Magic and free will
I’m listening the Deathly Hallows audiobook with the Snook, and tonight something struck me. (No spoiler! Don’t worry… although if you haven’t finished it yet, you’re really pushing it!) So anyway, I was thinking about the Imperio curse, and how it’s pretty much one of top three worst crimes you can commit in the wizarding world, right? Taking away someone’s free will ranks right up there with murder and torture. Compare that to the Star Wars universe, where Jedi seem to apply their mind trick to the weak-minded whenever they feel like it. Obi-Wan even uses it on random people he meets (like the deathstick merchant on Coruscant) to force his own morals on them. Shouldn’t we find that more repugnant? In the movie it’s played for a laugh, and I guess it’s supposed to be okay because we trust the Jedi to be good guys. But hey, you know, that really sucked of him. Hmm, maybe I’ve discovered another of the contributing factors to the Jedi’s downfall. Their attitude towards “muggles” seems a lot more cavalier than wizards’ of Harry’s world.