To Force or Not to Force — Perforce?

May 2009 will be — can you believe it? — the 10th anniversary of the first of three Star Wars prequel movies, The Phantom Menace. Yeah, the Force was back in force during the summer of 1999, but it wasn't with many of the "old timer" fans, who must have forgotten how cool it felt to have a Star Wars movie back in theaters. Those poor piles of Bantha poodoo.

Anyway, here's something I wrote that summer:

"After five viewings of “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace,” I am left with an unsettling feeling.

"We all remember how, in “Episode IV — A New Hope,” Obi-Wan Kenobi used the Force’s power of suggestion against the “weak minded” stormtrooper. This was a life-or-death situation, as I see it, in terms of the Rebellion’s struggle against the Empire, and Obi-Wan was entirely justified in his manipulation.

"[But] was Qui-Gon Jinn justified in using the Force against Boss Nass and Watto, or was he manipulating them for his own, selfish gain?

"Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were, for all intents and purposes, trespassers in Otoh Gunga, given that their escort, Jar Jar Binks, was an outcast, and that Gungans generally do not like outsiders. Understanding, of course, that the Jedi’s visit was part and parcel of a bigger picture that would eventually engulf the Gungans, did this give Qui-Gon the authority to manipulate Boss Nass into giving him the bongo and releasing Jar Jar into the Jedi’s custody? Isn’t this a little like taking advantage of Boss Nass? He can hardly be considered “weak minded” — [his] archaic dialect aside — given the Gungans’ advanced technology, underwater city and autonomous society.

"And what about Watto? After the podrace, the Toydarian accused Qui-Gon of having swindled him. How true is this? In the case of Qui-Gon’s manipulation of the chance cube, I think Watto was cheated; as far as the hyperdrive parts were concerned, Qui-Gon certainly tried to trick Watto into taking worthless Republic credits.

"Is this kind of behavior justified for a Jedi? Do the ends justify the means? Who gets to decide who is “weak minded” and who is not? Did the bigger picture really give Qui-Gon a wide latitude in dealing with any aberrant situation that arose? Did Supreme Chancellor Valorum — himself acting without the Senate’s knowledge — grant his ambassadors extraordinary authority in settling the Naboo problem, or [were] these more examples of Qui-Gon’s well-documented defiance of the Jedi Council and Code?"