“What’s interesting about the critiques of The Last Jedi is how often, when you talk about them, many of the above criticisms fall away, and you’re left with a distinct philosophical difference between people who love the film’s insistence that the future can be better if we make it and those who don’t like the way it forces us to grapple with the sins of the past, with the way it argues the Rebellion might have won at the end of Return of the Jedi, but it largely upheld the status quo.”
“I’m aware that there are plenty of criticisms about the movie, and that a number of fans have taken exception to the changes made by Rian Johnson and others in this new film. But as a longtime Star Wars fan myself, well-versed in the old Expanded Universe of decades past, I couldn’t help but love this. This movie is funny, exciting, dramatic, heartwrenching, affectionate, and downtrodden in so many ways. Yes, it’s flawed. Yes, it’s surprising. Yes, it’s tearing down the status quo.
But that’s exactly what [character A] is trying to tell [character b], and it’s a lesson [they] need to learn [themselves]. Don’t make people into legends. Make your own journey instead."
"One of the many reasons I love Star Wars: The Last Jedi is that it redeems the prequels. I loved the world of the prequels because they were movies about prophecy gone wrong. Anakin is a messiah who’s actually an antichrist. Worse, the Jedi aren’t the noble knights of legend, but a lazy priest class that lets Anakin become Vader. The Last Jedi knows this. [and ] makes damn sure that …..the audience learn from the mistakes of the past. It recontextualizes the prequels and reinforces what I loved about them….
“The prequels are movies about a society in decline. The new trilogy is about the rebirth of hope. It’s about learning to believe in legends again. That’s the message of The Last Jedi. Its ultimate act of beauty is to redeem the Jedi order in both the minds of the galaxy and the minds of the fans."
Star Wars has a problem, or, more accurately, the popular interpretation of Star Wars has a problem. Dismissals of Star Wars as being preoccupied with larger-than-life heroics, chosen ones, and destinies are common. The problem with this is that Star Wars, as a film series, has always been about how all of those things are terrible. Individualism and romanticism are always presented as chauvinistic and antithetical to the common good. Whether it’s the growing unity and cooperation of the Rebel Alliance, the catastrophic authoritarianism of the prequel Jedi, or the negligence of the New Republic, success and failure in every Star Wars film is measured by whether or not characters embrace and cultivate collective action. The Last Jedi follows firmly in this tradition, differing only from its predecessors in that it’s even more explicit. To quote [a character], “That’s how we’re gonna win, not fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
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