On knowledge of the Force, the Jedi, etc.:
In the original trilogy, Luke has heard of the Clone Wars and maybe knows that Jedi Knights fought in them (he initially denies that his father could have been one, but doesn‘t ask what they are). He does ask what the Force is, doesn’t seem to immediately recognize a lightsaber, and doesn’t expect Ben to have weird powers until he starts displaying them (though the old man seems to have a reputation as a “wizard” already, whatever that means on Tatooine). Of course, as noted by others, Luke has deliberately been kept ignorant.
Han doesn’t act as though he’s never heard of the idea of the Force, just that he doesn’t believe it controls his destiny. His reference to “hokey religions and ancient weapons“ might indicate he knows what Jedi and lighsabers are, but despite being alive for the Clone Wars, he does not seem to be aware of widely observed, empirically established supernatural powers. He dismisses them as stories or trickery.
Notably, despite knowing of him and at least briefly working alongside him, the Imperial officers other than Tarkin (most notably Motti) don‘t initially seem to believe that Vader has definite, obvious powers until he demonstrates them. He’s called a “sorcerer” just as Ben is called a wizard, but he’s treated as a true believer in a suppressed and nonsensical religion, not a guy with well-known superpowers. Tarkin knows more, and doesn’t object to his statement of feeling Kenobi’s presence, bit still thinks he’s probably wrong.
No one but Vader seems to know that the Emperor they serve is similarly powered, and we viewers don‘t have that hinted at until Empire or displayed until Jedi.
The Rebels, as noted by others, use the Force blessing, but certainly don’t expect their rookie pilot to rely on it over his targeting computer. How much they generally know about Jedi powers is unclear (and much later movies do show us that there is religious belief in the Force outside the Jedi themselves).
How long ago the Empire took over is not made clear in these movies, but the Clone Wars (during which Jedi were active) have to be within Kenobi’s and Skywalker Sr.’s lifetimes, and Sr.’s murder by Vader (later revealed to be a metaphor for becoming him) has to be after Luke‘s conception, since he’s the man’s son.
The prequel trilogy is the one that shows us that not only Obi-Wan and Anakin, but very nearly every Jedi, was a general in the Clone Wars. Young Anakin, from the same backwater planet as Luke and even younger, recognizes a lightsaber on sight, knows what a Jedi is, and has heard enough stories to (with amusing irony given his future) believe them unkillable. So there was definitely a period when even people who hadn’t yet met a Jedi in person knew the idea of them, probably including the superpowers (though it’s possible an adult would be more likely to believe the stories exaggerated than a little boy).
The very well-done novelization of Episode III talks about galaxy-wide news media and constant reports on the exploits of Kenobi and Skywalker, to the point that children all over pretend to be them in their games. I love that image, but sadly, that really doesn’t fit the level of skepticism in the OT and makes Obi- Wan changing neither his nor Luke’s surname even more bizarre than it already is, so logic argues for discounting it in the face of countervailing screen canon.
The sequel trilogy has Rey knowing about as much as young Anakin, but still not being 100% sure the supernatural parts are true until Han (in roughly the same place he initially scoffed) takes Kenobi’s role and assures her he’s seen it all to be true. Even when Luke is himself a legend, that the stories of his powers and exploits are 100% empirically and demonstrably true is still not clear to every galactic citizen.
Is all of that plausible given the timeframe and the Jedi’s prominence in the Clone Wars (vs. the Empire’s efforts to cast aspersions on their foes)? That’s doubtful, but those are the actual state of knowledge and skepticism that we are presented with among the characters who discuss such things onscreen.
In the original trilogy, Luke has heard of the Clone Wars and maybe knows that Jedi Knights fought in them (he initially denies that his father could have been one, but doesn‘t ask what they are). He does ask what the Force is, doesn’t seem to immediately recognize a lightsaber, and doesn’t expect Ben to have weird powers until he starts displaying them (though the old man seems to have a reputation as a “wizard” already, whatever that means on Tatooine). Of course, as noted by others, Luke has deliberately been kept ignorant.
Han doesn’t act as though he’s never heard of the idea of the Force, just that he doesn’t believe it controls his destiny. His reference to “hokey religions and ancient weapons“ might indicate he knows what Jedi and lighsabers are, but despite being alive for the Clone Wars, he does not seem to be aware of widely observed, empirically established supernatural powers. He dismisses them as stories or trickery.
Notably, despite knowing of him and at least briefly working alongside him, the Imperial officers other than Tarkin (most notably Motti) don‘t initially seem to believe that Vader has definite, obvious powers until he demonstrates them. He’s called a “sorcerer” just as Ben is called a wizard, but he’s treated as a true believer in a suppressed and nonsensical religion, not a guy with well-known superpowers. Tarkin knows more, and doesn’t object to his statement of feeling Kenobi’s presence, bit still thinks he’s probably wrong.
No one but Vader seems to know that the Emperor they serve is similarly powered, and we viewers don‘t have that hinted at until Empire or displayed until Jedi.
The Rebels, as noted by others, use the Force blessing, but certainly don’t expect their rookie pilot to rely on it over his targeting computer. How much they generally know about Jedi powers is unclear (and much later movies do show us that there is religious belief in the Force outside the Jedi themselves).
How long ago the Empire took over is not made clear in these movies, but the Clone Wars (during which Jedi were active) have to be within Kenobi’s and Skywalker Sr.’s lifetimes, and Sr.’s murder by Vader (later revealed to be a metaphor for becoming him) has to be after Luke‘s conception, since he’s the man’s son.
The prequel trilogy is the one that shows us that not only Obi-Wan and Anakin, but very nearly every Jedi, was a general in the Clone Wars. Young Anakin, from the same backwater planet as Luke and even younger, recognizes a lightsaber on sight, knows what a Jedi is, and has heard enough stories to (with amusing irony given his future) believe them unkillable. So there was definitely a period when even people who hadn’t yet met a Jedi in person knew the idea of them, probably including the superpowers (though it’s possible an adult would be more likely to believe the stories exaggerated than a little boy).
The very well-done novelization of Episode III talks about galaxy-wide news media and constant reports on the exploits of Kenobi and Skywalker, to the point that children all over pretend to be them in their games. I love that image, but sadly, that really doesn’t fit the level of skepticism in the OT and makes Obi- Wan changing neither his nor Luke’s surname even more bizarre than it already is, so logic argues for discounting it in the face of countervailing screen canon.
The sequel trilogy has Rey knowing about as much as young Anakin, but still not being 100% sure the supernatural parts are true until Han (in roughly the same place he initially scoffed) takes Kenobi’s role and assures her he’s seen it all to be true. Even when Luke is himself a legend, that the stories of his powers and exploits are 100% empirically and demonstrably true is still not clear to every galactic citizen.
Is all of that plausible given the timeframe and the Jedi’s prominence in the Clone Wars (vs. the Empire’s efforts to cast aspersions on their foes)? That’s doubtful, but those are the actual state of knowledge and skepticism that we are presented with among the characters who discuss such things onscreen.
