Re: Star Wars Episode VII
Perhaps I was a little too blunt with my statement. I don't think there should be NO Jedi or Sith at all in the new installments, since they are a vital and (I hate this word, but I'll use it here) iconic part of the Star Wars universe.
What I was more specifically referring to is a more intense focus on "smaller" characters who give us a more balanced view of the population of the galaxy.
This is one of the aspects in which I feel the OT dominated the PT. In the original films we had a central Jedi character, sure. But he was complimented by a large cast of down-to-earth supporting characters. Smugglers, bounty hunters, pilots, politicians, freedom fighters, mechanics and navigators, these were all the real heroes.
But most of all, they helped to illustrate the power of the Jedi. This is kind of ironic since the Jedi in the OT were wimps compared to what we see in the PT, but yet they still appear more impactful simply because we actually see them in contrast to their "normal" colleagues. A lack of "human" characters for comparison makes the Jedi self-contained and therefore gives us no basis to judge their importance on. When you have a movie that is just Jedi, Jedi, Jedi, you kind of forget that normal people actually exist in the universe. Bail Organa had a ton of potential in ROTS, and he had some cool interactions with the main characters, but for the most part his character was squandered.
I'm still pissed off about that deleted scene in ROTS with the meeting of the Rebellion founders. I think that was one of the best scenes in the film for a lot of reasons, taken out why? Probably because there were no Jedi in it.
It probably goes without saying that our main protagonist in the OT was also more interesting to us since we got to actually see him progress and develop, and become a new breed of special, unknown hero in his universe. Even when he WAS a Jedi he really didn't show it - I doubt most anyone at all in the Rebel Alliance knew about it apart from the weird thing on his belt - he didn't go flaunting it to the Rebel leaders as an indicator of power. He was an unknown hero.
In the PT, we really didn't have much of that progression - partially because the character development was just lacking from a filmmaking point of view, but MOSTLY because we already KNEW where this character was headed, and therefore we never really invested a lot of time into Anakin from the beginning. This is one way in which I think the 4-5-6 1-2-3 formula shot itself in the foot. Ultimately we knew exactly where Episode III was going to lead us, so it was almost like, why even bother? It was just filler at that point.
But apart from that, Anakin also just wasn't that special in his environment. Unlike Luke, he didn't have a chance to carve out a unique destiny and become a new special hero.
The whole "chosen one" plot just still seems very shoed-in to me; it's like they had to come up with ways throughout the films to keep reminding us that Anakin was special for some reason, even though that reason was never really explained or showcased, we were just told it constantly. In a lot of ways I think it would have been more effective if Anakin had been a completely unknown character all along, and when he turned into Vader he was able to do so because he was so unexpected and unknown. Making him a famous Jedi war hero works in the context of the films as they exist, but I'm just thinking in "what if"s...
Anakin really never had a chance to be unique. He was surrounded by other heroes just like him, so why exactly was he special? Well, because he was the chosen one of course...
On a somewhat different note...the original trilogy (most directly in ANH) portrays the Jedi way as something very different than we see in the prequels. Luke's introduction to the Jedi Knights is very mystical, very mysterious, and although we never directly get a lot of details from the films, it's implied to us that the Jedi were more of a fringe group of peacekeepers, mysterious Knights who made infrequent appearances when needed and belonged to a strange religion with shrouded motives. The term "Knight" itself even gives us a different view, as it tends to conjure images of the Crusaders during the Holy Wars - and for all intents and purposes that's actually a pretty fair description of what we are given in the OT.
The prequels gave us a very different take on things. Instead of these wise, dark-aged crusaders who wielded longswords and kept peace through distant means, we instead had some sort of pacifist monks who occasionally flipped around with laser bats and were involved heavily in central galactic politics for some reason. And not only that, but their ways were open to pretty much everyone (Padme seems to have a very intimate understanding of the Jedi Order, for example, even before her relationship with Anakin). I find it hard to believe that in the short twenty years between ROTS and ANH, the Jedi were forgotten. They practically ran the entire galaxy with their presence beforehand. Okay, Palpatine destroyed records, burned the temple etc. Whatever, I'll buy that. But I'm fairly certain that there were a LOT of people who still remembered what Jedi were, from seeing them crawling all over the core worlds, a mere twenty years before.
Aaron Carter ain't around anymore either, but I sure as heck remember seeing him all over the place.
To be fair, Bib Fortuna seems to be remotely aware of the Jedi by the time of ROTJ, but Jabba's circles were typically pretty well-versed in the occult anyway.
All that to say...Jedi and the Force is good for Ep. VII, but do it in limitation, and do it in the spirit of the OT.
Basically, what I'm asking for...is to bring back the mysticism of the Jedi legend. I think we can all pretty much agree on that.
Sorry guys. It's late and I've been drinking, and now I'm thinking about Star Wars. :facepalm
Its a very important ingredient in it.. .you must add it to your sauce man!!!
