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Cloning the World - Page 2

© Paul F. McDonald

The audience receives a tour of the watery planet along with Obi-Wan Kenobi, who is sent to investigate a thrawted assassination attempt. Landing his Jedi starfighter at Tipoca City, he immediately meets the Kaminoans, strange looking creatures with thin bodies, elongated necks, and very pale skin. He is greeted by Taun We, who brings him before Lama Su, the prime minister. Lama Su then tells him about the clone army. The setting speaks volumes of symbolism, as do most of the environments in Star Wars. The large white room Obi-Wan meets Lama Su in is flooded in white light, so much so that it's almost uncomfortable to look at. The reason this is so is because Kaminoans can only see in the ultraviolet spectrum, but it is also indicative of a world dominated by an excess of rational consciousness. The seas below the city are quite tumultuous, with violent, crashing waves that hammer at the Kaminoan built structures. Psychologically speaking, water often represents the unconscious, and so the rolling oceans here are symbolic of repressed unconscious intelligence.

Tipoca City as a whole looks quite antiseptic and lifeless, the setting a shade too unnatural, the rooms a bit too sterile. The imagery gets more disturbing as Obi-Wan begins his tour with Lama Su, particularly the "Egg Lab" where floating embryos exist in glass containers. It is telling that Lama Su refers to the clones as "units." Clearly they are seen as products, the Kaminoans manufacturing life for no other reason than to capitalize off of it. The clones are not even allowed to develop at a natural pace, growth acceleration causing them to double the normal rate of aging. One scene shows identical children sitting in ordered classrooms staring at monitors while the Kaminoan instructors supervise them. This is in sharp contrast to the scene with Yoda and the younglings, though in both cases, Obi-Wan is the audience's guide.

In the Official Scrapbook of the film, Ryder Windham writes that, "Because of the independency inhibitors introduced into their genetic code, [the clones] are completely obedient and will never disagree or argue with a teacher." One can't help but wonder if this isn't a satire on ideas about the "ideal" class in public education. The clones are given combat education, which is to say they are taught only the world of science and mathematics, with no room for spontaneity or imagination. The children wear helmets that let them retain information and data more easily, but we are back to that old dilemma of failing to realize that knowledge isn't wisdom. The only distinction they are allowed on their uniforms are odd and even designations, once again demonstrating that they only use linear and binary thinking, in contrast to the younglings who have names and personal identities. The formations of fully grown clone troopers wearing black and white uniforms likewise represent oppositional thinking. Unlike Yoda who guides his students toward oneness with the universe, here all the emphasis is on opposites and multiplicity.

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