PT Do you think the Midi-chlorian concept gets more hate than it actually deserves?

I also viewed the midichorians as a symbol of the relationship between the Nabooans and the Gungans. The midicholrians are supposed to serve as some kind of symbiote between the Force and all living beings. Both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had discussed symbiosis and connection to the Gungans near the film's beginning, explaining that they need to connect with the Nabooans in order to survive and possibly repel the threat of the Trade Federation. In the end, Padme came to this conclusion and with Jar Jar, formed a connection between the two groups for the final battle against the enemy.

 

Yes. The Gungans live below the surface in the watery depths, and the Naboo live far above the surface in their cliff-top cities. It takes someone like the Queen--who comes to have a connection with both--to serve as a mediating influence between the two peoples, much like the midi-chlorians serve as a mediating influence connecting living beings both to each other and to the larger Force.

This is the key shot in the film communicating this point, IMO:



Consequentially, this is the exact moment the Queen resolves to return to Naboo to form an alliance with the Gungans.

It is interesting that there are two sides to the Queen just as there are two sides to Naboo society. There are the instinctual Gungans living down below, and there are the intellectual Naboo living up above. The Queen, too, is split between her warm, personable Padme persona and her colder, more reserved Amidala persona. It's notable that she manages to win the allegiance of the Gungans by finally revealing her dual nature and, in a sense, merging her two personas into one for the final act.

Throughout the course of the film we find that the Gungans resent the Naboo for thinking "day brains so big," while the Naboo keep their distance from the Gungans for their primitive, war-like ways. Yet in the end, in order to survive, the societies must cooperate and combine their strengths with each other in order to off-set each of their own weaknesses. The Gungans provide a skilled army with tactical knowledge, while the Naboo provide a subtle plan based on strategic thinking. Neither can succeed without the other. Neither is inherently superior, but either one on their own is inferior.

This merging of the intellectual side of Naboo society with the instinctual side of Naboo society; of the high queen with the lowly handmaiden; of the serious, no-nonsense Panaka with the goofy, childish Jar Jar Binks; of the logical brain with the emotional heart, goes to the core of what the Force is all about.

 

Do you have a source from prior to 1983?

If Bill Belichick says that John Doe is the most gifted football player he's ever seen, would you really need to know the guy's height, weight, 40 time, etc.? Or is it enough that the "Yoda of the NFL" says the guy's a once in a lifetime talent?

A 900 year old Jedi Master saying something like "A stronger presence with the Force I have never felt" wouldn't be enough to support that Anakin is unique? Is it necessarily to invent microorganisms to explain it?

 

Well, for one thing, that wouldn't really fit with the original trilogy. Why wouldn't Vader immediately sense Leia's presence in the Force in ANH and TESB? That doesn't seem to be how it works. You can only sense how strongly a person is using the Force at any given moment. There's no indication you can just automatically sense what their full potential is. And besides that, I think the story benefits from having something more solid and objective on which to base the proposition that Anakin is something truly special and strange above and beyond any Jedi before him. Something more than one of the characters saying, "Gee whiz, my internal Jedi power-sensing meter is throbbing like crazy, guys!" There needs to be something that provides evidence that this kid is not just super-powerful, but may be literally god-born, and the midi-chlorians provide that evidence.

But the main reason midi-chlorians were necessary is because Lucas wanted to use them to communicate a theme, just as I outlined in my previous post. Could he have theoretically done it another way? Yeah, maybe. But he didn't want to. There are any number of things in the films that could have theoretically been done another way. So what? All this arguing about whether or not a given plot element is "necessary" isn't very meaningful. It's just an easy (not to mention utterly subjective) way to invalidate plot elements you don't like while giving all the plot elements you do like a free pass.

 

