When I was a believer (first a Catholic, then an Evangelical), I was taught that God forgives sins but that we still had to face any social consequences for our sins. This leads me to conclude, re. Darth Vader, that the rest of the galaxy would likely have had him executed. So, he kind of dodged a bullet there, I think.
The Armando family rewatch/children’s intro to the Star Wars films (at least the original trilogy and the last 20 minutes of Revenge of the Sith) ended Sunday with Return of the Jedi. I don’t think it was nearly as successful as the other two. The Ewoks were not the hit with four year old Elena that I thought they would be, and I almost lost both girls in the slow second act. But still, they both enjoyed the films. I think I’ve created a monster with Elena, and I wonder if she’ll develop into a true fan, while Olivia has expressed interest in exploring the other films more deeply (should I spare her disappointment?).
This project of mine started out as a re-evaluation after reading “The Secret History of Star Wars.” It remained that for the prequels (my final verdict: I think Phantom Menace may be unjustly maligned; Attack of the Clones needs a special edition/re-editing/re-write; Revenge of the Sith, while problematic, is the strongest and tightest of the scripts. If only Padme weren’t reduced to a mere plot device!) but evolved into a voyage of discovery on the original trilogy, with my kids, who had resisted watching these for years but enthusiastically joined me late in the game. In the process, I ended up seeing the originals through THEIR eyes and, maybe, experiencing as close to something like the first time as I’ve come since I was ten years old.
It was a great weekend. 