American Jedi Page #10

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fall, as we all fall,

you will always rise

again, as a Jedi Knight.

(crowd applauds)

- And then, there

is the celebration,

because we have survived,

we're grateful for that.

Because we have found

connections with others,

a real sense of community,

our loneliness is eased.

Because we are of

service, our need for

a meaning of life is

reinforced, so there

is a great deal to celebrate.

And it is important, at

this point, to be grateful.

- Had some strong feelings

about the process.

I had to defend the

fact that I was raped.

For women who are going

to identify as Jedi,

they're already

strong women, whether

they see themselves

that way or not.

That's not somebody

people randomly attack.

And these guys, they're

not intentionally sexist.

It's very subconscious.

They just don't know.

And so, it takes

somebody who does know,

from experience,

to educate them.

And that's, hopefully,

I can guide trials

where those questions aren't

asked of men or women.

- It was also very touching

to have my own family

out there as well, my

sister joined for her son.

And she saw we do good work.

- [Gabe's Sister] Gabe is

my son's uncle, and he's

the cool one, because

he's into Star Wars.

He's always been kind of nerdy,

so I think, initially,

it was just kind

of a hobby, but now

I think they see

the seriousness, and how

much it really means to him.

- [Interviewer] What

do you think about

your son being a Jedi?

- Well it's something different,

and I feel proud of it, so...

I wish I could've been

younger, so I can join him too.

- I think they share my

same feelings in that they

are very proud that

he's built something

that he's passionate

about, and that other

people can be

passionate about, and

share that passion, and be

supportive of each other,

because if you're a

true nerd, or just

a nerd in general,

you feel lonely.

- It means a lot,

that I can share this,

with my friends, and my family.

- It takes a lot of

guts just to do it.

- [Interviewer]

So you support your son?

- Yes, I do.

- I guess in the

back of my mind,

I always wonder if I'm

making my family proud.

And I see I am.

(sobs)

(gentle orchestral music)

(exhales deeply)

I wanna be able to

leave behind a legacy.

(gentle orchestral music)

I want something to

continue after I'm done.

After I'm gone.

(gentle orchestral music)

- What we don't talk

about in our hero stories,

is after the end, after

the hero moment is done,

and living with

the consequences.

Then the mourning,

then the grieving,

then the loss, then the

pain, then the suffering.

Then all of the

betrayal that comes in.

- The interesting

part about coming up

against the Dark Side, is that

often we are lured,

or trapped, into

engaging with it so

deeply, and so strongly,

that we then are there.

- [Dr. Young] At times it

seems like those who practice

the dark arts win everything.

There are moments

in the film series

when the Empire seems

awesome, and unstoppable.

Sometimes the people

that cheat at life,

get more money, or get the girl.

So there's not always

immediate justice

in the long haul, serving

your better values

is so good for you, you

do turn out the winner.

- Jedi is my life.

And I've been rebuilding it.

And I feel I've been...

I've done it in a

way, even better.

That I needed to...

I had to.

I had to go through the fire.

(gentle piano music)

Where did I go wrong?

How come I didn't

respond like a Jedi?

How come...

I put years of my life into it,

how come it all

went down the train?

Well, love man.

Do crazy things, it'll

mess up your head.

(gentle piano music)

And then I was invited

to a Jedi gathering.

And I was like,

I don't wanna go.

And then I heard

Miles was going.

Oh.

Okay.

I wanna go now.

(gentle piano music)

Some people would be

like, I'm going to punch

the dude who slept with

my wife in his face.

That's a natural reaction.

I wanted to go, just

to see my reaction.

- You know, you

can't afford to not

know what you're

doing as a Sith.

Because everyone expects you

to be doing it intentionally.

Whether you are or not.

They expect you to

know what you're doing.

They expect you to have

a plan, within a plan.

So you might as well have

a plan within a plan,

because you're

expected to have one.

You're gonna get credit

for having one anyway.

- If I was going to

place blame on someone,

why not Miles?

And so I went.

Would I hit him when I see him?

Would I Jedi up?

And if I Jedi up, what

does that even mean?

What does it look like?

- Part of the reason why

I went to that event,

was to see what would happen.

You know, I had to own up to it.

I had to face off

with, and decided

whether are we gonna be

at each other's throats,

or are we gonna be friends.

What are we gonna be?

- He walked through the door.

- And I walked in,

and I took a look,

and he was the only

guy I recognized.

And I looked him

right in the eye.

- I looked at him,

he looked at me.

There was a pause.

- And I watched the cogs turn

in his mind for a little bit.

- And I said, you want a drink?

He's like, "I would love one."

- We've been thick as

thieves ever since.

- Redemption is a curious

thing, people become different,

people that were very

set in a certain idea,

or disliked a certain

person, or had a certain

prejudice, can go through

a transformative learning

experience that really

melts some of that away.

It's seeing something

so differently

that it takes no

particular effort.

It's called change.

- I don't think that

we're going to learn

that we can't trust anyone.

That's not what we're learning.

But we need to learn

something about

our own expectations,

what we thought

we were going to get out of it,

that we wanted

things to be our way.

And we're gonna be

happy if it goes my way,

and if it doesn't go

my way, then we have

a right to be unhappy.

- [Opie] Now I hear

something I didn't have.

Someone who understood

that I could talk with.

I can sit down with

Miles, and have

a cup of coffee

with him, and we can

talk about all sorts

of things, we do.

You have to have

something healthy.

It's like the

rules, or something.

- Do they still have the

french onion soup here?

It's like back order.

- Yes.

- Yes.

Through mutual

discussions, Miles ended up

coming up with this

idea to put a YouTube

series together, called

Jedi versus Sith.

So he's coming over today

so we can work on that.

- Okay, yeah, we're

gonna need to move that.

Oh god, my face is huge.

And I don't have any

hair on my face anymore.

- [Opie] We'll see how the Force

community appreciates that.

- Okay.

We're buddies.

Yeah, this is a bit close.

- It's a very intimate setting.

- Gotta get the lean back.

- Where's the...

Guess then if I'm like...

- We all have many great

questions, you know,

where we come from,

where we're going.

How can we relate to

one another, ultimately?

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