I was baffled the first time I learned that midi-chlorians were viewed as one of the big "problems" with the PT. I'd never even had an opinion on them before because they aren't even really explored as a concept in the movies outside of the fact that they exist. And nothing in the couple lines of dialog that mentions them has ever seemed like a big deal to me. It's not like they're the source of the Force which seems to be some people's objection, they just are good at communicating with it. Basically the Force speaks to the midi-chlorians and then the midi-chlorians "speak" to you, if you're listening(and at least to some degree you can speak back, however that works). So more midi-chlorians means a louder "voice" that's easier to "hear", to the point where even an untrained individual can act on what they might perceive as a gut instinct without understanding what's going on. A calm and clear mind helps you to establish a connection. The idea of "Force Sensitives" existed before the PT and implies the existence of Force not-so-sensitives, even though the Force flows through all living things(I would argue that a being without midi-chlorians would still be connected to the Force on some level, but every living thing has midi-chlorians so it's a moot point). Even if the Prequels had never introduced the concept of midi-chlorians, characters like Chirrut would still exist. I don't see the issue with the idea that Chirrut and Baze don't have a midi-chlorian count consistent with the average Jedi, but still wish to learn about what amounts to a higher power as much as they can, and that the Jedi of Jedha would be happy to oblige people of that ilk. When they're captured by Saw's partisans, Chirrut prays for the door to open. Baze thinks that's silly, and Chirrut responds that "it bothers him because he knows it's possible". Presumably they've seen Force powers in action before, Chirrut doesn't have the midi-chlorians necessary to perform such a feat himself, but he knows it's not the midi-chlorians that lift the door, it's the Force, so he just resorts to asking the Force out loud. It doesn't work but in Chirrut's mind theoretically it could have. I also feel like it's implied that Chirrut's meager force abilities are enhanced because he isn't distracted/deceived by the power of sight, like a permanent training session with the blast shield down. So even if the "voice" he hears is much quieter than what Anakin or Luke are dealing with, he still picks up enough to, combined with his other senses, be aware enough of his surroundings that he can even fight at a high level. Anyways I'm up waaaay too late so I'm going to stop here while my post is hopefully still mostly readable. I'll try to clean up any additional thoughts tomorrow.

 

First of all, Force users have sensed other Force users several times throughout the saga, even without being able to physically see them. Vader sensed OWK on the Death Star and later sensed Luke's Force strength while tailing him during the trench run.

Second, Leia's not the Chosen One, is she? She shouldn't have the same powerful presence as Anakin, which is actually part of the point.

There's more indication of that in the OT than microscopic beings in your bloodstream having anything to do with the Force.

Well, we already have a virgin birth, so there's that. And there a couple billion people - IN THE REAL WORLD - who believe Jesus was divine without any kind of specific measuring stick on his power, just anecdotes. But a group of Jedi Masters being awed by what they see in Anakin isn't enough?

I'm reminded of a line from Good Will Hunting: "You're right, Will. I can't do this proof. But you can and when it comes to that it's only about... it's just a handful of people who can tell the difference between you and me. But I'm one of them."

IMO, something like that coming from Yoda or Mace would be much better than midicholrians.

We're discussing plot points in old movies about fictional people in another galaxy. None of this meaningful.

 

Vader has a pre-existing and long-established connection to Obi-Wan, and he isn't sensing his power, just his presence.

When he senses that the Force is strong with Luke, Luke is using the Force to commune with Obi-Wan.

She's the offspring of the Chosen One. She has the same potential as him, just like Luke. What's the point again?

No, there's zero indication of either.

No.

I can't help but see this as deliberately missing the point of what I was saying.

They were necessary in order to communicate the theme Lucas wanted to communicate in the way he wanted to communicate it. You don't think they're necessary because you don't care about any of that. Well, that's fine. But clear, detailed reasons have been given for them being in the movie. You may not like the reasons, but they are there. So at this point, arguing that they weren't "necessary" is essentially the same thing as you just saying you don't like them. And I think we already know that by now. So maybe a different line of argument would be more fruitful.

 

But both scenarios establish that one Force sensitive person can identify another Force sensitive person. Vader even talks about "a tremor in the Force" when telling Tarkin and Co. that OWK is on the Death Star. Taking that a step further in the PT and having QGJ and the other Jedi Masters talk about how the Force radiates from Anakin like they have never felt before would be very consistent with the OT - much more so than midichlorians. That (along with the virgin birth thing) is all you really need to effectively sell the audience that Anakin is the so-called Chosen One.

Just because she's the offspring of the CO doesn't necessarily mean she has all of his potential. Secretariat, who still holds the record for all three Triple Crown races almost 50 years after his prime, sired dozens of offspring in his stud years. None inherited the same talent he had.

The title of this thread refers to the significant criticism of the midichlorians by SW fans. I don't hate the concept, but I think the "Anakin is special" point could have been made in a better way.

It could have gone like this:

QGJ: "I have encountered a vergence in the Force."

Yoda: "A vergence, you say?"

Mace Windu: "Located around a person?"

QGJ: "A boy....

I think they should have kept going with the vergence thing and kept biology out of it.

 

That may be a small reason for the midichlorians but that really doesn't seem to be Lucas's main reason.

