It’s been less than a year since I made a less-than-average minute long video that now has 35,624 views on why the Sith were right. In response, a lot of you emailed me an essay explaining why I’m wrong, and it was an overall really fun exchange. Now that I make weekly IGTVs, I have the floor to go in depth on why the Sith philosophy may resonate with some.
That, and Point of View mixed with bomb John Williams music really distorts audiences in overlooking the Jedi provoking the Sith. Anakin Skywalker’s pull to ‘the dark side’ is a symptom of the Jedi being self-serving and negligent of children. I also don’t think it’s fair that he’s extraordinarily attractive, but let’s talk about what makes the dark side so alluring to him, and why it may be similarly alluring to someone who is internally conflicted—like me!
The code of the Sith is as follows:
Peace is a lie.
There is only Passion.
Through Passion I gain Strength.
Through Strength I gain Power.
Through Power I gain Victory.
Through Victory my chains are Broken.
The Force shall free me.
Not only are the Sith more individualistic, but the code resonates more to someone who has endured grievances and loss. Most importantly, the Sith have used their pain for ambition instead of suppression. Now if we look at the first line in the Jedi code:
There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force.
No emotion? What happens when we suppress our emotions? It comes out as something far more destructive. The Jedi, therefore, are breeding evil instead of accepting that some of us are more emotionally unstable than others. Instead of seeing emotion as a threat, it would work to everyone’s benefit to train the more emotional instead of casting them off as evil and irrevocably doomed for the dark side.
What kind of human tells a teenager that “fear leads to anger, and anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering?” The answer is: Not a human, but a Yoda. If Yoda would just tell Anakin “I’m sorry you’re fearful (or “Sorry You are fearful, I am.”), but fear is blocking your true potential and we want to see what is making you so fearful.” The only way to rid emotions is to feel them, not suppress them (Shout out to Dr. Nina—still working on this). Passion is what fuels art. Passion is the essence of love and philosophy. The Jedi code is full of idealism, whereas the Sith code is far more realistic. When you resist and compartmentalize passion and emotion, they will invariably become destructive.
I do believe the Sith code allows for an embracement of freedom and power— if they didn’t have so many unsolved psychological matters that are rooted from suppression and daddy issues. However, the potential to be healthy, secular thinkers in the Star Wars universe is certainly there. Because the Jedi are out to silence these overly emotional beings, the Sith have responsively begun to utilize the need for passion and power in a more violent manner.
Exhibit A: Young Anakin Skywalker
The Jedi took young Anakin from his mother because he was the chosen one. Afterwards, his mother was sold off to slavery and died. You may think: But Aahoo, Anakin wanted to go off with Qui-gon to become a Jedi. But any healthy minded adult human understands that an eight year old has no ability to make stable decisions on their own.
His anger in Episode II resulted in the deliverance of that ever so infamous speech: “I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead, every single one of them...I HATE THEM.”
This whole mess was caused by none other than the Jedi. This seems to be the pattern in the Star Wars universe: the Jedi wanting to solve problems THEY CAUSED which in this case is Darth Vader. Why didn’t the Jedi help Anakin’s mother? Is it because they might actually be self-serving?
And when the Jedi Council kept rejecting Anakin to show his true potential, they attack his emotion of fear. So can we really blame Anakin when he found his new father figure in Senator Palpatine? And don’t forget that it was the Sith who saved Anakin after Obi-Wan took his limbs in that volcanic fight (another John Williams masterpiece—I think the song is Battle of the Heroes).
So these Sith men were never allowed to explore their emotions, and now they’re emotionally unstable power-hungry murders. But hey, we need a balance between good and bad. Right? RIGHT?
Good Job, Star Wars.
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