By: Dominic Jones
It's hard to imagine Star Wars without The Force. And it's even harder not to talk about The Force Awakens without talking about The Force. /Film's Peter Sciretta asked JJ Abrams about his take on The Force and midi-chlorians. Read his response below,
"I will just say this: I would never presume to question anything George Lucas says is canon in Star Wars. And our job was not to negate or undo. A lot of people who are critics of our Star Trek, and I respect all of them, said we destroyed what they loved and negated everything. And we worked hard to clarify that we are not saying that our Star Trek over-rides a thing of the original Star Trek — it was a parallel timeline. I never wanted to negate canon that fans held so dear. And because I love Star Wars and have for too many years… … And having said all that and meaning it — I don’t want to presume over-write or change what George says the rules are.
I’m not someone who quite understands the science of the Force. To me Star Wars was never about science fiction — it was a spiritual story. And it was more of a fairytale in that regard. For me when I heard Obi-Wan say that the Force surrounds us and binds us all together, there was no judgement about who you were. This was something that we could all access. Being strong with the force didn’t mean something scientific, it meant something spiritual. It meant someone who could believe, someone who could reach down to the depths of your feelings and follow this primal energy that was flowing through all of us. I mean, thats what was said in that first film!
And there I am sitting in the theater at almost 11 years old and that was a powerful notion. And I think this is what your point was, we would like to believe that when shit gets serious, that you could harness that Force I was told surrounds not just some of us but every living thing. And so, I really feel like the assumption that any character needs to have inherited a certain number of midi-chlorians or needs to be part of a bloodline, it’s not that I don’t believe that as part of the canon, I’m just saying that at 11 years old, that wasn’t where my heart was. And so I respect and adhere to the canon but I also say that the Force has always seemed to me to be more inclusive and stronger than that."
I’m not someone who quite understands the science of the Force. To me Star Wars was never about science fiction — it was a spiritual story. And it was more of a fairytale in that regard. For me when I heard Obi-Wan say that the Force surrounds us and binds us all together, there was no judgement about who you were. This was something that we could all access. Being strong with the force didn’t mean something scientific, it meant something spiritual. It meant someone who could believe, someone who could reach down to the depths of your feelings and follow this primal energy that was flowing through all of us. I mean, thats what was said in that first film!
And there I am sitting in the theater at almost 11 years old and that was a powerful notion. And I think this is what your point was, we would like to believe that when shit gets serious, that you could harness that Force I was told surrounds not just some of us but every living thing. And so, I really feel like the assumption that any character needs to have inherited a certain number of midi-chlorians or needs to be part of a bloodline, it’s not that I don’t believe that as part of the canon, I’m just saying that at 11 years old, that wasn’t where my heart was. And so I respect and adhere to the canon but I also say that the Force has always seemed to me to be more inclusive and stronger than that."
I like what JJ said about never wanting to override anything George did in the previous films. To me it's very important for the creatives behind the new films to respect what Lucas did with Star Wars, even if it's not their favorite thing. That's the great thing about Star Wars, there's so much in this galaxy Lucas created that everyone has a different interpretation of certain aspect and the film's can reflect that. I like how JJ says he is approaching the Force in the new film, that he's focusing on more of the spiritual aspects of it, rather than the scientific aspects. That doesn't mean the scientific aspects aren't there, it just means that's not the focus of the new trilogy.
(And just so we're clear, no, midi-chlorians are not The Force).
Follow The Star Wars Underworld on Twitter @TheSWU for more updates about this story and other breaking Star Wars news.
34 comments:
I also associated the Jedi of the prequel era and their concentration on the science of it all is part of what aided in their downfall. They took their focus off of the spiritual. Not sure if that's what Lucas intended, but it fits and makes sense!
There's enough midichlorians to go around that a lot can be a jedi. But having been conceived by the Force, Anakin and his line after have the most and makes the Star Wars Saga the center of that universe.
i'm not a big fan of medichlorians... but not because i misunderstand them. I just thought they were an unnecessary (and thus trivial) detail to be tossed into TPM when we hadn't seen new star wars in a decade and a half and then WHAM MEDICHLORIANS. it felt awkward and bulky. it made the movie a little more dense than it needed to be (though to be fair, there were a lot of other factors behind that)
we were never truly misled into thinking medichlorians caused the force or carried it. that misconception was entirely on the fans that didn't grasp what they were.
There's enough midichlorians to go around that a lot can be a jedi. But having been conceived by the Force, Anakin and his line after have the most and makes the Star Wars Saga the center of that universe.
Palpatine told Anakin Skywalker of how Plagueis was killed by his apprentice in Episode III.
Remember?
stream movies and tv show online : http://zero.movietheater14.com/
stream movies and tv show online : http://zero.movietheater14.com/
Remember that?
Remember that?
And as for midi-chlorians, at this point I basically just think of them as a poorly thought out plot device...a way to quantify how powerful Anakin was before he was able to display his power...a pointless piece of canon that has no real bearing on anything...
Post a Comment