 

But Lucas didn't want to keep the biology out of it. He liked the biological metaphor. The biological metaphor was necessary to the story he wanted to tell. It's the whole point of the movie.

 

Double post.

 

My personal opinion is that midichlorians do get a bit too much hate--the OT already implied a genetic element to the Force with it running strong in some families, so this is merely explaining what that is. That being said, I can see why people were thrown off by it as it is a bit of a wordy concept when just saying 'I sense unparalleled Force potential within him!' might have sufficed.

 

That's right. Via certain circumstance. The first person either has to be familiar with the second person, or the latter has to be using the Force in order to be sensed.

Has Lucas ever hinted this through families other than the Skywalkers?

 

There is zero reason to believe the Force is hereditary only when it comes to Skywalkers.

 

I personally dislike the concept of Midichlorians, but not for the reasons that are often stated. I'm fully aware they are not a replacement of the Force. I understand that but it's still an unnecessary concept used for the sole purpose of making Anakin important in the Prequels. As if being the future Darth Vader, father of Luke and Leia, destroyer of the Jedi Order, and enforcer of the Emperor wasn't important enough...

What possible reason did Lucas have to even go in this direction with the Force? Was there a clamoring to understand how the Force works on a physical level?

It's so utterly replaceable within the confines established in the OT. Instead of saying that people have high midi counts - simply replace with "They are unusually strong in the Force" or that the Force surrounds this person in a way they never see. A movie example I can think of is how in the Matrix - when Neo looks at Seraph - he has a "unique code" and appears golden. Or how in KOTOR - you have "Force Sight" and can see/sense things differently. Why not just do that instead of adding this unnecessary biological aspect? It'll bring the same outcome desired story-wise.

To me it's like explaining how the Wizards of Middle Earth physically connect to Eru. Would that even been needed?

No need to create this concept of Anakin being a Jedi Messiah (an idea not really explored in the prequel films). No need to invent this new idea of Jedi now being genetic anomalies in the galaxy. Literally - they don't add anything that simply talking about the Force couldn't have added. The Midichlorians are quite literally the "middle man" in its execution on film.

It does change the "mysticism" of the Force and the Jedi as a whole. To me? It changes it for the worse. Not in the way that it is often argued but in other ways - - -

For example:

It turns Jedi into Pokemon. They have power levels now... The implication in the OT is that Yoda is very powerful because of his wisdom, his knowledge, and his advanced age allowing him to be a Jedi through the ages. The vibe I got is that he had reached a state of enlightenment that an aspiring Jedi like Luke was not close to. It's why he understood that lifting the X-Wing was not about power levels, but rather unlearning mentally/spiritually limiting ideas. The same way that Morpheus was teaching Neo in the first movie about "you think that's air you're breathing?" and "Don't think you are ... know you are." It was always about belief and being mentally strong.

Yoda even says that we're luminous/spiritual beings. The implication being that the source of our power is from the spirit - not from microbes that allow us to "communicate" with the spirit world. So ... why the need for Midi? What is the point of this element? If Lucas was so determined to explain how we can manipulate the Force - why not simply move even further with his pseudo Buddhism? Why not say that one has to reach a state of enlightenment and seeing yourself as the luminous being you truly are? That fits more in line with Obi-Wan not being afraid to die because he had reached that understanding too. None of this has anything to do with microbes.

None of Yoda's wisdom was because he is a level 99 Yodachu.

Now - I know the counter argument is going to be "Why not both? Why not Yoda have a high Midi count AND his journey as a Jedi through the centuries turned him into what he was?" - because it's unnecessary when the latter worked on it's own.

Another aspect:

It turns the Jedi into Mages from Dragon Age or Mutants from X-Men. Unique blood-lines. Ok - fine. Even though very little in the OT implied that being a Jedi was so narrow.

Luke's line to Leia about it being "strong" in his family - to me - was never meant to be "The Force expresses itself via familial blood lines and we're especially potent!" but the same way a person who comes from a long line of coal miners may say "My ancestors were all coal miners. My daddy was a coal minder. I'm a coal miner. My kids will be coal miners. Coal is in our blood." - it's obvious the person does not mean they literally have coal in their bloodstream or that they are genetically tied to it. They simply mean it is important in the family line. And his reveal of "My sister has it..." - to me it was just his way of saying "You can be this too." That's it.

As this shows - this was not Lucas' original intent - - -

I know people will say "Then ... why isn't everyone and their mom telekinetically throwing around land speeders if everyone is a Force user?" For the same reason everyone on the planet isn't a Samurai - because it takes immense life consuming training? Because the practitioners of the Force are all wiped out?

