2 "There are lots of parallels to the Bible. Anakin has no father,'virgin born' like Christ. He is a slave (living in a desert) hoping some day to set his people free, like Moses. Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn believes that Anakin is the Promised One (Christ) of prophecy who will bring harmony to the universe and proclaims his belief as John the Baptist did of Christ. Anakin has a unique connection to the Force, as Jesus did to the Holy Spirit." In one scene, Anakin stands before the Jedi council, "as Jesus did before the temple priests" and hears words -they maintain- that are very similar to the Gospel passage of Matthew 11:3, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" Cfr http://hollywoodjesus.com/phantom_menace.htm
3 http://prayerbook.ca/pblam257.htm; http://www.catholicinternet.org/issue/99May/may26dc1.htm;
Daily catholic; Zenit...etc
4 « how can you possibly admit that these things have been « overlooked » in major studio productions (...) when directors and producers spend thousands of dollars investigating the most minute aspects of every scene, from the period costumes to background lighting to the best camera angles for the greatest impact on viewers? religious objects, image and especially dialogue are carefully combed and reworked until the effect is « just right »... ». Father Pius SAMMUT, Star wars and Christianity, op.cit.
5 R.P.MOHLER, Faith vs the Force, dans Archives World, May 22 199, Volume 14, n° 20, On-line,
6 Dr. Philip G.RYKEN, Star wars Theology, dans Window on the World Tenth Presbyterian Church, June 13 199, On-line, http://www.tenth.org/wow1999-06-13.html
7 "The issue of Immaculate Conception is a motif that runs through all religions. It's a motif that runs through all stories about the local deity or the local hero. It's the same thing with Hercules. Most heroes are conceived in an unusual way. And in this particular case, it's actually not Immaculate Conception, it's conception by metaphor, I would say, more than anything else."
Let's note that the expression 'Immaculate Conception" is unappropriate here (G.L. corrected himself later on), and that Hercules has not been either virginally or parthenogenetically conceived. He was born exceptionally because of a god's intervention. I think G.Lucas wishes to point this exceptional birth out, but the confusion in concepts does not facilitate things, and gives way to confessional criticism.
See the exciting book Giulia SISSA, Le corps virginal, Paris, Vrin, 1987, particularly the chapter about Virginal
Births, pp. 97-109
8 More references: BENKO, S., The Virgin Goddess. Studies in the Pagan and christian Roots of Mariology. ; BORGEAU,Ph. La mère des Dieux. De Cybèle à la Vierge Marie, Paris, Seuil, Librairie du XXe siècle, 1996; NEUMANN, E., The Great Mother. An Analysis of the archétype, New Yorck, 1955; NORELLI, E., "Avant le canonique et l'apocryphe: aux origines des récits de la naissance de Jésus", Revue de Théologie et de philosophie, 126 (1994), p.305-324; P.SAINTYVES, Les vierges mères et les naissances miraculeuses, Paris, 1908.
9 " I'm taking the idea of symbiotic relationships and trying to demonstrate it in a more concrete way. Midichondrians are a loose depiction of mitochondria, which are necessary components for cells to divide. They probably had something--which will come out someday--to do with the beginnings of life and how one cell decided to become two cells with a little help from this other little creature who came in, without whom life couldn't exist. And it's really a way of saying we have hundreds of little creatures who live on us, and without them, we all would die. There wouldn't be any life. They are necessary for us; we are necessary for them. Using them in the metaphor, saying society is the same way, says we all must get along with each other. The planet is the same way. We must treat the other creatures on the planet with respect, otherwise the planet will die..."
cfr Cohérence et Flannelle: Lucas et l'image de Lucas, (in French) Part I. Les valeurs constitutives.
10 « You will see George Lucas trying very hard to deny the exclusive claims of Christianity. But in the end, you will also see that he finds it impossible to produce his film without them ». Dr.Philip RYKEN, Star Wars Theology, Op.Cit.