The typically perceptive Marc Barnes…

…on the re-mystification and reverencing of the Force in Rogue One.

We do not hear the iconic line, “Use the force,” in Rogue One. We hear a reverent one: “Trust the force.” The difference between use and trust sums up the difference between magic and religion.

It is also worth noting that the attempt to use rather than obey God is the mark of politicized religion.

I really loved Rogue One. It gave to the Star Wars universe something that I have always felt lacking: a real sense of cost. All I could think of at the end was the passage from Horatius at the Bridge:

Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the gate:
“To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his gods.