Many of my compadres in OGG interpreted this theme as the darker side of love--all that kinky stuff.
But to astronomers, the dark side looks like this:
Then, because of a groundbreaking record album released in 1973,
the dark side meant this:
In 1977, an equally groundbreaking artistic feat was first shown, and the deep voice and threatening mein of Darth Vader came to personify the dark side.
Humans being what we are, of course the personification of evil
became cuddly and sweet:
We have an inability to embrace the dark side
within ourselves, most likely because darkness, feared and hated, has long been
synonymous with evil. A few Biblical quotes:
--God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1st
John 1:5)
--The people who walked in darkness have seen a
great light (Isaiah 9:2)
--Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For
what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has
light with darkness?
The above is from 2d Corinthians 6:14, or as Trump
would put it, two Corinthians, as in "Two Corinthians walked into a
bar..."
But is it right to equate darkness with evil?
When humans developed, night was a time of threat
and fear. We aren't nocturnal and have poor night vision, but many creatures
who walk fearlessly in darkness threaten us. The great cats, who were
apex predators on the savannahs where humans developed, are nocturnal; we no
doubt were on their menu.Tarantulas, scorpions, and several species of canids,
including wolves, dingoes and coyotes--are nocturnal, hunting at night. We may
not be in their diets, but we competed with them for food and territory.
But what happens when pale humans fear the darker
ones? This may have arisen purely instinctively; we feel comfortable with
members of our tribe, but thousands of years ago, "other" was
suspect, even dangerous. Perhaps this is the root of racism, an instinctive
fear of those who aren't in our clan. Just goes to show that we have to keep a
tight watch on what our lizard brains are doing.
However darker people, like our dark sides, should be embraced.
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| All images were found at bing.com and are legally used in this context |
Wow, you managed to introduce a plethora of aspects regarding darkness in very few words. Good use of the pix.
ReplyDeleteFantastic twist on the theme, Suz!
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded of the Joni Mitchell song:
Every picture has its shadows
And it has some source of light
Blindness, blindness and sight.
The perils of benefactors,
the blessings of parasites.
Blindness, blindness and sight.
The light cannot exist without the dark.
Love these explorations that you do, Suz. And this: "But is it right to equate darkness with evil?" What an important point! Remember a few years back when some people suggested that the character Rue in the Hunger Games didn't seem "innocent" because she is black? That's so messed up. There's a lot behind it, of course, but equating darkness with evil seems to fit into the constellation of factors there. I've read a fair bit about evangelical Christian attitudes toward purity, and there are serious racial issues there (among other things), too. When purity is defined as, for example, "like the lily," there's an inherent racial implication.
ReplyDeleteAnnabeth, you wrote: "Remember a few years back when some people suggested that the character Rue in the Hunger Games didn't seem "innocent" because she is black?"
DeleteWow. I hadn't heard about that. She seemed innocent to me. How racist and yeah, messed up :(
Suz, you have covered the topic. :)
ReplyDelete