Thought of the Day 10.03.08

In the movie, Star Wars, there’s this famous scene with Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi dueling light sabers while the rest of the team tries to escape on the Millennium Falcon. Seeing them fight off in the distance, Luke watches in horror as Vader strikes Obi Wan down. Enraged, he shoots several Stormtroopers with his blaster as the team flees onto the ship.

Even though I’ve watched this scene over 50 times, yesterday I had a new and disturbing insight. Stormtroopers are people, too. But we don’t view them this way. They’re just obstacle to be eliminated, whereas Obi Wan is our friend. Because of this, we sympathize with Luke’s rage at the loss of his beloved mentor.

But somebody loves the stormtrooper, too. He has friends who will miss him and maybe even a wife and children who will mourn him. But we’ve been taught to not think about this, an oversight which is absolutely vital if we are going to enjoy feasting vicariously on Luke’s wrath. It is a scrumptious dish, after all.