Wisdom for the ages? Hmm ...

Did you know that a new “Star Wars” movie is coming? What tipped you off? Was it the fact that Darth Vader and company are on cereal boxes, bags of chips, soda cans, cartoons, comic books and countless other consumer items?

There’s a great line from the first movie, released in 1977 and now known as “Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope,” in which Obi-Wan Kenobi describes the vague cosmic power known as the Force to Luke Skywalker: “It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.” This is also true of the merchandising. Since the first movie’s premiere 28 years ago, the “Star Wars” phenomenon has thoroughly seeped into our culture. Open “Star Wars and Philosophy” (Open Court: 228 pp., $17.95 paper) and you’ll find that even Plato and Aristotle are not immune.

“Star Wars and Philosophy” is the latest in a series that examines the convergence of philosophy and pop culture. (Other Open Court books have looked at the “Matrix” movies, HBO’s “The Sopranos” and Jerry Seinfeld, among other such phenomena.) In applying the teachings of humanity’s philosophical giants to George Lucas’ galactic epic, this anthology yields some interesting (and sometimes unintentionally funny) insights. The reader learns that the relationship between a Sith lord and his apprentice is a model of the Hegelian dialectic, whereas mind-body questions a la Rene Descartes are suggested by those two lovable droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.

“Although these movies are primarily vehicles for action scenes and fantasy themes,” the book’s editors explain, “they still involve characters reaching out and deeply within to solve problems that are significantly larger than themselves.” Sure, but doesn’t that apply to just about every movie? I don’t doubt that these writers see what they see, but it’s not that exhilarating to read about how the evil Emperor is a perfect Machiavellian or that the clone troopers suggest how a civil society might wage a just war. These movies are all about spectacle, not the teachings of Thomas Aquinas. The book gives Lucas and his screenwriters more credit for depth than they probably deserve.

The hokey title of “Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters” (Jossey-Bass: 336 pp., $16.95) conceals an earnest attempt by Dick Staub, director of the Seattle-based Center for Faith and Culture, to pursue all those nonreligious people swept away by the movies. For many, especially the young in our country, he says, traditional Christianity has lost its vitality, and “who can blame young people for abandoning” it?

In chapters like “Trust the Lord of the Force” and “Renounce the Dark Side,” Staub hopes to convince these movie fans that their enthusiasm can be redirected into the Christian faith. It’s a little jarring to read sentences like, “The story of the young shepherd who grew to be King David resonates with Jedi lore,” but then one realizes that Staub is engaged in a serious evangelization strategy. He’s not joking when he says that we all need to “look for a Yoda,” even though it would be a bit bizarre to look up at a stained-glass window and see that green pointy-eared creature smiling down. *