[dmm]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
... the midi thing totally changed the fundamental message behind the story.

The original it was all about how through determination and faith anyone could triumph over evil. Luke was just a poor dirt farmer from the backwoods, but because he believed in something and his friends believed in him they were able to beat the bad guys. It could have been anyone. It's an old story, but a good one.

But now we find out it couldn't have been anyone. It had to be Luke, and before them Anakin, because he had the right kind of blood. It's very subtle, but also very racist.

Are you telling me you believed Luke was "just anyone?" How about Obi Wan just happening to live right near Luke, and just happening to have Luke's father's light saber, and just happening to have been his father's mentor, and Luke just happens to be able to use the Force with only a few lessons, and Luke just happens to be the only one able to hear Obi Wan in his head? And Obi Wan says stuff about the Force running strong in his family?

Not to mention how Vader is the only bad guy who uses the Force, even though it is obviously a great advantage.

It is SOOOOO obvious from the get-go that only certain people can consciously use the Force, and that the ability often runs in families.

I can see how you'd call it elitist, but not racist.

I didn't like the midichlorian idea because
1) it put a scientific spin on something that was supposed to be mystical, unexplainable by science;
2) it was a blatant ripoff from the "A Wrinkle in Time" trilogy by Madeleine L'Engle;
3) it had them "sending" a blood sample for analysis from a teensy transmitter to the ship (technology ex nihilo);
4) it had the impersonal Force acting on its own, as a person, when it purposefully created Anakin; and, Last but not least,
5) it was a blatant ripoff of the Christian doctrine of the Virgin Birth of God Incarnate, which GL may consider to be mythology but 1/4 to 1/3 of the world population does not.

Even with all that, I am still looking forward to the Last SW movie. Episodes 1 and 2 definitely had flaws, but I enjoyed them anyway. I think the challenge for GL is to make E3 enjoyable, while at the same time to adequately explain Anakin's fall to the Dark Side. Seeing a good guy become evil is not much fun; how can GL balance that?