As for why Obi-Wan didn't find some smuggler at Mos Eisley and turned him into a Jedi? Because he felt a responsibility to Luke and wanted to make right what he felt he had done wrong with Anakin. Luke was, in his eyes, a second chance to get it right.

The only "limitation" I ever thought of the Force was how strong-minded or weak-minded a person was. Someone like Bib Fortuna being weak minded would mean he'd barely be able to manipulate the Force but someone with a strong will like Luke or Leia could be masters of it.

Also - if it is genetic - it doesn't really make sense considering what we learn of the Jedi in the PT. If the Jedi cannot have offspring - then how are new Jedi appearing? If the argument is "random people across the cosmos are having children with high midi (in other words - their Force potential is random with every child)" - then how is that different from everyone having the potential to be a Force user?

Also (again) - I read the argument that just having high midi does not negate Jedi with low midi if they don't put in the effort, training, and will power. Really? Then what is the point of having the concept of Midi then?

So this circles back to my biggest issue - - - it's just so pointless. It literally adds very little and the little it adds could easily cut out the "middle man" and just replace it with the Force. It's not a surprise there is so much confusion on Midi = the Force amongst some of the fandom.

 

I think one problem with the Midichlorians is that they inject a bluntly physical element into what appeared to be a mostly/entirely philosophical, spiritual area.

Granted, the original trilogy didn't have the time or inclination to give us a lot of nuanced explanation of the Force, or Jedi training, but I do think it hinted at the idea that being in harmony with the Force, from the Light side, involved being in tune with "nature", with a driving hidden "force" behind how the Universe worked. It suggested a philosophical alignment - Light side espousing calmness, acceptance, stillness, "listening" to the will of the Force; Dark side about anger and will and dark emotion and corruption. There was the suggestion that becoming in tune with the Force had a moral component.

With the midichlorian concept, it was almost - almost - as if we were now being told that a simple blood test could measure your capacity for spirituality or enlightenment. It was just another physical trait, like blood sugar, or cholesterol levels. Spirituality or wisdom were less important than the measurable physical fact of your midichlorian count being "X". Yoda can't lift an X wing because he's wiser, more enlightened, as much as it's because of the presence of these "bacteria" (I know, not literally) in his cells.

I think that is a large part of why the midichlorian are so unsatisfying, for so many. It takes something mystical and mysterious and makes it physical and mundane.

 

It's worse than that, because in my opinion it trashes a beautifully simple and abstract concept. One of the reasons I think that Star Wars caught the imagination of the public back in the late 70's when I was a kid was because of "The Force" and the idea of "Use the Force" and "May the Force be With You" (no pun intended at the poster I am quoting) It was just such a simple, easily understood concept, even if was fictional.

People "got" it, and it entered the public consciousness almost like a worldwide meme before memes even became a thing. It was a masterstroke of audience participation. People were waving their hands at each other and pretending to use the Force. Kids tried to move things using just the power of their minds.

It was a beautiful concept that was sold to audiences as something anybody could do, and all they had to do was believe. It had a pure magic that went viral and really fired peoples' imagination.

So then by reducing this concept to a kind of quasi-biological thing restricted mostly to certain characters actually diminished that audience involvement I believe. I think that it is an alienating idea, perhaps more aimed at interesting sci-fi geeks and nerds, rather than a more universal, magical idea that everybody could play with.

It's George's story, but I think he made a mistake, and took a massive dump on his own legacy. He created something magical, and then made it actually rather mundane by inviting the audience to see behind the curtain.

 

Can I just drive by and say I voted yes? Never understood the midichlorian hate. It fit just fine for me into the mythos and the world of Star Wars.

 

Yes. To this day the hate midichlorians get baffles me, but I have a different perspective on it: science fascinates me. I mean, I'm no scientist, but I like the idea of science: that understanding the world around us grants us the power to change our lives. Biology, for example, goes in hand in hand with medicine, which allows us to defy death.

It helped that I had played Parasite Eve before seeing Episode 1, which involved Mitochondria allowing you to fire lasers our of your palm. So, when midichlorians were explained to be linked to the Force was like "yeah, that makes sense."

 

I wish that I had read your post before making mine. I have repeated points that you had already made quite eloquently.

 

Midi-chlorians as an explanation of the force was kinda like, "well, thanks for wasting so much of my time with Yods's boring, endless Dagobah scenes in Episode V, then.

