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Post #1273125

Author
DominicCobb
Parent topic
Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker - Discussion * SPOILER THREAD *
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1273125/action/topic#1273125
Date created
11-Mar-2019, 3:45 AM

leetwall31 said:

I’ll take your word for it, but that link didn’t really make sense to me. Do you have maybe a quick quote from that thread I could read instead?

This post covers it pretty well:
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Proof-of-Lucas-revisionism-in-Rinzlers-making-of-book/id/66017/page/1#1270726

DominicCobb said:

leetwall31 said:

I don’t think Midi-Chlorians are an over explanation. I think they enrich our understanding of the Force. Plus if Lucas was able to make the sequel trilogy, then they also serve as a setup.

The argument is that the force represents, amongst other things, life itself. To explore so deeply as you want the literal “what” and “how” and “why” of the force would be like asking for the film to give a definitive meaning of life. The force was designed as a mystical energy that is inherently unknowable. It is up to the characters to decide what to do with it and how they will use, much as it is up to them to decide what they will do will their lives and what choices they will make (and, of course, which side to be on). To pin down what the force is would be to simplify and demystify it.

That’s the point tho. If there was an order of people who used the Force and studied it for over a thousand years, they figured out what it was. I don’t think the Force is life necessarily, I think it’s supposed to be a by-product of life. It’s an energy that’s given off by living cells (Midi-Chlorians). Jedi/Sith harness that energy for their own use. That’s all we’re saying here. The Force isn’t life, and it’s not a religion. Outsiders call the Jedi a religion. It’s not, it’s a real practice. I think people who meditate can relate. Meditation is considered a religious practice, but the people who do it know that’s it’s really not, it’s a great mind hack to ease your temper and stress.

The force is a lot of things (in my example, its comparison to life is as a metaphor). That’s the beauty of keeping it ambiguous and open to interpretation. Nailing down exact parameters is limiting.

DominicCobb said:

Personally, I don’t have as big an issue with the midichlorians as presented in the PT as many do (though I don’t love it). But I would not be okay with what you seem to have wanted (and what Lucas debatable would or would not have done), which would have been to take the explaining to a whole other level.

Lol I get where you’re coming from. But I digress: it’s a newer and more interesting trilogy than what we’re getting now. I think the real reason they didn’t go for it was because George’s trilogy probably officially ended the Star Wars story. Wasn’t Star Wars a story told in a Journal by the Whills in the first place? If they’re gone, then there’s no one left to keep telling us the stories.

“Newer” does not necessarily equal better, you could make the ST about space janitors scrubbing toilets for 6 hours and it’d be “newer” for the series (and “more interesting” is a matter of preference, personally I think rooting the force in science is the opposite of interesting). And it’s not like the sequel trilogy is not exploring the force, it’s just not exploring midichlorians. The “real reason” they’re not using Lucas’s treatment is because even if Lucas ended up directing these films, he wouldn’t have used his treatment. Movies change and evolve significantly throughout development (now multiply that by 3). Look at the first treatment for “The Star Wars” and then look at the finished product and see what I mean.

As for the Journal of the Whills, if Lucas really thought it was so important he would have included it within his “completed” 6 episode saga. I like the concept too, but it is weird to blame the ST for overlooking it, when it was never a real thing beyond a recurring notion in the back of Lucas’s head.