I like Midichlorians

[BrotherRool]

...in the Phantom Menace* as symbiotic life-forms that help people connect with the force.

It solves the problem I've always had with some people being force sensitive and others not for no particular reason. It felt like election in the worst sense. And the idea that some people could connect with the force because they were 'better' or something, reinforces the idea of smug Jedi.

Midichlorians solve that problem. It's not about the value of the person, there's natural causes that give some people opportunity to do fantastic things.

To me it doesn't destroy the magic of the force. Midichlorians aren't the force and they don't even generate it, they just help people connect with it. Something so mystical manifesting in the biological thats found in all life even adds to the awe factor for me.

And people connecting to the force through the assistant of microscopic things in a symbiotic relationship emphasises the balance and harmony and how power isn't found in the big brash darkside things.


So yeah, for me they fix something that would really bug me otherwise and only increases the Force's mystique.


I believe this is a view that's not shared by many others...


(Though they weren't presented particularly well in the film. Also I was 8 when the Phantom Menace came out so I'd didn't have the experience of having 20 years of previous conceptions overturned which might be flavouring my view a little)




----
*The EU was really silly about them. In the film Qui-Gon "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." and I assumed that the 'speaking to us' was metaphorical because they connect people with the force and the force is all about the universe wide interconnected harmony etc etc. But in the EU, no, they're sentient and are literally telling you things.

 

[Jayemsal]

It destroys the fantasy of the masses.

It turns the jedi into some kind of elite group of asshats, from being a wise collection of people who genuinely worked their asses off.

 

[King Billi]

Some people just prefer a completely made up magical explanation to a completely made up scientific explanation.

 

[Sandernista]

So then we could just create force-sensitives by injecting them with some medi-chlorians right?

I like is better when they're just a simple symptom of force-sensitivity.

 

[Images]

I just can't...no. Just no. You cannot take something beautiful and magical something that flows through rocks and trees, through everything and turn it into a matter of eugenics. Just...no.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Some people just prefer a completely made up magical explanation to a completely made up scientific explanation.

Still with the former. The magical explanation is more fun.

 

[Hoplon]

...in the Phantom Menace* as symbiotic life-forms that help people connect with the force.

It solves the problem I've always had with some people being force sensitive and others not for no particular reason. It felt like election in the worst sense. And the idea that some people could connect with the force because they were 'better' or something, reinforces the idea of smug Jedi.

Midichlorians solve that problem. It's not about the value of the person, there's natural causes that give some people opportunity to do fantastic things.

To me it doesn't destroy the magic of the force. Midichlorians aren't the force and they don't even generate it, they just help people connect with it. Something so mystical manifesting in the biological thats found in all life even adds to the awe factor for me.

And people connecting to the force through the assistant of microscopic things in a symbiotic relationship emphasises the balance and harmony and how power isn't found in the big brash dark side things.


So yeah, for me they fix something that would really bug me otherwise and only increases the Force's mystique.


I believe this is a view that's not shared by many others...


(Though they weren't presented particularly well in the film. Also I was 8 when the Phantom Menace came out so I'd didn't have the experience of having 20 years of previous conceptions overturned which might be flavouring my view a little)

The problem is that they turn it from being the mind is receptive to the universe to "why isn't everybody infected with these things" Trying to anchor it in any sort of science is foolish since it will always present more problems than it solves.

 

[crudus]

It solves the problem I've always had with some people being force sensitive and others not for no particular reason. It felt like election in the worst sense. And the idea that some people could connect with the force because they were 'better' or something, reinforces the idea of smug Jedi.

It doesn't solve the problem. It just moves it one step higher. Ok so force sensitives have more Midichlorians (...why is that word in my computers spell checker?), cool. It does explain why some people are force sensitive and some aren't. It isn't just arbitrary! Ok, so why do some people have more Midichlorians than other people? ...A wizard did it? It is still (seemingly) completely arbitrary just with one more link in the chain.

I like them in the sense that they are a way to measure how much force flows through someones body. They don't cause the force. They are just there to feed off of it(for lack of a better way of putting it). More force, more midichlorians!

