Last Jedi Official Teaser Trailer is Here!

[Reverend]

Clearly the Lucas of the late 90s changed his mind about that though.

If the Mortis story is anything to go by, he most assuredly did not.
Actually think about it for a second. What happened in that story? We saw ancient force wielders who believed that the purpose of the chosen one was to "balance" their two embodiments of the light and the dark. To act as a fulcrum to bend the force to his will. But what actually happened? The Father could not control the Son and the Daughter was destroyed in the process. And of course the "Chosen One" displayed free will and opted not to conform to a role others chose for him.

This is a clear metaphor for the folly of seeing the universe as a simple binary scale that can be manipulated and that evil can be tolerated if brought to heel.
There is no "grey" between these two because evil cannot be controlled or harnessed. The dark will always try to possess and consume. Always.

 

[fireproof78]

You guys are forgetting one thing here. Money is the deciding factor. As long as Disney can make money by cranking out movies there will never be balance brought to the force.

As opposed to all the video games, novels, comics, action figures, etc. that LFL was doing before the Disney buyout?

 

[KennyB]

I think the words Bendu and grey will be words that have significantly more meaning as we approach December............

 

[sojourner]

As opposed to all the video games, novels, comics, action figures, etc. that LFL was doing before the Disney buyout?

What do you mean "as opposed"? I don't recall balance ever being brought to the force before the buyout either.

 

[fireproof78]

What do you mean "as opposed"? I don't recall balance ever being brought to the force before the buyout either.

It's not unique to Disney is my point.

 

[sojourner]

It's not unique to Disney is my point.

Did I say it was?

 

[Set Harth]

The "light side" is the proper use of it in harmony with its natural state and flow.

The light side is not 'proper use', it is a part of the Force. We can see this from the TLJ trailer alone, not to mention all the other places it comes up.

The Force is just The Force.

Everything is itself, but is that a particularly meaningful statement? Is the mathematical equation X = X particularly useful or insightful? What you really mean is that the Force cannot be subdivided into components, but you have no basis for such an assumption. Anything can be subdivided. The Force is no different, it benefits from no special exemption to this principle.

The dark side is a mindset, a methodology

Nope, it's a part of the Force. TFA and TLJ only reinforce this.

Clearly the Lucas of the late 90s changed his mind about that though.

That never happened. Lucas didn't change his mind about the Force, fans made up their own version of the Force and then accused Lucas of changing things when the franchise didn't play along.

 

[Venardhi]

I was referring only to how the force is presented in the OT. Whatever drafts came before or additions made by the prequels or sequels are not relevant to those statements.

 

[Set Harth]

Everything I've said is entirely consistent with the OT, while your version is not actually 'presented' in the OT but inferred by fans.

And of course the early drafts are relevant, because they inform our understanding of Lucas' concept of the Force. The OT contradicted precisely nothing about the nature of the Force as expressed in those drafts, and we know from source material detailing the OT production that the relevant aspects of that view of the Force were still considered accurate when those films were made.

 

[fireproof78]

Did I say it was?

It was the implication.

 

[sojourner]

It was the implication.

Nope, it was your interpretation.

 

[fireproof78]

Nope, it was your interpretation.

Fair enough

 

[Venardhi]

Everything I've said is entirely consistent with the OT, while your version is not actually 'presented' in the OT but inferred by fans.

And of course the early drafts are relevant, because they inform our understanding of Lucas' concept of the Force. The OT contradicted precisely nothing about the nature of the Force as expressed in those drafts, and we know from source material detailing the OT production that the relevant aspects of that view of the Force were still considered accurate when those films were made.

It isn't like this is a cut and dry thing. The canon has been inconsistent at best with the nature of the Force, especially before the EU purge. It all depends very much on your point of view, as one Jedi might put it. I prefer my interpretation, you prefer yours, luckily we don't have a holy land to fight over.

 

[Ithekro]

The Death Star blew that up.

 

[Reverend]

I think a lot of the confusion comes from people mistaking a given character's or in-universe doctrines' interpretation with some kind of objective fact.

The force is meant to be a mystery. Nobody has it all figured out. The Jedi, the Sith, Bendu, the Guardians of the Whills & the myriad sects of Jedha, even the likes of the Priestesses and the Force Wielders of Mortis all have differing viewpoints, opinions and dogmas about how it works, why it is and what the point of it all is.
Some of the disagreements are stark and obvious, some of them are very subtle. Just like with real world religions.