML preview

Word from the Author,

This particular story started as a dream. It was a complete story, so full of details that I could not capture it all fast enough. I think I caught most of it, but as this is the first draft, I am certain there will be some issues and mistakes. I think there are a few really strong scenes that may capture the essence better than the whole, so I am considering this still a work in process. As with all my work, there may be grammatical errors, which I apologize for, as I do not yet have an editorial staff. I merely needed ‘this’ out of my head. I was ten years old when I first saw Star Wars. I saw it dozen times in the first week, a dozen more the second week, and on the third week I was a little disturbed to discover they had cut some of the film. And it wasn’t even big cuts, but the most disturbing thing was no one else at the time seemed to notice, but I went years convincing myself I wasn’t crazy, and it wasn’t until the re-release that that footage was reinserted and was I like yeah! Told you. Then went back to “WHY…”

Star Wars is so huge in terms of social impact, I am certain that this story will not please everyone. Just know, it is not my intent to offend the fans of Star Wars; I am a fan. It has sustained me on a number of different levels, and so some of this work (work equals this trilogy) will be drawing on the rich fantasy of my youth, some of it will be me exploring themes, and whatever dreams may come. As Star Wars, the films, evolved, there were clearly tangents that I did not like. Mind you, I never lost love for Lucas, and it is still my hope that I might visit the Skywalker Ranch, but I would be dishonest if I say I liked all the choices. Even early on, in my youth, there were things that disturbed me about the originals. Torturing of droids is the best example. I thought it ridiculously silly and was asking myself, what is this? Comic relief? They what, really wanted to torture people to impress us about how evil they were, but you can torture Droids on screen without censors? Imagine it had been people, how dark would Star Wars have become? Isn’t that the real reason why we have Droid armies and Storm Troopers hidden by mask, so we can down play the fact that our ‘heroes’ are war heroes and they are killing other beings? Well, it is Star WARS. Not star peace. I get that. But don’t hide it. Let evil be in your face so that when Yoda says something profound like, “Wars don’t make one great” it means something.

So, exploring that, it is my intentions to explore the darkness. Star Wars has the potential to be really dark, if you consider that it wasn’t just the violence of wars that was common place, but also the reampant slavery of intelligent creatures.

It also interested me that Star Wars had only two female characters in it: Luke’s Aunt and the Princess. The Princess was not ‘sexualized’ in that first film, but by the time we get to Return of the Jedi, there has been some change. Not only was she looking pretty good, from a teenage boy’s perspective, but she was a slave and… What the hell was wrong with Jabba the Hut? Why would any non humanoid species be interested in a human? Was this, again, a method of mitigating distasteful human constructs, such as lust?

As a fan of Joseph Campbell, author of the book “Hero with a Thousand Faces,” in his interview with Bill Moyers, and another with Lucas, Moyers really opened up the flood gates as to the underlying mythos in Star Wars. Oh, how I would have loved talking with Doctor Campbell, but at last, I am left with his writings and my musings. Star Wars was ultimately a redemption story. The son saves the father. I’m pushing boundaries here in my story, wondering is there anything that is beyond the power of redemption, but then I am dealing with a very real thing that happens to lots of people in our society, even today, even in America. This story is ultimately not about Preston Waycaster, but the saving of an abused child, Ten, and the recognition that all the adults in this were once children, and as their stories continue to unfold, you will find tht they too were also clearly hurt. Does anyone survive childhood unscathed? Pain may be an unavoidable attribute of life, but how we deal with it, how we deal with others who are dealing with it, is clearly part of the war we are all in. Star Wars is about pain and it’s about hope.

Most agree that the underlying philosophy of Star Wars is rooted in Asian culture. Even some of the scenes, such as Naboo have Eastern images, like ruined temples. ‘Dakini’ is an Eastern concept which comes to play here and in the next book, but I thought it interesting to share that Dakini in Sanskrit translate ‘sky dancer.’ I am sure it’s probably just a coincidence that Luke is a Skywalker, but then again… Lucas isn’t dumb.

To those familiar with my Trek series, yes, there will be another… Skywalker… Sorry.

Couldn’t resist. I have not forgotten you. I’m working on it.

May the Force find you all happy and healthy. Until next time, Travel Light.

john erik

PS, I would like to thank David for the grammatical corrections he sent me to help this story, Version 2, flow even better.