The Jedi are based on the Samurai who put honor above all else. Samurai are basically extremists, who will follow their code into death. Like they rather kill themselves than lose face. So yeah the Jedi being extremist ideologues is just Lucas copying Kurosawa’s homework. I’m not even sure if Lucas intentionally wrote the Jedi like that or the deeper subtext is by accident.
That makes sense. It does seem to me like they leaned more heavily into an outlook on non-attachment that comes off as a little hamfisted in the prequels. Like, the movies appear to mistake avoiding attachment with avoiding emotion and relationships that might produce strong feelings. Sort of a clunky take on Buddhism. Though at the same time, the Jedi seem very much attached to particular outcomes on a galactic scale, as well as to a strictness about how the force ought to be used.
It could be worse, but it certainly interferes with their ability to mitigate disaster. In the end, their approach ends up causing the mess that they’re trying to avoid, but it’s that mess itself that brings the balance they claim to want. Which, to be fair, is pretty good storytelling.
The Jedi are based on the Samurai who put honor above all else. Samurai are basically extremists, who will follow their code into death. Like they rather kill themselves than lose face. So yeah the Jedi being extremist ideologues is just Lucas copying Kurosawa’s homework. I’m not even sure if Lucas intentionally wrote the Jedi like that or the deeper subtext is by accident.
That makes sense. It does seem to me like they leaned more heavily into an outlook on non-attachment that comes off as a little hamfisted in the prequels. Like, the movies appear to mistake avoiding attachment with avoiding emotion and relationships that might produce strong feelings. Sort of a clunky take on Buddhism. Though at the same time, the Jedi seem very much attached to particular outcomes on a galactic scale, as well as to a strictness about how the force ought to be used.
It could be worse, but it certainly interferes with their ability to mitigate disaster. In the end, their approach ends up causing the mess that they’re trying to avoid, but it’s that mess itself that brings the balance they claim to want. Which, to be fair, is pretty good storytelling.