Luke Skywalker Is No Jedi. Why Should He Be?

For years (YEARS, I TELL YOU!), I bought into the idea that Luke Skywalker is a Jedi. Like his father was. After all, that's the name of that movie, right? And he said as much, to any one who would listen.

And now there's a fresh movie coming out, and Luke has been ALL OVER the ad campaign. It's been all about how Luke is Jedi-ing up the galaxy! I mean, whoa! All that Luke Jedi stuff has been impossible to miss. My children have been Happy Mealing Jedi Luke toys for weeks!

No.

Of course not. 

Luke has been notably absent. So, like any good fanboy, I've been wondering about this, and--like any good fanboy--have come up with my own headcanon. I have changed my mind about Luke's post Jedi career. 

I don't know what J.J. Abrams has up his sleeve concerning what Luke has been up to since the end of Return of the Jedi, but I'm pretty sure that my speculation lines up with his plan just this far: Luke Skywalker is not now, and never has been, a Jedi.

The Jedi who returned in that movie is Darth Vader, who was redeemed, and reclaimed his Jedi standing.

I think Luke claiming the Jedi mantle was youthful exuberance related to being special, I mean really, really special, getting some amazing training, hanging with those powerful old men Ben and Yoda, and being swept along in some seriously difficult and exciting times. But, once things calmed down a bit, he had some time to think about things and realized that, no, he is not a Jedi.

Why would he want to be? The Jedi have a boatload to answer for. The Skywalker family has large and legitimate reason to not want to be a part of that particular club. On a less personal note, the Jedi pretty much misread things for decades in the lead up to the Clone Wars. Not just the politics, which is a problem, but understandable. I mean, honestly, politics? But the Jedi Order misread what was going on with The Force. That's their thing, man. And, in misreading that, they managed to end the very civilization they existed to safeguard.

So Luke is going to stand up and say, "Hey! Those people who reacted badly to every challenge put to them for years, and then almost all died--except for two of them who hid out for twenty years and one who was the right fist of the tyrant? Remember them? I'm the new one!"

No.

Luke is going to stop running around telling people he's a Jedi. Again, I can't guess what Abrams is going to say Luke has been up to. But if it were up to me, Luke has been going around the galaxy incognito. Sometimes taking on hard missions of cleaning up lingering Imperial problems. Sometimes Lone Rangering it (or Man With No Naming it) for people and small communities in need. Finding Force sensitive people or families, and providing a nudge. What kind of nudge? I hope the kind that makes for more do-gooders.

But not more Jedi.

Additionally, Luke--as a formal matter--cannot be Jedi. There hasn't been a Jedi Order in decades. There's no academy. There's no padawan/master regimen. There's no Jedi Council to bestow the title. You can meaningfully be The Lone Ranger if there are other Rangers who are part of a structure--you're defining your mission in relation to a structure that exists outside of you. If there are no other Rangers, you're just a vigilante. You can't be a Lone Jedi if there are no other Jedi. Without a Jedi Order, there's no meaningful mission for a Force sensitive to undertake as a Jedi. Without the Jedi Order, you're just someone with an ancient weapon and a hokey religion repping civilization in a frayed world. Which is a heroic mission, just ask Hercules, but does not make you a Jedi.

Arguably, the proper name for "Lone Jedi" is "Sith." No, not really. The Sith fought against the Jedi and the Jedi against the Sith, but they didn't really define themselves against the other so much as get in each other's way while working at cross-purposes. It was really sort of a farce. 

But back to Luke. Not a Jedi. Never was. Wouldn't want to be, and could never be in any event. But a civilizing Force? That's something Luke Skywalker could be.

Bewitched Magical World-building

Bewitched--that show about a witch (Samantha), her mortal husband (Darrin), and the hijinks they endure navigating her family and his career--has been a staple of syndicated programming my entire life. I have never really thought of it as much beyond light entertainment, seasoned with a scornful eye on bigotry.

Last week, I saw about five minutes of an episode, basically one scene. It was enough, however, to make me think this show old enough to straddle the transition from black & white to color TV had some serious world-building chops.

The gist of the episode was what to do about Samantha and Darrin's daughter (Tabitha), a late toddler at the time, and her education. Three of Samantha's aunts, and her mother, have gotten together and decided that Tabitha would attend a prestigious witch school run by one of the aunts. Samantha and Darrin don't like it, one of the aunts join them, and they call on Samatha's father to intervene. Which he does.

There are seven active participants in this scene, plus a cameo by Tabitha as she is magically summoned into the arms of her grandmother and magically returned to her room by her grandfather. There is also a pair of brief cut-aways as Samantha's father briefly sends the meddling witches to the top of Mt. Everest for a moment to think about what they've done. At the end, Tabitha will go to mortal school, the meddling witches go back to where ever they live most of their lives, and Samantha's father departs in flamboyant style with the good aunt.

Simple scene, but chock full of world-building.

• Samantha and her mother have a complex relationship, made more so by her marriage to Darrin
• There is a network of witch schools, implied by the existence of one, and the need (perceived by some) to decide which one Tabitha will attend
• Tabitha is special, being the first of her generation (leading to the unasked questions: how many witch children are there, and how does witch school work?)
• Witches can cast spells affecting the actions of others, but not always their wills (the meddling witches cast a spell which keep Samantha, Darrin, and the good aunt from walking, and another which makes their talk sound like bird jabber)
• Witches cannot undo the spell effects of other witches, so Samantha's father has to prevail upon the meddling witches to change their minds, and to undo their spells
• Samantha's mother and father do not get along (are they divorced? were they ever married? are these meaningful categories? doesn't matter--what matters is that they have history and it is an independent dynamic 
• Indeed, Samantha's father has pre-existing relationships with each of the witches in the scene, and they are not all the same--history matters in this scene

What this scene demonstrates that a few rules, and a bit of character history, allow even a silly mid-century sit-com was able to build a world with interesting characters, compelling problems, and resolutions to problems unique to the story being told.

Not bad for a show which also managed to be funny, and to give viewers fun performances from its actors.