Kylo Ren and the Kintsugi Theory

Kylo Ren and the Kintsugi Philosophy

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker – Kylo Ren and the Kintsugi Philosophy 5

With Kylo’s mask being reconstructed with some form of “red crystalline glue” for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, could this be related to the Japanese philosophy of Kintsugi: The Art of  Precious Scars, where they reconstruct broken crockery by putting a lacquer mixed with gold on the breakage?

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker – Kylo Ren and the Kintsugi Philosophy 5

Kintsugi relates to the Japanese philosophy of “no mind”, which encompasses the concepts of non-attachment, acceptance of change, and fate as aspects of human life. So that we can learn from negative experiences, let the wounds leave a mark on us and take the best from them, convince ourselves that exactly these experiences make each person unique, precious.

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker – Kylo Ren and the Kintsugi Philosophy 5

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker – Kylo Ren and the Kintsugi Philosophy 5

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker – Kylo Ren and the Kintsugi Philosophy 5

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker – Kylo Ren and the Kintsugi Philosophy 5

Taking that as a basis can we speculate on how that philosophy could apply to Kylo and also Rey reforging the Skywalker lightsaber and how those things end up being related to the story.

One of the key messages from The Last Jedi was about failure and its implications, and how we should not hide them, talking about it along with the good things. Taking the breakage as a failure, we can try to trace what the reconstruction of the broken artifacts can mean in Episode IX.

Is it possible that Kylo repairing his helmet, will give him a new lease of life and become even more powerful thanks to its “scars”. The Japanese art of Kintsugi teaches that broken objects are not something to hide but to display with pride, as Kintsugi belongs to the Zen philosophy of wabi-sabi, which embraces the broken and flawed.

Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker – Kylo Ren and the Kintsugi Philosophy 5

Kylo says in The Force Awakens he feels the pull to the light, and that he wants to see again the power of darkness. Referenced in The Visual Dictionary it says “As his power rises, it eclipses his past life leaving the young man isolated, Kylo Ren aspires to build immunity to the light side…to succeed where Darth Vader and his sentimentalism once failed”, bringing us back to the fact he sees Vader’s atonement as a failure.

With Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi, we clearly see how he apparently wasn’t fully immune to that “maudlinism“, since his conversations with Rey in the Supremacy’s throne room and how he killed Snoke and protected Rey from the Praetorian Guards, yet later we also see him revealing himself as the new Supreme Leader, pleading with Rey to join him at the expense of the Resistance and the Light Side. So if we apply the Kintsugi philosophy to Kylo and the reforging of his mask, we can expect him stronger in the Dark Side than ever before, eager to “finish what Vader started”, using the broken mask as a reminder of where he failed, from his certain point of view.

With the reconstruction of Skywalker’s lightsaber, can it mean an acceptance of the failures of the Jedi, and mean the regeneration of the Jedi Order as a whole, and the learnings that come with the failures the Jedi have committed in the past. Now with Rey being the last Jedi alive, the reconstruction of her lightsaber can mean acceptance of those failures and discovering and reaffirming the non-attachment rule, don’t be attached to the power of the Force or try to command it, just letting it flow through you.

If we speculate and look at it through the theory that Rey is, in fact, a Skywalker, this could have a much bigger meaning, since reforging hereditary weapons is a common analogy that comes with the acceptance of the failures of her own family. Reforging the Skywalker Lightsaber could represent Rey’s acceptance of Luke’s failures, his absence and not being what she needed him to be. Luke could also come to terms with his own failures, following on from his conversation with Yoda, it could also combine the acceptance of change and fate aspects of the philosophy for Rey since she would have to cope with the burden of being a Skywalker, a burden Luke didn’t want her having to carry, but it would be her fate, and this could finally finish with a great force ghost father-daughter reconciliation scene, just like the ending to Return of the Jedi.

But regardless of whether she’s a Skywalker or not, overall this could be a great final Skywalker Saga setup, Kylo wants to be stronger than Vader, but Rey will certainly be stronger than Luke, as he’s passed on all that he knows, and a thousand generations of Jedi now live inside her.

So, reforging the Skywalker lightsaber is the symbolism of a journey to restore a broken family’s story since Anakin, yet Kylo’s reconstruction of the helmet is a Kintsugi reminder of his failure.

