There is no doubt that the Star Wars film franchise has millions of fans around the world. This, naturally, results in a large variety of opinions on the subject.
One of my new favorite podcasts is Thank the Maker: A Star Wars Podcast. The podcast is hosted by musicians and Star Wars fans William Ryan Key (Yellowcard), Adam Russell (Story of the Year), and Nick Ghanbarian (Bayside).
The thing that hooked me with this podcast and keeps me hooked is the intelligent (and sometimes eye-opening) conversations between the hosts and the guests. The most recent episode talked about The Phantom Menace. Though I love the franchise as a whole, I loathe the prequels and The Phantom Menace in particular. As both a writer and a fan, these movies fall short of the reputation that was crafted by their predecessors.
One of the topics that were brought up during the most recent episode was the glossing over of midi-chlorians. In laymen’s terms, midi-chlorians are the microscopic-sized life forms that if exist in significant numbers in an individual, give that individual Force abilities.
Writing-wise, the question asked was why midi-chlorian and the role they played in the conception of Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) was not given it’s due. Instead of being a major part of the narrative, it was a throw-away line that only the most ardent Star Wars fan would have noticed.
With most of us locked in our homes nearly 24/7, intelligent conversation seems to be one of those things that we are relying on to keep us sane. I will take any intelligent conversation about Stars Wars, especially these days.
That, dear reader is why Thank the Maker: A Star Wars Podcast is my new favorite podcast and it should be yours as well.
Writergurlny 