 

Lucas's reasons were simple, he wanted to A) introduce the theme of symbiosis with regards to how everything is connected together and B) to establish why Anakin was unique among the Force users and how it would relate to his fall to the dark side.

QUI-GON: "The Force is unusually strong within him, that much is clear."

QUI-GON: "I have encountered a vergence in the Force."

Which is the point. There are levels to the Force. It's another example of the Force existing in all living things. As to Anakin being the Chosen One, it is rather simple. He is the one who is destined to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. That is why Palpatine wanted to turn him to the dark side. It is why Anakin chooses to run from his destiny and join the enemy.

Nothing is changed. In exploring what the Jedi were, Lucas introduced the idea that among their number were those who would approach the Force and their connection to it from a scientific point of view. Just like in the real world, science is used to explain away things of a spiritual/religious nature. Lucas doesn't discount anything you say. What he does is point out that the Jedi are aware of the physical aspects of the Force, but they aren't as obsessed with the power as they are with the knowledge that comes with it, which is the opposite of the Sith, who seek out physical power over enlightenment. It plays into why Palpatine would discard Vader in favor of Luke and why Luke is sought out by Vader.

Except Lucas did have the Jedi start out as descendants of one man, which is when he started to put an emphasis familiar bonds being part of the Jedi. The Sith were offshoots of a family member who found others who could use the Force and utilized them in his pursuit of conquest. Besides, most people would take what Luke said at face value and not pretzel twist it to be akin to "coal is in our blood". As to the rest of what you said, that's not changed. Everyone in the galaxy has Midichlorians. Some more than others. But only those tested by the Jedi are trained to be Jedi.

That's not changed either. It does show why Yoda and Obi-wan placed their faith in the children of Anakin, instead of raising an army of Jedi to fight back.

That's still true.

Some people are more in tune with the Force, which means that their ability to use it is stronger than others. Anakin's Midichlorian count is so high, that using the Force is second nature to him. He can do things faster and with more efficiency, than someone whose count is lower. But this backfires on him as he becomes lazy and complacent with his training, which is why Obi-wan states that his abilities make him arrogant and his skills with a Lightsaber are subpar compared to someone like Yoda. So when he finds out that he is not as strong as he thought, Anakin is driven to become all powerful and this feeds into his desire for power and leads to his descent to the dark side. Likewise, when he is injured and put into the suit, his connection is weakened due to his body being more machine than man. The Force is still with him, but his cybernetics are not living tissue. He's not "getting as clean a signal with a metallic body, as he would with flesh". He's now on par with Dooku, who was still powerful, but not more so than Palpatine.

 

This.

It really just deviates from everything Yoda/Obi-Wan established about the Force in their explanations of it. It just seems odd that this concept was never brought up to Luke, nor was Anakin being a Jedi messiah due in part to his blood.

Based off of what Yoda said regarding lifting the X-wing - it was clear that he was talking about will power and how Luke perceived things which limited him. The idea of "unlearning what you have learned" are spiritual concepts.

I couldn't agree more.

Another thing I dislike about it is - he didn't even utilize it properly to advance his story. If the Jedi are these unique beings ala Mutants from the Marvel universe - you'd think there would be more people that would hate and fear the Jedi. That would have played perfectly with Order 66 and why so few tried to help the Jedi during this. Because many distrust them and/or fear them. Instead, Jedi are treated in a really mundane way throughout the PT and treated more like a bureaucratic arm of the Republic and less like demi-gods.

A) Lucas already introduced that via the Naboo/Gungans. "You and the Naboo form a Symbiotic circle, what happens to to one of you will affect the other. You must understand this." There was literally no need to have it being shown AGAIN via the Jedi. In fact, it is reflected better with the Naboo/Gungans because they truly were symbiotic and needed each other's help and it was only by uniting that they won. What exactly is symbiotic about Midichlorians? We know what Force users gain from it but what does it gain from Force users?

B) I understand that. As I said, that was a peculiar choice to make considering there was no need to show that Anakin was "unique among the Force users". Nothing in the OT hinted that Anakin was a Jedi messiah. Anakin's role in the saga before all of this mess was his transforming into Darth Vader and bringing down the Jedi Order. There was no need to add this element at all.

It didn't even get explored in the PT. Anakin isn't treated uniquely by other Jedi. They don't seem to care about him at all. The only thing we got was Yoda, Mace, and Obi-Wan sometimes ominously talking about him and his role in things to come. Why even bring up this concept if Lucas wasn't going to explore it in the films? This is too important to leave to cartoons/novels/games.