Sources: Wikipedia/Stefano Carnazzi/Guy Keulemans

R.I.P. Ralph McQuarrie

Ralph McQuarrie passed away this weekend away on Saturday March 3rd at the age of 82, this is very sad news for me because his conceptual art inspired me in so many ways; even while I was at Art College a limited edition print adorned the wall at my desk. It think the beauty of Ralph’s early work was the fact it was from an era when conceptual paintings and sketches were so fundamental in the pre-visualising of movies, his work moulded the early development of Star Wars in so many ways, unlike today when hundreds of soulless digital paintings and 3D animatics help shape a films early development.

It was McQuarrie genius that partly made Star Wars what it looks like. Born in 1923, he began working as an illustrator for Boeing and for my other love…@NASA. Later George Lucas asked him to work on his fledgling Star Wars project. McQuarrie then singled handily designed Chewbacca and Vader, and drew countless pictures that would finally create the visual universe of Star Wars, from the costumes, spaceships, worlds and characters… One thing is for sure, without this brilliant and inspirational illustrator Star Wars would have not been what it is today. And more importantly, maybe Star Wars would have not existed at all, because this is mainly thanks to his concepts and drawings that Lucas succeeded into involving Fox into the project… Ralph McQuarrie continued his conceptual work on Empire and later Jedi, but his work on Jedi was more of a ‘after the fact’ kind of roll, painting the already completed scenes for use in marketing. He also worked on several other classic films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T.

We may have lost an incredibly talented and imaginative artist, but hopefully his memory will never die, but live on forever in the amazing films that he’s helped create throughout the years, some of which are my most treasured and favourite movies off all.

So long Ralph, and May The Force Be With You.

The Funeral Service for Ralph McQuarrie will be held on Sunday, March 25 2012 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, California. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to Odyssey Hospice, 6140 Stoneridge Mall Rd, Pleasanton, CA 94588, or to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Sunset View Mortuary 510-525-5111

UPDATE

One of Ralph’s early painting for Return of the Jedi is the Entrance to Jabba’s Palace, which now seems to have been revived for the ‘New’ Star Wars Episode VII film which J. J. Abrams is directing. Leaked on-line photo’s show the resemblance to McQuarrie’s early painting to what appears to be a desert location scene … possibly on Tatooine.

Ralph McQuarrie Jabbas Palace Gate Star Wars Episode VII ©Lucasfilm / Disney

Leaked Star Wars Episode VII onset photos Jabbas Palace Gate ? ©TMZ.com /Splash News

 

A small collection of his stunning work (all ©Lucasfilm / Disney)

Ralph McQuarrie The Art of Star Wars The Return of the Jedi Emperors Lava Cave

Ralph McQuarrie The Art of Star Wars The Return of the Jedi Emperor Palpatine Original

Ralph McQuarrie The Art of Star Wars The Return of the Jedi Emperors Palace

A tribute can also be found on www.ralphmcquarrie.com

Star Wars & Me 1978

A Long Time Ago in a Cinema Not to Far Away

It’s hard to believe 2012 heralds the 35th year of Star Wars …’how time flies’.

For me, there’s so much I could say about my ‘favourite’ film, but instead I thought I’d reminisce about the day I went to see Star Wars for the very first time. I first heard about the film when a young 10-year-old Neil Stringer told me about this amazing picture he’d seen on our way home from School, but this wasn’t May 1977 (25th) when it was first released in the United States, but more like early 78, as the UK premier wasn’t actually until Boxing Day 1977, a full 7 months later in two West End cinemas, the Leicester Square Theatre and the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road, where it took a record-breaking £117,690 in its first week.

Star Wars continued to play exclusively at these two cinemas for over the next four weeks, were it instantly became the hottest ticket in town, ticket-touts where reportedly selling £2.20 tickets for £30 quid. But on the 29th January it finally opened in Leeds. For me I can’t remember the precise date I went to see it, although it was a Saturday in February at the Odeon Cinema on The Headrow in Leeds. It wasn’t a family outing, but instead a trip out with my good friend Mark Adams and his Granddad.

So we set off on the No:5 bus to a sunny Leeds City Centre to eagerly wait in turn queuing down the side of the Headrow (This seems to be a long forgotten experience within Leeds to queue around buildings to see a new movie) but once we finally got into the foyer and purchased out tickets, there was a plethora of memorabilia available to buy behind the confectionary counter. For me it had to be the Official Movie Souvenir Programme and the giant fold-out poster to take home and adorn my bedroom wall, both of which I still have today. (below)

The Odeon was a three screen cinema in those early days, before it was later split into a 5 screens, this meant the main screen 1 auditorium was ‘HUGE’…well, it felt huge to a small 11-year-old lad like me. So I sat down proudly holding my first swag of Star Wars keepsakes while watching Pearl & Dean as I awaited the film to start. It was at this point the curtains would close while you could hear the tiny motors widening the screen size from its 1/3rd size to full 70mm capacity.

