Star Wars: The Big Reveal

Everyone knows that Vader is Luke's father. Here's a little recap in case you have forgotten how the big reveal really went down, "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away":




But what if the Big Reveal had taken place not-so-long ago, in a television studio near you:

MP: Hi, welcome back. I'm Maury Povich and today's special guest is Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith.
DV: Glad to be here today.
MP: Now, Mr. Vader
DV (interupting): Please, call me Lord Vader, or just Lord
MP: Very well, Mr. Vader
DV: LORD Vader
MP: Mr. Vader, no need to get angry
DV: Don't make me force throttle you!
MP: Anyway, we'd like to bring out someone special from your past.
DV (nervously): Padme, uh, what are you doing here? It's been like a year since we broke up.
PA: No, WE didn't break up. YOU broke up with ME.
DV: Baby, I'm sorry, but you gotta understand. It wouldn't have worked out. You were fighting for galactic freedom, and I was aspiring to be the supreme ruler of the universe
PA: Whatever, I'm over it now. That's not why I'm here.
DV: I'll say your over it. You sure didn't waste anytime. A child, even...
PA: What are you talking about? Did Maury tell you why you're on the show?
DV: He told me enough. He told me Obi-Won is the father.
PA: No. You are the father.
DV: NOOOOOOOOOO!
PA: Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
MP: That's right, Mr. Vad- (choking) okay, okay, sorry, LORD Vader, please stop choking me...
DV: Very well
MP: The real topic for today's show is "My Baby-Daddy is an Evil Super-Villain, and I want my Child Support"
DV: Its, its, impossible! You can't prove nothin'
PA: He even looks like you.
DV: Impossible. I won't pay. You can't make me
(audience): Maury! Maury! Maury!
(Cut to commercial)

Star Wars Apologetics

a·pol·o·get·ics  (ə-pŏl'ə-jět'ĭks)   
n. (used with a sing. verb) 

1. 
   
   The branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines.
2. Formal argumentation in defense of something, such as a position or system.
   

So the other day I discovered that scientists named a recently discovered bacterial species after midi-chlorians (from Star Wars). I saw a discussion about it and one of the comments was something along the lines of "Great, now I'm going to have to pretend it doesn't exist, too." 

A sentiment (and one of many criticisms of the prequel trilogy) that seems to be common among many SW fans is that there is a big anachronism between how the Force is described in the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy. viz.:

In ANH (A New Hope, Episode IV) Obi-Wan Kenobi explains the Force to young Luke Skywalker thus:

The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

 However, in TPM (The Phantom Menace, Episode I), Qui-Gon Jinn explains to young Anakin Skywalker that: 

Without the midi-chlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. They continually speak to us, telling us the will of the Force. When you learn to quiet your mind, you'll hear them speaking to you.

Essentially, they were a symbiotic bacteria that lived inside the cells of all creatures, etc. 


Right from the start, looking at the two quotes, I can see a distinct difference. Obi-Wan was talking about the Force, itself, while Qui-Gon was explaining how it is possible to feel the Force. But as I was thinking about this at work this morning, I didn't have the luxury of having the quotes right in front of me so I realized something along a different line of thought. When Qui-Gon was explaining the Force, he was living in the Golden Age of the Republic where knowledge flowed freely and technology was continually advancing. While Obi-Wan was explaining it, the universe had more-or-less fallen into a "Dark Ages" similar to the Medieval Era of European history. A lot of the former knowledge had been forgotten or tainted, descended into realms of legend or myth, while the advent of technology had stagnated. Whether Obi-Wan, in his old age, simply forgot the previous light and knowledge he once had as a Jedi Knight in the Golden Age of the Republic, or he purposefully withheld the more complete and advanced information regarding the Force, it is unclear but if it was the latter, like I suspect it probably would be, the circumstances they were in were obviously not ideal for an in-depth lesson on history, science, etc., a much simpler, basic answer was sufficient for their needs. They were en route to the enemy base to go on a fool-hardy mission to rescue a princess from the enemy while they were on the ship of a smuggler that they had met earlier that day. Luke needed basic lessons on how to listen to the force and use a light-saber, not a detailed lesson on why they can hear the force. He needed a how not why explanation and I think Obi-Wan did a fine job of it, given the circumstances.


(P.S. if you can't tell, I'm one of the type of fans who actually really liked the prequel trilogy. Yes, I understand the negatives {Jar-Jar Binks must die!} but as a whole, I thought they were good to round out the story. Also, I'm also a fan of the changes GL made for the 1995 re-release and the DVD release. As GL has said, the changes he made were what he would have done had he had the resources back then. The DVD version is the version he had envisioned all along.)

Star Wars in Concert...

was FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went down to Sacramento this weekend to visit family and deliver things to people (baby swing to sister, infant car seat to sister-in-law, christmas tree to friend, quilts to aunt, etc.) Friday evening as we were driving to our destination for the night, Corrina heard an advertisment for something called Star Wars in Concert thaat was playing @ Arco Arena that night (Friday) @ 8pm and Saturday afternoon @ 3pm. When we got to Corrina's aunt's house where we were staying for the night, her aunt said something about it being a laser light show set to star wars music...sounded cool enough, really tempting. Then Corrina read in the newspaper that it was actually an 84 piece orchestra w/ choir playing John William's music from the Star Wars saga with a 3 story screen that they were playing scenes from all 6 episodes from in chronological order...with Sir Anthony Daniels as the narrator (for those who don't know, he played C-3PO in all six episodes). That sounded super-cool so I called Arco Arena up on Saturday morning to see if there were tickets still available and they say yes there is and the doors open 2 hours early because there was going to be a bunch of displays of things from the movies on display for people to look at. How could you pass something like that up?! This is a once in a lifetime type thing and they are only playing in 55 cities on the tour. So I make the exectuive decision to take the family to it.

(The one time we don't bring our cameras to Sacramento is the one time I wish we had...It was supposed to be a short trip we didn't think we would need them)

It, like I mentioned above, was FREAKING AWESOME! We got our pictures taken with someone dressed like Darth Vader (For those that know what it is, all the characters in costume there were members of the 501st Legion) (awesome!). They had tons of props, including Han Solo in carbonite, various blasters and light sabers, imperial helmets, ewok costumes, Boba Fett costume, etc. (awesome!) They had the voice of Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) be the announcer (awesome!). At the very beginning, they did the THX sound effect and the "20th Century Fox" fanfare (like at the beginning of all the movies) (double awesome!) There was a laser show incorporated into it (awesome!), pyrotechnics (awesome!), humor (awesome!). The music was awesome (awesome!), at times I forgot that it was being played live (awesome!). George Lucas was intimately involved in cutting and editing the video clips for the concert (awesome!). And for the encore, they played again the Darth Vader theme, but louder because they didn't have the video w/ sound effects/dialogue behind them (super double triple awesome!!!) I was half expecting for Vader himself to come out on stage and force-strangle someone :-) And the whole family loved it. Lara was dancing to the music, until she got tuckered out and fell asleep. I am most definately glad we went!