Star Words: Episode IV, Part 21

[matril]

We watch the Falcon's inexorable progress into the Death Star, gripped by its tractor beam. We fear and quake for our heroes and wonder if Ben's cryptic "alternatives to fighting" can somehow save them. We see the troopers board the ship, and then -- no one there? Well, that can't be true. We just saw them. And Vader clearly senses something. So what's going on?

Cut to the Falcon's interior, where Luke pops up out of the floor, rhapsodizing about hidden compartments. Han is far grumpier about taking the place of stolen cargo, as well as the many obstacles that still lie ahead of them, but Obi-Wan assures him he can easily take care of them. And he has a ready retort when Han mutteringly calls him a fool.

"Who's the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?"

Can I just point out, as a side note, how delightfully goofy this looks? Everyone sticking their heads out like gophers, or children playing hide-and-seek. No wonder Han is so grouchy. He's not keen on looking foolish. Nor being foolish, which brings us back to the quote.

What a curious thing for Ben to say. Is he calling Han a greater fool for following him? That seems an odd choice, seeing how resistant Han has been to listen to anything he says. Acknowledging his foolishness might just further discourage Han from trusting Ben's judgment. Or is Ben referring to something else entirely? It's like a riddle whose meaning seems obvious when you first hear it, but the more you think on it, the more it seems to run around in circles until you're not sure where the answer lies.

Or, maybe it's just the Jedi version of "I'm rubber and you're glue." ;)

Next, a portentous moment of parting...

Comments

[krpalmer]

I could see Obi-Wan's comment as (at least on a first level) needling Han about having already started following the advice of someone he's only now calling a "fool." Still, suggesting we can't exactly pin it down does have me contemplating some of Yoda's koan-like comments in The Empire Strikes Back...

So far as "there's more to movies than their dialogue" goes, I did enjoy your comment about "how delightfully goofy this looks" (with the possible punchline being Chewie popping up at the end of the scene). It's interesting too to bring up Han thinking his image injured. (A part of me, too, remembers the action-figure-scaled Millennium Falcon I'm of the vintage to have had when young, and its own "secret compartment"...)

Maybe I'm misremembering this, but I have the impression your previous instalment in this series had previewed a comment from Tarkin. That you might have gone back and thought of other lines to discuss is fine with me, though.

[matril]

Chewie popping up at the end and Han patting his head is my favorite part of that scene. And yes, I did originally plan on a line from Tarkin before realizing it came later than I thought. I'll get to that one in a few more entries.