Image used courtesy of Ian Grundy ©Stagedoor 2012

One of the amazing qualities of this amphitheatre of film was the sound and its sheer volume (something the Health & Safety sphincter police must have curtailed in later years) It was this sound that had a physical impact on me, because you could feel the noise of the opening Star Destroyer approaching, vibrating through your body before it appeared on-screen, and when it did appear…HOLY WOW!! It just went on and on and on, that thing was HUGE. Even at the very end of the film your spacial senses were tested as well, when Luke’s X-Wing swooped into the Death Star trench you wobbled from left to right in the same you do at an IMAX screening today. From the moment the credit finally rolled up  I was hooked…FOR LIFE…and subsequently went to see it more time than I can remember (25 Geekish times I think) even to this day I love to watch it and still don’t get bored. The new Blu-Ray gave me another excuse to have a family Star Wars viewing night, one which we have each year.

I’m quite sure you’ll hear more about ‘Me & Star Wars’ over the coming years on this blog, but for now it just leaves me to say…

Happy 35th Birthday Star Wars

Halloween Yoda Pumpkin

Both my girls are now of an age were pumpkin carving is just ‘not’ their thing, so inspired by StarWars.com, I decided to make a Yoda Pumpkin all on my own, here’s how I had so much fun making it.

The gear required for the Yoda Pumpkin is:

A good 200-220mm in diameter Pumpkin
2 Oranges (mine were nice Seville one)
A good gnarly sweet potato or a gourd (if you can find one)
2 Tea lights
Straight pins
Serrated knife
Carving spoons or Pumpkin Kit

How-to-Sculpt a Yoda Halloween Pumpkin:

First start off with the sweet potato, mine was really nice gnarly South African one from the wonderful cultural stalls at Leeds Market, I did look a fool going through the box of potatoes to find the right one, and then only purchase a single potato. Now use the serrated knife to carefully cut the sweet potato in half lengthwise.

Next to gouge out the inner of the potato either with a good spoon or melon ball peeler, whilst leaving a good edge around it. This was heavy going with a spoon for me, and of all the elements took the longest.

Moving onto the Seville oranges, I cut one in half and other into quarters, removed the inner orange, which tasted quite delicious. Now carefully cut through just the peel, going from top to bottom, to get the crescent shape shown. Some crescents are thinner than others. The top one, over the eye, is widest, with the bottom ones thinner. The nose is just a very wide crescent slice with two, almost complete circles cut into the bottom edge, the slice bends back into itself to form Yoda’s nose.

As you can see, the upper lip of the mouth slice has several arrow-shaped cuts made on the bottom edge and the bottom slice has just one cut. These cuts depict his wrinkles. As the orange peels weathers, they look even older. …it is after all a Yoda Pumpkin! And ‘when nine hundred years old you reach, look as good, you will not.’

All the main face pieces are now done; time to move onto the Pumpkin

Cut the pumpkin open and remove the seeds and scrape some of the inner walls down a bit. This is the messiest part of the job…really slimy!!

Now to prepare the holes, first cut a 25mm diameter hole, front and centre for the nose. Be careful to make the cuts parallel, not at an angle. This will allow you to put the nose slice into it without it wanting to slip out! A straight pin, as seen in the photo, pushes into the bottom flap of the nose and into the top edge of the pumpkin wall, securing the nose in position.

For the eyes, cut a 40mm diameter hole, leaving a triangle spike on the upper right of each cut. This slice will aid in identifying it as an eye. The top orange peel eyelid wraps around and holds the bottom lids in position. Secure the ends of the top eye lids with straight pins. A pin or two should be added to the bottom eyelids to secure them as well.

After making a long 65mm wide crescent-shaped cut for the mouth, add the bottom lip and secured in a similar manner to the eyes, however, you will want to give the mouth some shape. Straight pins at the edges of the lips secure them in place. The bending and shaping of the mouth piece may be required.

Now mark holes for the ears, holding the sweet potato next to the wall. Cut the hole smaller than you need; you can always make it bigger later. Finally cut a 20mm hole in the top lid of the pumpkin behind the stem, so it doesn’t show so you can properly ventilate the burning tea lights.

Now add 2 tea lights, but watch out for the pins when putting them in…Ouch! Light them up and your Yoda pumpkin is now complete and ready for the window sill and the approaching Trick-or-Treaters.

SIDE NOTE:

Posted an image on Twitter once I’d finished, and to my joy @starwars re-tweeted it to nearly 140 thousand of their followers….Icing on the cake:)