 

[piinyouri]

I personally just don;t like how it clashes with the already established themes of the universe.
It was a science-fiction solution for a fantasy world.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I've never had a problem with it, but maybe that's because I was really into the (pre-PT) EU as a kid, and I remember how the Jedi Academy trilogy all but explicitly stated that force sensitivity is a genetic trait. Which, come to think of it, so did the original trilogy.

Seriously, of all the complaints about the prequels, this one is the silliest.

 

[Casual Shinji]

It's a measurement of the mystical. It's like wizards only being able to perform magic due to special bloodcells. It completely destroys the concept of the Force/magic being beyond the physical.

What was it Yoda said, "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter"?

 

[shrekfan246]

I've never had a problem with it, but maybe that's because I was really into the (pre-PT) EU as a kid, and I remember how the Jedi Academy trilogy all but explicitly stated that force sensitivity is a genetic trait. Which, come to think of it, so did the original trilogy.

Seriously, of all the complaints about the prequels, this one is the silliest.

But it didn't have a name before then, so it was all mystical space magic before, which was somehow better even though people love to complain when things like that go unexplained. ¬_¬

Yeah, I never had any issue with the midichlorians thing. Just struck me as how they determine how Force-sensitive a person was to help decide on their training.

Captcha: "get over it". Huh...

 

[FalloutJack]

I dunno. It removes the zen and proves that Mitochondria Eve made it to the stars, which is a scary thought.

 

[Kingjackl]

Like everything people complained about with the prequels, I didn't let it bother me because I was around 7 when I first watched the Phantom Menace (6 when I first watched New Hope, equal love for both at the time).

Besides, I thought the idea was that everybody had midichlorians, it was just some individuals who had more and were therefore more 'Force-sensitive'. That kind of makes sense, and it doesn't mean that it's impossible for an individual with a low midichlorian count to be a Jedi. It's just easier for people with high ones.

 

[Radoh]

Hey, you got your DBZ power levels in my Star Wars.
I hate DBZ power levels and I was glad that when I got into the show it was no longer a thing.

 

[Galen Marek]

It doesn't solve the problem. It just moves it one step higher. Ok so force sensitives have more Midichlorians (...why is that word in my computers spell checker?), cool. It does explain why some people are force sensitive and some aren't. It isn't just arbitrary! Ok, so why do some people have more Midichlorians than other people? ...A wizard did it? It is still (seemingly) completely arbitrary just with one more link in the chain.

I like them in the sense that they are a way to measure how much force flows through someones body. They don't cause the force. They are just there to feed off of it(for lack of a better way of putting it). More force, more midichlorians!

I get where your coming from, why is it that some people have more then another. A solid question. But at that point you have to take it from a genetic stance. Why are some children darker/taller/thinner, ect.

Not all aspects of life are controlled. That does actually support people liking the "they are just force sensitive" side, but it also supports those that like the idea of the midichlorians (as described from OP).

We also know to a point that they are kinda passed down like genetics (if your taller you can possibly pass that gene, as with midichlorians (anakin -> luke and leia), its possible, but not garunteed).

Either way, each to their own. I agree as the OP describes them, thats how I've always considered them and I like the idea of them. But if someone doesn't, they can think about it and like it the way they want.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

It turned the Jedi from a bunch of Zen Warrior Monks into a eugenics program.

Way to fuck up spiritual enlightenment Lucas.

 

[Schmeiser]

Hey, you got your DBZ power levels in my Star Wars.
I hate DBZ power levels and I was glad that when I got into the show it was no longer a thing.

Power levels were never a thing in DBZ, they were always useless.

I always thought the Force was something only enlightened people could obtain, like buddhist monks. You train, you train, you study the wold you become one with the world. Then you realize everything is connected and this Force is all around you, intangible to others, but you can see it, direct it even control it. Atleast i got that from Yodas training with Luke, saying it's all due to midichlorians when midichlorians aren't even acknowledged in the prequels is just lazy writing and hurrying up the script.