In February I had the opportunity to visit Collectors Editions. For those of you who don't know, Collectors Editions is a fine art printing company that handles a lot of the Disney fine art you see in the parks. In addition to touring the company's production facilities and see how fine art goes from original to giclee, I had an opportunity that day to meet a few of the artists and talk about their paintings with them.

Understand that I'm not an artist. I can't really draw or paint anything to save my life, so much of my art commentary stems from whether or not I like the style and painting. So my take on art all tends to emanate from a certain point of view, namely my own. I enjoy finding deeper themes and meanings in art, especially when the artwork comes from stories that captivate my imagination. As such, meeting artist John Rowe was an amazing experience, in part because of one of his newest paintings. Titled As Beauty Sleeps it depicts a scene from Walt Disney'sSleeping Beauty that some have argued was influential on a young George Lucas because of the dramatic, climactic battle between good and evil with Prince Phillip facing off against Maleficent in all her dragonic glory. What makes the painting powerful is that this fight is seen through the windows of the castle room where Princess Aurora lies sleeping. In my mind it depicts precisely what Phillip is fighting for. As John Rowe explained it to me, Phillip is fighting for the peace and quiet that Aurora brings into his life. Although life has many more moments of tumult and chaos, it is the small moments of peace and calm that make it possible to endure well the challenges and trials we must get through.

As Beauty Sleeps

After embellishing my painting, John Rowe asked me what dedication I wanted him to write. As I thought about it, I decided upon "Remember what you're fighting for" as it sums up both why some films mean so much to me, while others are just a highly enjoyable romp in the park. In the months since buying my new painting, I have admired it and reflected upon the message regarding the struggle between good and evil. And of course, no reflection upon that struggle would be fully complete without Star Wars crossing my mind.

In context of this painting, I've thought of the exchange between Luke and Yoda in TESB. With Luke ready to run off and try to save Han and Leia, Yoda warns him about the consequences if he does so. Luke defiantly asks if this means he'll have to "sacrifice Han and Leia?" To which Yoda answers, "If you honor what they fight for, yes." In light of Yoda's response, I have come to think about who is fighting for what in Star Wars and the impact that those choice have on the lives of each individual.

Darth Maul is fighting purely for revenge. In fact he's so focused on revenge that he gloats after seemingly defeating Obi-Wan only to find that his gloating gave Obi-Wan enough of a window to snatch victory from the jaws of near certain defeat.

Count Dooku is fighting for his own power. While he may believe in the ideals that have caused him to become the political leader of sorts over the Confederacy, he is putting all his energy and focus into fulfilling his master's will. In the end, with his life on the line, Dooku learns how much Sidious appreciates all that Dooku did for him when the Sith Lord instructs Anakin to kill him.

Qui-Gon, Yoda, and Obi-Wan are fighting for the ideals of the Jedi Order, and the latter two also take up the cause for democracy as the war comes to an end. Though all three see much of sadness, heartbreak, and especially loss and tragedy for Obi-Wan and Yoda, they all die in peace. Though they may not have necessarily wanted to go at their appointed times, they were able to accept the will of the Force and realize that they had done what they needed to do. In all three cases, their remarkable lives lived on in a legacy of learning to their students who would, though passing through tremendous challenges leave the galaxy a better place.

Though Han seems to only think about himself, the truth is that he's loyal. After he freed Chewie from Imperial slavery(and got himself drummed out of the Imperial Navy in the process, Han has spent his time fending mostly for himself. But as Chewie has become his only truly consistent friend in the galaxy, he has to listen up when Chewie protests about leaving the Battle of Yavin. In time, he comes to fight for Leia and Luke as well because they too become his friends.

Leia is fighting for freedom from the tyranny of the Empire. Even though her fight caused her to witness the horrific destruction of her homeworld and her parents, she knows the cause in which she has invested. She now turns her focus to saving as many as she can from Alderaan's fate, hoping that someday she'll see the Empire defeated.

As Luke joins the Rebellion, it becomes his cause, but his fight becomes very poignant when it takes on a personal meaning for him. All his life, he's grown up idolizing his heroic father, whom he believes was killed by Darth Vader. When Luke learns that his most bitter enemy, responsible for the deaths of so many friends and the inflictor of so much pain upon his friends, is actually his 'heroic" father, instead of turning that into anger and hatred, Luke begins to fight for his father, or rather, the man his father once was. All his focus is on how to turn his father back to the light.

Darth Vader, of course, thought he was initially fighting to save his wife. Sadly, however, he was really fighting to increase his own power and do whatever he wanted to regardless of whether others wanted it or not. In so doing, he would lead the assault on the Jedi Temple, slaughtering younglings not much older than the baby in his wife's womb. More than anything else, this cruelty drove his wife away from him, caused her death, and he lost all his friends in the world. And in the end, when Sidious, like any Sith Lord will do, finds a new apprentice, he throws Vader to the side. And so Vader faces a sad and lonely death, betrayed by the man who thought was his friend, in favor of his son. And yet somehow, Vader gets a second chance because Luke wasn't fighting for power or glory. He was fighting for his father, and thus gives his father another chance. And this time, Anakin Skywalker finally chooses to fight for that which could have saved him decades of nothing but self loathing, torture, and torment. Now, Anakin fights for his family and gives his life to save his son.

Life means that we will have to face difficulties and trials that we'd rather not. It's part of how we grow. But as we better come to understand what we're fighting for, I believe that we can find the strength to work through those challenges and find some peace in the midst of what can often seem to be a cruel world. Faith in your friends is not a weakness, especially when you're fighting for the right thing.