Reverend Greg

The Universality of Mythology

(Subtitled 'Would Blackwater Security hire Anakin Skywalker?"

I worked with a young woman years ago who had never seen the Star Wars movies. She had never seen Star Trek, original series or otherwise, and pretty much hadn’t seen any of the movies that figure so predominantly in modern pop-culture. She had been raised by parents who didn’t believe in TV, and as she grew up she apparently found solice in her counter-culture status as someone whose head wasn’t full of all the popular movie and TV mythology that most of ours is. Even as an adult she chose not to see movies, and had only very recently begin to consider renting videos in a weak effort to “catch up”.

You run across people like that still these days. It’s a kind of cool that is a counter-cool. Where as most my age can easily slip in a funny comment such as “it’s only a flesh wound” and instantly connect on some level with those around them, there are those few who take a strange pride in being “a brother from another planet” so to speak.

I was 17 or 18 years old (I don’t care to do the math) when Star Wars was first released. It wasn’t called “Episode IV, A New Hope” at first, just Star Wars. I recall on two occasions actually seeing the TV trailer. Star Wars is so much a part of my own psyche it's difficult to recall a time prior.

Our society is young in many respects. We sorely lack the ancient mythology that teaches our people morals, ethics, and the basic principles by which we may live our lives. Many think that religion should provide the guiding principles by which we behave, however I think that such an obvious source is rejected by youth in the natural process of rebellion and the quest for individualism. Those attracted to those religions and sub-sects of religions who seem to be hyper-focused on current marketing trends such as family values normally belong to that section of society that is simply not at ease with themselves and seek constant validation by the larger whole forever searching for the sense that they are normal and acceptable. Individuals who possess strong self-esteem and a confident self-image – on a deeper level – often have no use for religious paths that strive to tell them how to act.

It is mythology, the ancient stories and tales passed down within social groups and world societies that truly transmit the qualities of courage, bravery, honesty and loyalty. People naturally seek to draw out their own lessons rather than be told directly. This is human nature and the natural human learning process. I believe we all like to think we’re doing it ourselves.

And so where is our mythology? When talking about all things Joseph Campbell it’s easy to disregard modern cinema as a valid source of mythological transmission, but in fact the only thing differentiating the mythology of Star Wars from the ancient tales told around the camp fire in Aboriginal society is the fact that Star Wars is ours, and it is now. This is an important point. Star Wars contains a large market share for our current mythological lessons, despite it’s use of modern cinematic technology and computer graphics. These things don’t change the validity in the slightest. The message and the lessons are as valid as the most ancient tale told.

When we first saw the first Star Wars movie Darth Vader made his initial appearance into our lives. The ultimate prototypical villain, he was dark, disguised and dehumanized, in essence all the qualities Joseph Campbell has defined as necessary for a mythological bad-guy. We do not want to see the humanity in either Darth Vader or his Storm Troopers. Bad guys should be shot and then immediately disappear from the screen. They are not our concern.

However, as the mythology unfolds, we very unfortunately now must witness Anakin Skywalker’s walk to the side of evil.

Anakin suffers from serious personality disorders, most likely brought about by a lack of a Father figure and his enslavement on the planet of Tantooine. He is recruited by the Jedi, but his personal quest for power obscures the basic mission of the Jedi Knights and he is unable to control his temper. His Mother is kidnapped and murdered by the Sand People (in itself uncharacteristic and suspicious, I suspect somehow the Sith Lord even caused this to happen) and he kills every last one of them in revenge.

Later he is denied the rank he feels he so richly deserves and he finally becomes Darth Sidious’ disciple and begins to exterminate the Jedi Knights. In the end he looses his fight with Obiwan and is nearly burned to death. Sidious gets his minion, but Anakin pays the ultimate prices for power – his freedom.

Great story, eh?

How far will modern Americans go for personal power? My brief and ill-fated dealings with a paramilitary group in the early 90’s – the Phoenix Group- lead me to begin to begin understand that grown-up modern adults will take the wrong path if it promises them the training and power they seek.

And now we have ex-Military being hired by private security companies as bodyguards and other security personnel in Iraq. Some of these guys are not Spring Chickens and are even in the forties and older. While it is debatable whether or not our young soldiers and Marines are “fighting for our freedom” directly, our young American’s are not to blame. They are following an honorable path regardless of the outcome.

But I wonder, in terms of Anakin and the dark side, what motivates a forty-something ex-military professional to leave behind relationships, careers, and the comfort of US soil to work and fight again in one of the most dangerous regions of the world? Blackwater Security employees are being shot and blown up regularly.

I know the answer to this question in my heart, though I am not an investigative reporter and will not attempt in the least to validate my beliefs…

These guys are loosers. Some may indeed be serious professionals, yet others surely must have been unable to secure lasting relationships, or careers following military servce and now are seduced to the dark side by promises of being allowed to kick ass once again in Iraq.

Let’s define kicking ass…

I’m talking about intentionally going to Iraq as a non-US military contractor with the intention of killing Iraqi’s. Sure they’re bad Iraqi’s but private security contractors aren’t fighting a war, they’re making large sums of money protecting and killing for the highest bidder, so to speak.

Now, in the 70’s and 80’s people engaging in this shady profession were called mercenaries. Foreign nationals fighting in places such as Rhodesia were paid well by the employers not to fight for some ideological goal rather merely for the money.

Now these contractors are sanctioned by the US Government. They’re better equipped than our own US military and they operate with impunity – in essence with a license to kill. They’re partying, killing, and in general whooping it up. If they make it back alive they should have made a nice chunk of change as well. Many of them indeed will burn to death and with no Sith Lord to rescue them.

This is our modern mythology in action. This is the journey to the dark side. I wonder what some of these individuals will do years from now when it finally dawns on them that they shot other human beings just for money, and that they had no real business in Iraq, other than business itself?

There are worse punishments than living the rest of your life in an ugly life-support suit. As vets return intact and less-so from Iraq, most will have the knowledge that they did what they were called to do for their country, in essence they followed the mythology of bravery and honor.

Others… well – we’ll just see…

Rev. Greg

Posted by revgreg at May 12, 2005 06:42 PM