Star Wars! A few thoughts and a linkspam

[owlmoose]

We saw The Last Jedi on Sunday but for various reasons I'm just now getting around to writing about it. Spoiler-free summary: I enjoyed it a whole lot, am on board with most of its various twists and turns, and appreciate the way it subverted a number of expectations. Also, as if losing Carrie Fisher hadn't already been awful enough, I am super bummed that she can't be in the next movie in any meaningful way. I would say that, if you liked The Force Awakens, you will almost certainly like this, and if you were bothered by how much TFA repeated the beats of Star Wars, you may be pleasantly surprised by TLJ. (Is anyone else bothered by how we've now lost the ability to refer to one of the movies as just "Jedi" and be clear on which one you mean?)

Anything more I could say is better informed by the thoughts of others, and those thoughts are all full of spoilers, so let's put up the spoiler wall.

• Star Wars: The Last Jedi Offers the Harsh Condemnation of Mansplaining We Need in 2017 by Joanna Robinson: One of the great things I loved about this movie was how many competent women were on display. Not just Leia and Rey, but also Holdo, Rose, the brief glimpse of Phasma, and all the various women shown at work. Robinson goes into how the film is a lesson in the importance of listening to and trusting women, focusing on Poe Dameron's behavior as her main example.


• Star Wars’ Vice-Admiral Holdo and Our Expectations for Female Military Power by Arkady Martine: In a similar vein, Martine talks about Holdo and the ways in which she subverts Poe's (and, by extension, the audience's) expectations for a woman in power. Laura Dern played the hell out of this role, and I only wish we had seen her character earlier.


• The Last Jedi and the Problem with Fan Theories by Carly Lane: Speaking of subverting expectations, one of the things I love most about this film is how it knocks down the conventions of genre and especially Star Wars films at almost every opportunity. From Luke taking that lightsaber and tossing it off a cliff to Snoke's unceremonious death, from Rey's parents being nobody of galactic significance to the end of any potential redemption arc for Kylo Ren, I was thrilled to see the story take directions I would never have expected. Lane talks about why this change in direction was necessary, and why it's probably contributed to the mixed fan reaction to TLJ. Look, I'm in fandom; I get being disappointed that your pet theory was incorrect, or seeing a beloved character undertake an unexpected shift. But as far as I can, everything that happens in TLJ is consistent with what came before, and like Lane, I'm excited to feel like I have no idea where the final installment in the triple trilogy is going to take us. (See also The Last Jedi Doesn’t Care What You Think About Star Wars – And That’s Why It’s Great on /Film.)


• Star Wars: The Last Jedi is proof that a franchise needs to mature with its fans by Swapna Krishna: In this article, Krishna explores a similar theme. TLJ builds on what came before, but it faces relentlessly forward by taking Rey out of the line of Skywalkers and destroying Anakin's lightsaber. If only (some of) the fans would mature along with the franchise...


• The Force Belongs To Us: The Last Jedi’s Beautiful Refocusing of Star Wars by FILMCRITHULK: To expand on that theme, FilmCritHulk delves deeper into this idea that Rey is a "nobody", and what that means for the future of the franchise and the people of the Star Wars universe. I am super excited by this concept of the democratizing of the Force and can't wait to see where it goes.


• Finally, I'm sure you want an article about how the porgs were designed, right?

Comments

[elainegrey]

Oh, thinks for the linkspam. (And i feel more sympathetic to the porgs nowing that they were to support actual indigenous life.) Holdo was such a wonderful introduction. Anyhow, yeah, i delighted in the film as well.

[owlmoose]

Glad you like the links!

I think what they did with the porgs was fantastic. Definitely a case of making lemonade out of lemons.