Yep - which is what I am saying. This was all that was needed to be said and would work just as well, if not better in congruence with the OT. All that was needed was for Qui-Gon to state the Force was compelling him to bring Anakin into the Jedi Order in a way he's never felt before. There was no need to imply that Anakin had some special blood count.

We didn't need "another example of the Force existing in all living things". Yoda's explanation about luminary beings and the Force existing all around us or Obi-Wan stating how the Force binds us together is more than enough. That is my point about this - it didn't add anything to the Force or the explanation of it within the mythos of Star Wars.

I don't think it's simple when people are still arguing what "balance to the Force" really means. Plus, Anakin didn't "destroy the Sith" if Episode 9 of the saga has anything to say about this. Originally, Anakin's turn against Palpatine was not destiny. It was Luke's sacrifice and hope that his father was still there. Against all odds, Luke was able to reach through and bring Anakin back. To me - that is far more powerful than Anakin simply destined to reach that point.

Again - what purpose was there to use science to "explain away things of a spiritual/religious nature"? Why even lean so heavily on the spiritual side of things in the OT only to have it dismissed/diminished in the PT? So he could make some mundane point about symbiosis that he already made with the Naboo/Gungans?

Also, making a Midichlorian "count" is ultimately pointless. If the idea is that they wanted a physical mechanism to explain how organic beings are able to do incredible things - then they could have simply said that there is something in the bloodstream that allows being to manipulate objects via the Force. Why add a "count" to it? Because, for whatever reason, Lucas wanted Anakin to be some special type of Jedi. Something that was never referred to in the OT.

This doesn't even include the examples of non-organic beings manipulating the Force (admittedly this is only EU stuff). I just wonder how they're able to do it without Force microbes in their blood.

One man? How can that be possible when alien beings from across the galaxy are able to use the Force? It literally cannot come from one man unless you delve into pure supernatural aspects (Midichlorians not needed then) or this being "seeded" the galaxy and all life comes from him. Which doesn't explain, at all, how non-organic beings can utilize the Force.

I find it amusing that you would call it a "pretzel twist". I would argue the people twisting themselves into a pretzel are those using the retcon of the PT (a decades + later) to make what Luke say fit that ... It was obvious that this microbe stuff was not what they had in mind when Luke was talking to Leia in that scene. Again, that quote where Lucas talks to Kasdan proves my point. If this was his intent all along - why didn't Lucas simply tell Kasdan there is a genetic component to this and the Force was limited to those users only?

I didn't say anything changed ... I was addressing the argument of "If midichlorians weren't a thing then why did Obi-Wan wait for Luke to train him when he could have trained anyone else?"

I'm not saying it is untrue. I was addressing the criticism that there had to be "limitations" on the Force. We don't need midichlorians to be said limitation. The limitations can easily be will power or another number of spiritual/mental/esoteric concepts.

Ok, that's fine but that didn't address what I asked. It makes no sense that the Force is connected through genealogies but the Jedi Order (through their practice of abstaining from relationships) negatively impacts this. If anything - they are purposefully diminishing their own numbers. It's like in "Logan" where you find out that the Mutant gene was being suppressed through a chemical in the water supply. If the Jedi kept up this practice for thousands of years, they'd literally lower their numbers each generation. Yes - it's a big galaxy and there are plenty of bloodlines they could pick off that they didn't a generation ago, but it seems to run opposite to promulgating the Jedi.

 

I was never enamoured with the idea of the Force being biologically genetic. In the OT when Luke is telling Leia about the Force being “strong in my family”, it never really occurred to me before the prequels.

I always felt it better left a bit open to interpretation, sort of him saying something akin to “The Faith is strong in my family” i.e. they are strong believers in the Force, so the Force was naturally pre-disposed to being strong in them, as a family. That kind of thing. A more abstract and spiritual, meta-physical thing. I think the deliberate, shapeless ambiguity left it to the imagination of the viewer as to how exactly the Force might work.

 

But that's clearly not what was meant with that line, and your interpretation of it is completely nonintuitive. Even as a child, it was completely obvious to me that Luke was talking in hereditary terms. I've never met anyone in real life who thought otherwise. This isn't really that ambiguous. You're just going to great lengths to twist a line in unnatural ways so that it fits with your preferred view of the Force. In reality, that one line completely shuts down any argument that Force sensitivity isn't passed down hereditarily.