Is 'Star Wars' going biblical with new posters?

Posted Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at 3:43 PM Central
Last updated Friday, November 6, 2015 at 10:28 AM Central

by John Couture

You realize at this point that I could put Star Wars with any other words in a headline and you will click on it.

"Did Star Wars influence O.J.?"

"How Star Wars is making Ayn Rand cool again"

"Is Star Wars overrated?"

"Is Star Wars underrated?"

"What is Star Wars?"

But hear me out, this headline was chosen on purpose and not simply to help spur our click-bait numbers. While not overtly biblical, the Star Wars films have always espoused a certain regard for religion and mysticism, especially the far eastern philosophies. Heck, Jedi is now even a recognized religion in certain parts of the world.

So, imagine my surprise when I saw the new character posters for The Force Awakens today and my first thought was of the Bible. Specifically, Matthew 5:29 is the verse that immediately came to my mind:

If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Well, that verse would certainly apply to many instances in the films where characters lose appendages, but it's the right eye specifically that made my spidey senses tingle. I suppose I should show you the posters first so you have an idea what I'm talking about.

Yep, each character is covering up their right eye with their weapon of choice. And yes, I would argue that for master tactician Leia, maps would be her weapon of choice, especially in her role of putting the galaxy back together again. Remember this is J.J. Abrams that we're talking about here. He loves his mystery boxes and there is always a plan behind everything that he does.

There has to be meaning here, either through the biblical route in which these characters have to sacrifice something dear to them to further their journey or what each of these characters share as a group. It's just as intriguing to note who didn't get a character poster (Chewbacca, Luke, any of the droids, Captain Phasma) and what that means.

Otherwise, the posters themselves are rather bland and uninspired. They remind me of the myriad of character posters that you see for just about every other big film, but Star Wars is different. It doesn't need to sell itself with character posters, so they are curious to say the least.

What do you think? Do these posters hint at some sort of biblical retribution or are they simply just another reflection of the fact that the giant marketing machine known as Disney is now at the wheel?

Because we couldn't just end this story on such a pensive note, we just watched the Honest Teaser for The Force Awakens and they knocked it out of the park. Enjoy.