I saw the new Star Wars movie. Not bad, but not the original trilogy, either. I did get a little ticked off. I don't know if the Anakin statement, "You're either with me or against me," followed by Obiwan saying, "Only Sith think in absolutes" was really supposed to be a political statement of Lucas in reaction against Bush's similar statement, but it sure seems like it could have been. I don't have a problem with inserting political messages in movies (so long as it doesn't become bigger than the movie itself), but I do have a problem if the political message is inconsistent with the rest of the in-movie-universe. For almost 30 years now we've heard messages like "fear and anger lead to the dark side," and implications that once you start on the path to the dark side, you can't come back. Certainly the thought of learning some dark side force tricks would give Yoda conniptions. Those anti-dark side warnings sound pretty darn absolute to me, which means one of three things:
1. The Jedi are mistaken, and one should be able to play around with the dark side without becoming a glowing-eyed bastard of a Sith.
2. The Jedi truly believe in absolutes, and thus are Sith themselves.
3. Lucas sold out himself and his art to make a political point that goes against everything he had previously said.