Originally posted by: Wesyeed
Luke basically used his telekinetic force power to guide his proton torpedoes into the death star didn't he? I always thought the whole jedi telekinetic power always was part of their bag of tricks. Vader uses it on that guy to apply pressure on his throat so he couldn't breathe I think...

First - being a great shot does not require telekenesis. Not at all necessary to hit the thermal exhaust port right below the main port.

Second - everyone likes to use the Darth Vader force-choke as an example of telekenesis. It's not. The Imperial general was not an inanimate object. The ability to have remote influence on living things is an extreme, but legitimate martial art that some humans here on earth are capable of. The Jedi "push" when applied to living things (as opposed to battle droids, for example) is simply another way of influencing the Force generated by all living things.

I could even possibly buy that a lightsaber has some "living" energy that Jedi are able to influence. It's when they start throwing around rocks and machinery that it becomes telekenesis, and "expands" upon what was presented in the original Star Wars.

Most people have no problem with this sort of expansion. Personally, I find it ludicrous and believe it denegrates the subtle and elegant version of Force manipulation depicted in the first film.

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It also creates a problem akin to the Transporter dillema in Star Trek. That was a very neat invention, and solved a great story problem of getting the crew expediently off the spaceship. BUT ... it also proved a dramatic pain in the ass - because it was an instant means of escape from any dangerous situation. The writers were constantly having to come up with ways to disable the transporter. It became silly, fast.

Similarly, if Jedi have the power of telekenesis, what's the point of lightsaber battles? Or blasters or freaking anything? They have ultimate power to move objects at will, no matter the size or mass. It leaves them sorta invulnerable, and is ultimately a dramatic liability. (And I hate it how so many lightsaber battles devolve into throwing rocks and machinery at the opponent. Bleh.)

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