The Force Confuses

I don't think I understand the morality of the Force.

First, a quick review.  (There are no spoilers for The Return of Skywalker).

Going from the original trilogy, the first we learn of the Force comes from old Ben Kenobi who says that one of his pupils, Darth Vader, was seduced by the "dark side" of the Force and betrayed and murdered the Jedi (who represent the "light side" of the Force). There's no more indication given what it takes to be on the dark side, although Vader is pretty murdery and supports an evil empire, so there's that.

Then, in The Empire Strikes Back, as Luke trains with Yoda, Yoda talks about how the dark side of the Force is rooted in anger and aggression and that it can corrupt you if you use it. In other words, take shortcuts with the Force, and you're on a path to the dark side. But what does that really mean?

Finally, in Return of the Jedi, the Emperor's goal is to capture Luke so the Emperor can "finish Luke's training" and make him an acolyte of the dark side. We know from what he does that Luke's a good guy, so is it reasonable that he would make a choice to become a bad guy? Can the Emperor or the Force make him into a bad guy against his will?

The prequel and sequel trilogies pretty much back up the outline above.

So now I'm going to do something stupid and probably redundant of a whole bunch of existing web content that has already parsed this out a million times. I'm going to give my lazy, half-assed and ill-thought-out analysis of what all that means. I have two basic problems.

My first problem is with the implications of this standard scenario. You train to use the Force and at some point during your training, you have to make a choice, light side or dark side. Now if you're not a mass murdering monster, who would ever pick the dark side? Only those already evil would do that and why would anyone train them? Clearly Luke and Rey aren't evil assholes, so would there really be a risk? And if there is any kind of significant risk of creating a Force-using supervillain, why would the Jedi train thousands and thousands of new Jedi?

Yoda says the choice of the dark side is because the dark side is easier and more seductive, but what does that even mean? That it's addictive and personality-changing? And if you do pick the dark side, does that mean you're automatically going to be a bad guy? Or could you use the dark side abilities for good?

The way it's presented, it seems like those who turn to the dark side don't have any say in the matter. You use the dark side, boom! -- you become part of a group comfortable with authoritarianism and murder at any scale. In the sequel trilogy, while training with Luke to become a Jedi, Kylo Ren is seduced by the dark side of the Force and immediately becomes a mass murdering monster. Was he okay with mass murder when he was Ben Solo? He fits the pattern exactly.

And then there's my problem with the redemption of Darth Vader (as well as the attempted redemption of Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens).

Darth Vader is a bad guy. We literally see him kill a bunch of guys on screen, and he's at least an accessory to mass murder on Alderaan and presumably many other worlds. But Luke, and the other Force users in the movies, talk of "turning" Vader back to the light side. Vader is eventually turned by Luke and demonstrates this by tossing the Emperor down a shaft and saving the Rebellion while ending the Empire. Great!

But does that absolve him of his crimes? Is Vader now a good guy? Does "turning" to the light side negate everything bad you've done? Isn't he still guilty of genocide? What if he had survived -- would the New Republic have tried and convicted him or is everything all good now? You can ask the same questions of Kylo Ren.

So many questions. In conclusion, I don't think any of the morality of the Force was really thought out. File that one under "duh".