In the Star Wars universe, the Jedi, who try to maintain the balance between the light side and the dark side by controlling the Force, wish each other luck when their paths part by saying “May the Force be with you” (rendered in Turkish as “Güç seninle olsun,” literally “May the power be with you”). Because this phrase, one of the most famous lines from one of the most popular series in film history, evokes May 4th (May the Fourth) in English, that date is celebrated every year as Star Wars Day. In fact, this famous line was never translated quite accurately into Turkish. As Dr. Umut Eldem also noted in his FelsefeLab presentation, available on Beykoz Kundura’s YouTube channel, titled ‘Metaphysics: Is the Force with Us?’, “force” actually corresponds to the Turkish word “kuvvet” (force). However, because the word was translated as “güç” (power) at the time, it settled into Turkish that way. At first glance you might think there is hardly any difference between the concepts of “power” and “force.” But a little research into these concepts shows that each is used to describe a different dynamic, and that the difference in meaning between the two actually has the “force” to open up a very fundamental question about the intellectual underpinnings of the Star Wars universe. Before we start pondering these concepts, however, let us begin by recalling what the Star Wars universe draws on.

A Mythological Universe

It would not be enough to define the Star Wars series solely within the genre of science fiction. Creating a universe by drawing on many different sources, George Lucas, influenced by Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, by westerns, by Japanese mythology and by the films of Akira Kurosawa (especially the director’s The Hidden Fortress (Kakushi-toride no san-akunin, 1958)), produces a work that we could actually describe as a space opera, a space western or a fantasy science fiction. Drawing more on the iconography of fantasy narratives than on the elements of the science fiction genre, Lucas brings together the storytelling methods of mythological tales and their metaphorical representations to create a timeless collage.

As the fundamental paradigm that determines the way we relate to one another at every point in our lives, “dominion” and “power” lie at the center of the Star Wars universe, just as they do in great fantasy narratives such as The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. What is the dynamic behind one person trying to prevail over another, one culture over another culture, one society over another society, one state over another state? Star Wars tells how civilization, which has existed by establishing domination over one another and tends to ignore any other path, yet has at times also managed to pause and find balance, copes with power, and how at times it fails to cope. The metaphor for dominion is a ring in The Lord of the Rings, a throne in Game of Thrones, and in Star Wars, it is the “Force.”

The “Force,” which different characters in the Star Wars universe can control in different ways, is like a sacred instrument that is invisible yet present everywhere and at every moment. By reflecting on the concepts of “force” and “power,” Star Wars uses a story, at times full of intrigue and at times tragic, that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away to discuss the dynamics of the here and now. As in every fairy tale and every fantasy narrative, by stripping its story of a familiar time and place, it keeps us away from the cultural codes we might load onto the story.

The Dark Side of the Force

The Jedi, who represent light and goodness, are warriors fighting to keep the peace in a galaxy very far from us, where countless kinds of beings coexist. As Dr. Umut Eldem also pointed out in his presentation, in the Star Wars universe the Force is like part of a religious teaching, which we can see as the equivalent of the idea of a pantheist god. (Let us also note that some Star Wars fans have registered their religion as Jedi on their identity records.) If we look at the definition in physics of the “force” that the Jedi can manipulate, we see that the concept relates to the ability to withstand resistance, but that it can only exist together with action and reaction. At the root of the debate Star Wars stages on the conflict between light and darkness, good and evil, lies the question of which force is used, by whom and how. Only when the Force is used through its dark side can it turn into “power.”

Unlike force, the concept of power has no two-way dynamic such as action and reaction. Power is used to describe the action of whichever is dominant among forces. Treating dominion (power) as a matter that concerns the dark side, the Star Wars series marks the concentration of power in certain individuals or institutions as a tragedy. The concentration of absolute power in an emperor will bring nothing but massacre, tragedy and catastrophe; it will annihilate those who do not exist as the powerful wish, and at the same time it will consume the holders of power from within. Darth Sidious, who begins to command the dark side, starts to shrivel and decay in Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, 2005) at the moment he uses disproportionate power against a Jedi, and the Emperor with the deformed body that we see in the original Star Wars trilogy is born in this scene. In the same film, the Emperor provokes a security crisis, shuts down the parliament and unites the entire galaxy under an empire.

The Jedi, who side with the rebels persecuted by the Emperor and seeking justice, try to keep themselves away from the dark side of the Force and from the effects of having too much power. Almost all the Jedi, except Anakin Skywalker, who will later become Darth Vader, are also in a constant battle with their own will. The Jedi use the Force, which does not turn into power and from which the dark side is kept out, as the ability to withstand resistance, just as the concept itself is defined. In the Star Wars universe, there is a reconciliation beneath the concept of force, whereas power is an instrument of domination. Building its entire narrative on the dualities of light and dark, good and evil, Star Wars chose its side from the very beginning. A happy ending will come only through the right use of the “force” that determines our ability to resist.

Ali Deniz ŞENSÖZ

*This article was written by ALTYAZI MAGAZINE writer Ali Deniz Şensöz for Kundura Blog.
**Star Wars seen from an entirely new angle through the theme of ‘the Force’ with academic Dr. Umut Eldem: you can watch the FelsefeLab talks on the Beykoz Kundura YouTube channel at any time.