Ye Olde Rocket Forum - View Single Post - "Star Wars" galaxy (link)

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke strawwalker

Yeah, that would be the prequels. I remember back in 1977 when we went and saw the original "Star Wars"... I was about 6 or so. I remember my parents, particularly my Dad and Grandpa, having an interesting discussion about the "Force" and how it related to God, religion, and the Bible... I found it interesting that George Lucas had populated his galaxy with so many "familiar faces"... For instance, Chewbacca is basically a "Bigfoot" or sasquatch. Most of the denizens of the famous original "Mos Eisley Cantina" scene were creatures you'd read about in fairy tales or other stories, old fables, legends, UFO stories, etc. There were giant grey aliens, a horned "devil", giant rat creature, a yeti-looking creature, "Amazon" looking women, etc. Sorta like such things might have "inspired" our own stories or legends.

Similarly, the "Force" was also similar to many human legends... basically the "Things you will see-- other places, old friends long gone", mind reading, and the "Force suggestion" is basically ESP when you think about it. Using the Force to move objects is basically telekinesis, etc. I remember the old folk's discussion recognized the references I just made, and then moved into postulating how much of such abilities or talents displayed in our own world are "gifts from God" or the nature of them...

Then of course along came the prequels, and for SOME STUPID REASON they felt the need to "explain" the Force as resulting from "midichlorians", some sort of microscopic life forms that live inside our cells, and who give us knowledge of the Force (presumably, the ability to sense or access the power of the Force). This basically flew in the face of previous explanations given in the films, like how Ben explained the Force to Luke in the original Star Wars-- "The Force is what gives a Jedi his power-- it's an ENERGY FIELD CREATED BY *ALL* LIVING THINGS... it SURROUNDS us, it PENETRATES us, it BINDS THE GALAXY TOGETHER (presumably in a figurative sense, since gravity binds the galaxy together in a literal sense-- "binding the galaxy together" I took to mean that it allows someone sensitive to the Force to sense the feelings or circumstances of others, other times, or other places, through the energy of the Force, and to exert influence on reality using the power of the Force... sorta similar to what we call "quantum entanglement" today...

Reducing it to a bunch of nonsense about "midichlorians" basically reduced it to an "infection" or whatever...

Later! OL J R

While C. S. Lewis spoke of Christianity being spread like a good infection (that could even be carried by those who didn't have it themselves, as was his own experience--people who weren't Christians themselves helped him become one), he made it clear that he was using the concept of a good infection only as an analogy, unlike what the producers of the Star Wars prequels did. (It is actually possible to catch a good infection; people who make miso, a fermented soybeans [or soybeans and rice] food, almost never catch colds, flu, or other infections, because their bodies are already infected [inoculated] with the beneficial microbes from the miso.)

George Lucas has said that he included the Force in the Star Wars movies to encourage young people to think about larger spiritual matters, as well as the ramifications of good and evil. He deliberately made the Force something with no formal rites of worship surrounding it, to avoid sectarian squabbles and to keep attention focused on the large, overarching issues which affect everyone. I hadn't known that he has pondered the subject so deeply or for so long, as this interview (see: http://content.time.com/time/magazi...23298-2,00.html ) shows.