Awhile back there was a rumor that there is some kind of MacGuffin the characters will be after, and I speculated that it could be the Journal of the Whills, and maybe we would learn something about them or the Force indirectly through that. It would be a nice way to tie that original idea into the last Saga film, while not being too out there for general audiences.
I like this idea! Introducing the Whills would open up the world more.
It would be cool to learn more about the Whills and such, but I can understand their hesitation to approach that subject, because audiences, and especially fans, were really critical of the midichlorians as a concept back in the day (and it still is something a lot of people choose to forget). I don’t think people want the Force overly demystified, and honestly neither do I. I think how the Force works should be left up to interpretation to a certain extent, and the more you explain it the less flexible it becomes.
I hear ya man, and that’s why I kinda hate Disney. They’re not choosing the brave storytelling route. Whether or not the fans like Midi-Chlorians, they’re real and a part of the Saga. They were there since the first draft too, and I personally never had a problem with them. Keeping the Force mysterious limits the story. If it’s always mysterious (which it’s not anymore) we can never learn and grow. So there’s no story to tell really. And why wouldn’t we want to figure it out? The Force is like the coolest thing ever! Why wouldn’t we want to study it and figure out how it works, and where it comes from? The answers to those questions can open up a whole new world to us, a world beyond the galaxy far, far away.
I compare it to Taoism a lot. The first chapter of the Tao Te Ching basically says, “The Tao that can be named is not truly the Tao.” Basically, trying to understand or quantify the Way universe works is essentially a fruitless effort, and you really have to surrender yourself to it in order to be in-step with the Universe, if that makes sense. It’s like faith, and that comes back around to how George originally meant for the Force to be a meta-religion that can stand in for any religious faith or belief system.
That’s the greatest quote I’ve read all week. Thanks for that!
But what I think George was going for was making the Force a by-product of the Midi-Chlorians which are controlled by the Whills. The lifeforms in the galaxy see it as religious power of course tho because it’s beyond their understanding.
It would be cool for them to explore the Whills more in some other form of media, but maybe it was the right call to not overexplain it in the Saga films. For me, I would just like for them to possibly address this apparent cycle of Darkness and light that exists in the universe, and how Force ghost Luke, Rey and potentially Ben Solo will play a part in dealing with it. Which I think is subtle enough for audiences to understand and apply it to real-world issues in their own lives.
I don’t think it was the right call. I’m the kind of person who likes to break new ground with every step. I just wish Star Wars would be intelligent again is all. It’s too mainstream for that now, we have to reject the creator’s stories so we can stay commercial. sigh
I think George’s idea was that reason why we have cycles of dark and light is because of the Whills; they’re feeding off of us through the force and they’re causing these conflicts so they can stay alive, using us like puppets. But that’s too intelligent.