The battle between good and evil

Jamie has responded at some kind of core level to Star Wars, and it seems clear that it is so because he is fascinated with the idea of some elemental engagement between the forces of good and bad. While he is very certain that Yoda is his favorite Star War and has the appropriate level of interest in Luke Skywalker, he is also very curious about Dark Vader, as he calls him (this rather appropriate malapropism reminds me of his previous use of "shark teeth" for all sharp teeth). He has all kinds of questions about why Dark Vader was good and is now bad, but he seems very understanding of the idea that it was a bad decision that Dark Vader made, rather than some inherent evil. There's room for forgiveness here. He asked Santa Claus to bring me a red light saver (also an appropriate slip!) for Christmas, so we can now stage the battle ourselves. It is reassuring to me that Jamie is very definite that the light side must always win, even if that means experiencing defeat dozens of times a day.

It can be a bit exhausting at times, however, because he wants to apply this to all things. He has come to understand that I like sports and that I often root for one team or another. He now asks which one by demanding to know, "which is the bad team?" Given that the Costello family views North Carolina/Duke basketball games in very much the terms of the title of this post, this is rather perceptive, but I'm trying to make him understand that there are times when the fate of civilization is not at stake in a sporting event.