Since its inception in 1977, the Star Wars universe has always been divided between two poles: the light side of the Force, a mystical power embraced by the series' heroes, and the dark side, embraced by its villains. This moral-spiritual binary was explicitly literalized in the form not only of psychic powers but of the colors of the green and red laser swords—er, lightsabers—the heroes and villains fought with.
This was a universe torn between two totalizing, collective ideologies. Darkness and light, goodness and evil: the franchise's central conflict was entirely binary.
