Other Crap

My take on Star Wars Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith.

• I was not surprised that it is a beautifully presented movie, although the funeral scene goes beyond my wildest expectations, but I was surprised by the fact that its politics are so much subtler than I expected, and that I could actually understand what drove Anakin to the dark side.
• I do have to make a suggestion to the Empire, however. They need to hire a P.R. firm and set the spin doctors on the project of giving the Dark Side a new name. I mean shouldn't Anakin have suspected that something called The Dark Side was actually evil? Even the assertive Ann Coulter is not bold enough to call her neo-con philosophy "The Dark Side of Democracy."
• Instead of referring to it in conversations with Anakin as "The Dark Side" of the Force, Emperor Palpatine should simply call it "Neo-Jedism" or "The Passionate Side" (as opposed to the Jedi's "Contemplative Side"). Here's how a Presidential Press Secretary would phrase it: "Yes, lad, the council members are Ur-Jedi, while we Sith are Neo-Jedi. We prefer to use the entire Force, also including its untapped passionate resources rather than just the weaker contemplative side."