Star Wars Episode III, which I finally saw yesterday with daughter #1, was like reading the New Testament Gospels and finding that they came to an end after the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.
In the movie, the Jedi have seen their companions brutally betrayed and murdered. In the Bible, Jesus' disciples have seen their Lord destroyed by evil.
In the movie, the "rebels" and the few remaining Jedi run and hide on a far-away planet. In the Bible, Jesus' disciples hide themselves away in the Upper Room.
Although the end of Episode III is mostly all doom and gloom there is a strange irony. The good Padme Amidala dies but the evil Darth Vader is "resurrected."
The New Testament Gospels are very much like this. Except, of course, that it is the dead Jesus who rises from the dead and proves that the "Dark Side" has been conquered, once and for all!
Those of us who are old enough to have grown up watching Episodes IV, V & VI, already know that the epic galactic struggle between good and evil, light and dark, ends with the "close-to-dead" rebels "rising up" and, against all odds, miraculously defeating and destroying the "Evil Empire."
Because of this, we can be satisfied with the ending of Episode III.....because we know how the story really turns out!
Being a Christian is like that. No matter how dark or grim the world seems; no matter how strong and ascendent evil may appear; no matter how overwhelming the shadow of darkness may be seen to spread across the earth; Christians know how the story really turns out!
As Martin Luther (sort of) wrote so many years ago: "The Prince Darth Vader grim, we tremble not for him, his rage we can endure, for, lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him."
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
Is this really a Review? It seems more like Opinion and commentary to me. It tells me nothing about the quality of the movie, etc.
I have no objection to the post, but it isn't a review in my opinion.
2 - Bird of Paradise
Note to Phillip Winn: I completely agree with you. It was not intended as a review of the movie but aa a cultural, theological reflection on it. I published it under "Culture" but apparently minds greater than my own shifted it to the "Video" spot.