For instance, the Civ games are basically Whig History: The Game, presenting liberal capitalism as the ideal end point for all societies. It even includes uncivilized "barbarian tribes" whose sole purpose is to be exterminated so you can take their land for the glory of capitalism.
Idk how it may have expanded, I've only seen a very small amount of old star wars media, but I always thought of the Force as being like the Dao or something. Not really anything alien or much of an "entity" but just a way of conceiving the true nature of the universe. Fate is real, and we lump that into "The Force." Magic powers are real, and we lump them all into "The Force." And so on.
I fucking wish. That's how the original movies made it out to be, but Star Wars has since gone out of the way to make The Light and The Dark into actual metaphysical things rather than, like, altruism and selfishness.
Like, in Kotor2, there were parts where you could find, like, pools of Dark Side energy and use it to become more dark, and that's not at all out of line with other Star Wars media. It's one of my least favorite things about how Star Wars has evolved
Agreed. The Light Side is using your spiritual powers to help people. What do we see Obiwan Kenobi do in Star Wars? He lies to fascists, sneaks around, distracts an evil wizard, and then whispers a few words to Luke at exactly the right time. He's subtle. But his actions are vital to the destruction of the Empire's Death Star and their plans for galactic domination. Star Wars has turned the canny old samurai wizard in to flashy super-hero bullshit. The OT is ultimately about how you can't use your spiritual power for violence without corrupting yourself, and also about the Space NVA blowing up Space America. But now Star Wars is about who is the best flying murder guy. It sucks.
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Lucas' original idea was that the light side is a spiritual goal akin to enlightenment, not a good vs evil thing. Bringing balance to the Force doesn't mean an equal number of good and bad Force users, it means following the correct path with no more baddies.
KOTOR 2 puts a spin on this as the Force actively abhorring the dark side and wanting to put an end to it at any cost, including influencing the free will of sentient beings. These gigantic galaxy spanning wars where trillions of people die are justified as long as the sith lose in the end, and they will keep happening every time a new group of sith pop up.
Kreia hates this, and wants to kill the Force and give everyone true free will - if anyone would even survive the process. She would be killing herself and countless others, but it would at least be the end of the eternal conflict.