Finally saw the newest Star Wars film, and I was pretty pleased with it. While the dialog was stilted (that’s being kind), the visual effects were amazing, and I thought Christensen did a good job in his descent into Darth Vader.

SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!

Death stands out in this film as a major theme more than any other film. At the end of the last movie, Anakin and Padmé are married in a secret ceremony, violating the Jedi code forbidding a Jedi from forming bonds with others. After Padmé tells Anakin that she is pregnant, he begins to have nightmares about his wife’s death, similar to the nightmares he had about his mother before she died. The nightmares show Padmé in pain, and dying while giving birth.

Anakin is petrified by the thought of losing his beloved wife, and goes to Yoda for advice. Yoda begins to pontificate with the normal Zen garbage about how death is simply a natural part of life, and chastises Anakin for forming a bond with another person so strong that their death would be that painful to him. Anakin doesn’t like the answer he’s received from the Jedi Master, and rightly so.

As humans whom God created immortal, death is not as natural as birth. Despite the existence of these characters in a fictional world, they resemble humans created in God’s image, and as such, understand the unnaturalness of death. Despite even Yoda’s Zen stoicism, he was saddened by the death of Padmé. Even the Jedi Master couldn’t mask that moment of hypocrisy.

Darth Sidious, however, knew the just desire of Anakin to have his wife live forever, and him Anakin with the promise of being able to save Padmé’s life. It was this desire (along with his rejection of both the philosophy of Yoda, and the vengeful hypocrisy of Mace Windu) that lured him to the Dark Side.

My point is that Yoda is wrong. There is nothing wrong about Anakin’s desire for his wife to live. Death is unnatural, and no amount of meditation is going to rid us of our natural hatred for it. This is one of the amazing promises that God has given us… the promise of a resurrection, and eternal life. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:54:

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

God grants us immortality though the death of His son… as “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). This is the hope that we have in this life and the next.

I’m not making any attempt to Christianize Star Wars… but I am making an attempt to humanize Anakin Skywalker. His desire for immortality is a desire we all share… and one which God has granted to those who believe.