What are we meant to come away from the pod race with?

[JediCole]

It appears that I have been too long away from this thread and it has moved in directions other than the original spirit of the post. This is a good thing however, it shows that I sparked some thoughts in the readers. Please do not misunderstand. I love the Pod Race in and of itself. My point is rather, what is the point of Pod Racing in general if almost no one finishes the race? Is it meant to be some kind of Wacky Races meets demolition derby? I am pleased to hear that one of my favorite of the "tekno muppets", Ratts Tyrell, appears to have survived his seemingly deadly crash. As a self-styled King of Justification, I am forced to put forward the possibility that each pod is protected (or at least the driver) by a force field or shields of some kind. This would increase the survival rate and let someone make a career out of Pod Racing.

[stillakid]

Originally posted by Lobito
Hmmm...whats the point in watching the race if we already knew who was going to win?? That is like saying...whats the point of watching EÍI and EPIII if in the end we already knew what happened to Anakin and OB1...

Therein lies the problem of starting the story in the middle. So, sure, we already know the ultimate outcome is that the Empire is defeated. But that shouldn't preclude the storyteller from making the "prelude" as interesting as possible. To cop out and just lay out the events with no sense of mystery or danger makes for a really bad entertainment experience. We know the broad strokes but the magic is in the details. That's true for any story.

[bigbarada]

I'll use Saving Private Ryan as an example. Anyone who reads their US history knows that D-Day was the turning point victory for the American forces in WW2. However, when the movie lays out the events in the opening sequence, you get a glimpse of just how impossible that goal seemed to attain. The way the American forces seem to achieve the impossible makes the scene intense. At no time did the American victory during that invasion seem obvious or even possible. That's what good drama is about, taking a bit of story we all know the ending to and making it dramatic nonetheless.
Unfortunately, Anakin's winning the podrace was too obvious before the race even started. Too much was depending on it. (Although wouldn't it have been cool if Anakin lost and Qui-Gonn was forced to use a little of the dark side in order to save face in front of the Queen and, ultimately, the Jedi Council?) There have been portions of every SW story that I have been less than happy with, however I still manage to enjoy every movie.

[ThomasLane]

Originally posted by bigbarada
Unfortunately, Anakin's winning the podrace was too obvious before the race even started. Too much was depending on it. (Although wouldn't it have been cool if Anakin lost and Qui-Gonn was forced to use a little of the dark side in order to save face in front of the Queen and, ultimately, the Jedi Council?) There have been portions of every SW story that I have been less than happy with, however I still manage to enjoy every movie.

That would have been cool, though I wouldn't want my kids to believe that it's ok to be bad in order to get out of a sticky situation. I would have liked to have seen some of Anakin's "dark side" come out in the pod race. He could have stuffed someone into a wall or had hidden weapons in his pod.

[stillakid]

Originally posted by ThomasLane


That would have been cool, though I wouldn't want my kids to believe that it's ok to be bad in order to get out of a sticky situation. I would have liked to have seen some of Anakin's "dark side" come out in the pod race. He could have stuffed someone into a wall or had hidden weapons in his pod.

It would have been nice to see ANY use of the Force by Anakin. Instead, he magically fixes his spark plugs by moving that plug thing back and forth in the cockpit. He proved that he's a better McGuyver than future Jedi Knight. The only "proof" (and I use that word delicately) is in Obi Wan's Midichlorian counter. Other than that, Ani is just another "golly-gee-whiz" kid.

[GNT]

Originally posted by stillakid
. He proved that he's a better McGuyver than future Jedi Knight

Woo you've gone to far, nobobody is better than McGuyver!

[master jedi]

Originally posted by GNT

Woo you've gone to far, nobobody is better than McGuyver!

Yeah, nobody is better than McGuyver. I think there should be a McGuyver rank here at the SSG forums.

[stillakid]

If you can figure out how to hack into the code with nothing more than your mouse, a paperclip, two rolls of Charmin, and a Wankel Rotary Engine then you deserve to be McGuyvered.

[Rollo Tomassi]

I think Qui Gon using "Dark Side" in order to get back to Coruscant back to would have been the worst "deux es machina" in the history of cinema. You think Jar Jar gets a lot of negativity? THAT would have ruined the film for just about everybody. I think at just the right moment they should have closed in on Anikin's determined little face and let a bit of the "Force Theme Music" lilt through the score, maybe even a little Qui Gon voice over "Feel. Don't think". Aha!! you think.. He's using the force to fly better, kind of like his kid in the Death Star Trench...and then he pulls ahead of Sebulba and wins the race. Then everyone would KNOW he used the force to win, even if he didn't know...Hmmmmmmm...Phantom Edit 1.2??

[stillakid]

That's certainly on the right track. It wouldn't have hurt John Williams at all to weave a bit of Luke's theme into Anakin's exploits somewhere.

I'll stand by my "phantom edit" where Obi Wan (NOT Qui Gon...he's out of the story altogether) wanders into town. He manages to get there as the racers are being introduced. He (and us, because the story is being told to us through the characters) of course at this point have absolutely no clue who anyone is, especially Anakin (that is unless you were paying attention to the poster outside the theater ).

Introducing the kid and the podrace at this point in the story does two things:

a) we have absolutely no reason to suspect that Anakin will win this race and

b) the race hasn't become part of that Rube Goldbergian scheme to get the heroes off the planet so it is only about showing off Anakin's "Force" ability.

Whalla! No need for endless discussion around the dinner table about it AND no need for a stupid Midichlorian counter to prove to everyone that Ani is strong with the Force. Obi Wan (not Qui Gon) can maintain continuity with the rest of the epic when he tells Luke that his father was already an excellent pilot but he was amazed out how strongly the Force was with him.

That gets GL's pet project Pod Race into the story, maintains continuity, quickens a death inviting pace of the existing Tatooine sequence, and rids us of those nasty Midi's.

There are a couple other opportunities for subtle, yet effective, ways to show Obi Wan that Anakin "has the Force" that neither interfere with the elements GL introduced or slow the story down.