G&G-Fan said:
How do you compensate for the Force not being explained in any of the Prequels? That’s one of the biggest issues I’ve had with the chronological order. Ep 1 assumes you’ve already seen Ep 4 where it’s actually explained as an “energy field” that binds the galaxy together. The only way I’ve been able to brainstorm a fix is placing it in the opening crawl of Ep 1, which I myself am skeptical of due to not wanting to bombard the audience with too much information.
Man, you’re always coming up with the great questions that are hard to answer, lol!
Here’s the crazy thing: For my money you don’t need to compensate at all, in fact you shouldn’t.
I think George purposefully kept detailed explanations about the Force (Except for Qui-Gon’s midichlorian chat) out of the Prequels on purpose. The reason for this has to do with STAR WARS’ use of a Christian-style narrative structure.
This is a MASSIVE simplification, but this is how STAR WARS’ two trilogies copy the narrative structure of the Old and New Testaments.
Let’s take Moses (OT): He’s an Israelite born into slavery who is adopted by an Egyptian princess, where he abuses his princely power and kills an Egyptian slaver master. He then runs away into the desert and lives as a Shepherd for 40 years, where God reveals himself to him in a Burning Bush. Moses then returns to Egypt and frees his people from slavery, but Moses’ anger (The same uncontrolled anger that led him to kill the Egyptian) gets the best of him, and he is unable to fulfill his destiny and bring the Israelites into the Promised Land.
Now Jesus (NT): He’s born during a great political crises in Roman Palestine, where there have been waves of Jewish rebellions against the Roman Authorities. Caesar has just ordered a worldwide tax to be carried out over the whole Roman World to reassert his power. After Jesus’ Baptism (his calling by God), he goes into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the Satan. When he returns from the desert he preaches the good news of the Kingdom of God (a new way of being human), and sacrifices himself to bring unity between God, man, and creation.
Now STAR WARS (Which mixes elements of the OT/NT): In a time of great political turmoil and taxation, a young boy is born in the desert, but is then adopted into the powerful political/religious order of Jedi Knights. Instead of being trained in the Spiritual Ways of the Force, Anakin is unwittingly pulled into the political machinations of the Jedi and the Sith. He tries to return to the desert to free his mother from slavery, but instead his anger gets the best of him, and he massacres the Tuskens. This same uncontrolled anger leads him down the path to the Dark Side, and he is unable to fulfill his destiny to bring balance to the Force.
After spending 20ish years in the Desert and the Swamp, Obi-Wan and Yoda, who were once more concerned about the politics of the Clone Wars than instructing Anakin in the Mystical Ways of the Force, have reconnected with the Living Force and are now ready to instruct his descendant, Luke, in the way he should go. Because Luke has learned to control his anger and see through the eyes of the Force, he is able to return to Tatooine and free his friends from Slavery, and when the Ewoks take his friends prisoner, he doesn’t see the little Teddy Bears as an enemy to be destroyed, but as future brothers brought together by the Force (that is why such a big deal is made about the Ewoks adopting Luke and Co into the tribe.) Finally, Luke understands that the will of the Force is for him to sacrifice himself to save his Father and the Galaxy. THE END.
In Short - A Biblical cycle tends to go: Political Machinations leading toward destruction, a reconnection with God in the desert, a leader called out of the desert to free God’s people from slavery (physical and spiritual), and then the success or failure of the leader based on their trust and obedience to God. STAR WARS follows that pattern by NOT revealing the Force until the deserts of Episode VI, just like God doesn’t reveal Himself to Moses until the burning bush, or Jesus isn’t revealed to be the Son of God until AFTER his temptation in the desert, with the first section of the Gospels focusing on the Political Turmoil that engulfed his childhood.
That’s just my take. You could easily approach that problem a million other ways, but as the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 😉