[lea_hazel]

I feel like they really raised the stakes on the idea of Rey not being a Skywalker, but it all depends on who's making the third film and how much they're willing to risk walking things back. I do think Rey not being of the lineage is the best possible interpretation, and I'd be disappointed if it was walked back. It's just that it would be easy to do just that by saying that Kylo Ren lied, which he has plenty of motivation to do, and ignore the fact that him trying to dismiss her by implying that she has low blood is exactly why she's the heroine and he's the villain.

Also, I can't believe that after years of Harry Potter being a major pillar of the fantasy canon, I still have to put up with "blood purity" headcanons (and canons!) in every gd fandom I come into.

[owlmoose]

J.J. Abrams is back for Episode 9. In an article I read somewhere, I forget where (I don't think it's linked above), Abrams and Johnson said they independently came to the same conclusion about Rey's parentage. So they could walk it back, but I really don't think they will.

[lea_hazel]

That's certainly reassuring. I don't always like Abrams' style and I agree with some of the persistent criticism of his work, but I have to assume that on a franchise of this scale, he's on a tight leash. People who know more about film than I do will insist it's all down to the editing, anyway. I have high hopes of enjoying ep.9.

[heavenscalyx]

I adored the fact that the dudes were also our comic relief. Naked leaking Finn, Leia stunning Poe, Rose stunning Finn, Hux in EVERY SCENE HE'S IN. (Oh the Nazi punching. It's just a shame it was mostly his own side doing it.) Playing Kylo super duper emo. (He made fun of my helmet! I'll, I'll, I'll smash it!)

The women were explicitly the emotional heart of the movie as well as the driving force of the plot.

The next movie's writer is the guy who wrote Superman vs Batman and the Justice League, and Abrams is directing again. without Fisher there to yank the writer back on track (you KNOW she was responsible for Leia saving herself), I ffffear the next movie returning to the bang zoom pow track.

[owlmoose]

I liked TFA an awful lot, so I trust Abrams to keep the momentum going, but I can understand why others might not.

Totally agree about the woman being the heart of the film and most of the comic relief coming from the men.

[kore]

LOL, YES

HUX WAS HILARIOUS

The next movie's writer is the guy who wrote Superman vs Batman and the Justice League, and Abrams is directing again. without Fisher there to yank the writer back on track

....yeah ugh, but if "all" I get is the great trilogy of Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi, I can ignore JJ's Whatever the same way I ignore the stupid prequels.

[zahraa]

You don't think Kylo is going to be redeemed in the next movie? I do.

[owlmoose]

Given how TLJ teased the possibility and then negated it completely, and how strongly it would echo the redemption of Anakin/Vader when the series seems so determined to break from its past, I would be *very* surprised.

[kerkevik_2014]

I really hope they don't; I know Kylo Ren in real life and they never change. I'd forgotten until recently how much I felt let down by Vader/Anakin being redeemed in the original trilogy.

If that happened again?

kerk

[owlmoose]

I didn't want a Kylo Ren redemption arc going in, but the particular way they set up the possibility in TLJ, with Rey asking Ben -- specifically Ben -- to join her, and then he did in fact strike Snoke down, I would have been okay with. But I was much happier with the direction they actually took, and if they walk it back now I'd be pretty disappointed.

[lassarina]

Ahhhh thank you for all these links! I'm so excited to read them :D

I loved the film so hard for so many of the reasons highlighted in your summaries of those links.

[elisi]

Here via kerkevik, who sent me a link to this post. Love all your links and will definitely be sharing them. ♥

This film has done what none of the other Star Wars films did - tipped me into fandom. :)

[owlmoose]

Thanks! :D

And enjoy the new fandom. :) I doubt I will get fannish about Star Wars beyond loving the movies, reading some of the books, and enthusiastically sharing meta... but who knows?

[elisi]

I think you're right - joining fandom was probably not the right choice of words. I've become fannish, but I am not in any way wanting to have anything to do with the actual fandom... However I am reading everything I can, and eyeing up books. :)

[kore]

I've been looking for more positive takes on TLJ and links, this is great!