RUMOR General Star Wars: The Last Jedi News & Rumors Thread

Sure fun to think of how much force one can use, but in the cinematic world, I'm guessing it doesn't fly. That's why as you say, some may have been wondering way back when about such things, but George never included those type of scenes.

I guess that's why they keep them for anything goes video games.

 

I already think kylo and rey were ridiculously overpowered in TFA so you're preaching to the choir on that one.

 

You're right on that one, and I seriously hope they address how force sensitives have evolved to the point of stopping lasers in midair while concentrating on something else.

 

It's impossible to deny the
Mythological aspects of Star Wars. Lucas always intended SW to be a mythology for post modern America. In a Greek pagan sense. I think this is a misinterpretation of that sort of thing though SW is more about ancient mythology from around the whole world. It has a lot less to do with Abrahamic or modern Eastern Religions.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 23, 2016, Original Post Date: Oct 23, 2016 ---

Mythology is the underpinning for all emotional and metaphysical beliefs which is what makes us human, in my view. Hence the reason Star Wars is so appealing to the imaginative.

 

Thanks, did not know that. Didn't even fathom that the title was halfway referring to this.

 

Maybe, maybe not. I'm no scholar or Theist and I don't know what was in GL's mind when writing SW but some of the schools of thought you see less of in SW I see lots of!

This would be something interesting to discuss but would best suit one of the philosophy threads so I'll just include a quick list of some things I see in reply:

Abrahamic

• SW uses step and inverted parallelism - conceptual rhyming techniques utilised in the scrolls from Abrahamic traditions. See starwars.com and logosmadeflesh.com.
• Prophets and desert themes.
• Temptations from the Dark side and from fallen Dark Lords.
• Prophecies of Chosen One's.
• Themes of fathers, sons, and patriarchy.
• Anakim - plural for a race of giants in the Hebrew Bibile (Genesis 6:4).
• Endor - a place in the Hebrew Bible (Joshua 17:11) where they worship golden gods (like C3PO).
• Ezra - Jewish scribe of a scroll in the Hebrew Bible. Name means "help".
  
• Kanan - Canaan is the main setting of the narrative of the Hebrew Bible.

Eastern

• Taoism speaks of:
  • Yin and Yang as Light and Dark sides within.
  • Practices for achieving longevity or immorality.
  • Wu wei - Chapter 63 of the Tao Te Ching “act without doing; work without effort” a concept similar to Light side Force flow.
• Hinduism and it's offshoots Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism emphasise:
  • Meditation.
  • Tolerance and diversity: “truth is one, paths are many.”
  • The origin of suffering being attachment.
  • Avoiding violence.
• Padme - means “lotus” in Sanskrit.

Judeo-Christian

• Parthenogenesis as immaculate conception - Jesus/Anakin? (Not an uncommon concept in history e.g. Buddha, Krishna, Ra, Horus, Osiris, Hercules, Dionysos etc.)
• Prophecy fulfillment.
• Sacrifice through unconditional love.
• Darth Sidious as an Antichrist figure (gains power through deception and rules under a pretence of goodness and peace).

 

I agree! There are definetely a lot of Eastern religions' and cultures' influences.
You have hit some major points. I don't have time for a long post now, but just a few things to add quickly.

Unconditional compassion and serenity are absolutely central to Buddhism. Being compassionate to all living beings which are seen as equal is a central idea, etc. Spiritual transformation is a key thing. Plenty of examples when even a murderer can be redeemed if he is able to see through the illusions of reality and reach enlightenment. (The most prominent example is of the serial murderer Angulimala). Acquiring wisdom (knowledge and insight into the true nature of reality) is a central goal of the Buddhist practice.

Spiritual transformation is also central to Daoisim.

Small (but quite important to us religious scholars) corrections. And I add a few other small things.

Buddhism and Jainism are definetely NOT offshoots of Hinduism. (Hinduism is rather quite influenced by Jainism and Buddhism as it is in fact a later emerged religious tradition.)
Perhaps you were thinking of Brahmanism, but then again they are also not offshoots of Brahmanism either. Buddhism and Jainism were two shramanic (ascetic) traditions rather emerged as a reaction against Brahmanism, so they cannot be called it's offshoots either.

One thing that is notable is that Buddhism is the first monastically organised religious tradition the community of which follow a religious code of conduct.
Non-violence is shared by Buddhism and Jainism. (I would really not say it is true about Hinduism.)
The origin of suffering being attachment is a Buddhist tenet.

And of course, Buddhism and in particular, Zen Buddhism, which used a unique combination of martial arts, meditation and other spiritual practices has influenced the idea of the jedi knights who are spiritual warriors of sorts. (Zen Buddhism has also influenced the path of the warrior (bushido) - samurai, etc.)

The whole idea about the Force is quite influenced by Daoism, more Zhuangzi than Laozi (I should say) where balance and being one with Dao and in harmony with the nature that surrounds us and all living beings, etc are apparent influences for the SW Force lore...

The concept about the guru (or the teacher) who teaches a disciple is also an apparent Indian religious influence.
(Yoda for example is a combination of Zhuangzi (Daoism) and a crazy Zen monk (a common trope in East Asian Buddhism)).

I'm sure there are quite a few more. But, in short, yes, they are definetely there and the influences are not a few and I believe are quite intentional.

 

Sorry for the hijack. I diverted my reply to a general movie discussion thoughts, philosophy, and techniques thread to free up this space for Episode VIII news and rumours.

 

yeah personally I do not think of religion in terms "Theism" which is rather abstract and in my view meaningless.but I have to admit I am slightly bias towards native Greco-Roman pagan beliefs over Christianity at least philosophically speaking. I was referring to the influence of Joseph Campbell a mythology scholar. But I see how comparisons can be drawn as you say.

 

Ive thought on this stopping the laser thing. It bothered me at first, but I have reconciled it.

Stopping the laser is basically a waste of energy. Vader wouldnt do it and Palps wouldnt do it either . . . even though they could both do it without any problem. It would require them to maintain a connection with the object which I think they both would find to be a petty nuisance and quite tiresome. Ren on the other hand is still actively trying to prove his worth and build a reputation, so he holds the bolt for all to see. Really its just man vs. teenager. All style points, no substance.

 

I don't think there were too many normal folks in the audience thinking about force power levels when Kylo stopped the shot midair... they were mostly thinking
OMG OMG OMG OMG THAT'S SO COOOOL!

 

THIS x1000.

 

Luke Skywalker, potentially the most powerful Jedi ever (apart from his Da who went to the darkside and had important knowledge held back from him by his master) could totally bring down a Star Destroyer with the force and still be pushed to the limits - the danger to oneself and others of wielding that power is unimaginable. The psychological blowback would be huge - having that power and not letting the darkside get too much hold of you - that's the challenge.

Slightly off topic but in Dark Empire (Legends) he crushed the front of an AT-AT using the force and I thought that was pretty cool.

 

Have you guys hear this ?

 

yep

https://twitter.com/chriskardos

 

http://makingstarwars.net/2016/10/r...iii-the-first-order-executioner-stormtrooper/

Looks like we will see some new Stormtrooper designs in VIII.
I like the Executioner's design, but I was hoping that Captain Phasma would have a more prominent role. The inclusion of another unique Stormtrooper worries me a bit, because his screentime could be used to develop Phasma a bit more. I'm still excited though. We'll have to see how it all plays out.
I'm very excited for the First Order Royal Guards. I think they will be protecting Snoke!

 

Uh yeah, can someone hurry up and spoil episode VIII for me? That would be great...

 

Yes round 2 with Finn.

Sorry you'll have to wait a year & 2 months before we can do that.
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