So, much has been said, in particular in a new thread about the so-called "film school elite" and the love of deconstructing characters in The Last Jedi. I'm from film school (and business school too) and I can say that Rian has failed to take the lessons from what it teaches: that films are a reflection of society.
There are escapist films and there are art films. Then there are those that straddle the line like TLJ. What Rian failed to realize is that it is noble and healthy to deliver on expectations and give people a hero to look up to. Whether they win or lose, we want them to succeed, we empathize. Infinity War nails this fact.
The Last Jedi came out at the worst possible time for me and many people. Without going into too many details, I can say without doubt that 2017 was one of the worst years in my life. I was formally diagnosed with depression, it was a year of scares, of loss and of anxiety. When TLJ came out, I was already in the middle of exam season and beyond stressed, but I wanted to see Luke, one of my childhood heroes, back again. I got Jake.
2017 was a brutal year for many people. It was a year of economic uncertainty, political divisiveness, anger, hate, the list goes on. The media fear mongered, the president retaliated over twitter, and it was a time for many that was trying.
Enter The Last Jedi. People see these movies for escape, to get out of the bullshit of reality. Even our most flawed heroes show us a way to be better than we are. Even the darkest moments of these movies have hope.
The Last Jedi, in an attempt to be nihilistic, edgy and subversive, removed the escapist element of the film. People escaped the world of bullshit to another one. The hero many of us modelled our lives on whether we knew it or not was gone, in his place an empty shell.
If Luke fucking Skywalker, the man who redeemed Darth Vader, who (in a way) saved Han's soul, surrendered himself for his friends, would go to the morally repugnant levels he did, then what does that say of us?
Our hero is a failure, a coward. The best we can be is not enough, and it takes one low moment to crush the highest of spirits. Luke is defeatist, depressed and gives up, so why shouldn't we? Why should we better ourselves, get through hard times and help others within them? What does it matter?
Rian fundamentally failed to realize the message of his take on Luke. Luke from the get go has been an extension of the audience, a surrogate if you will, and this take tells us we were wrong to gravitate to him, we should be compulsive, not try to help without return/an agenda, and work through our flaws. It also tells us (albeit inadvertantly) that bettering ourselves will lead to our downfall, that we should not try to correct our past mistakes and just give up.
In a climate this divisive, Luke in TLJ effectively tells the audience to give up, not even try, lest they risk their downfall, and if we are not naturally perfect, then why even bother. More than ever we need to build bridges, repent and reconnect, not destroy them and then throw the blueprints over our shoulder.
Submitted January 23, 2019 at 12:46AM by DeoGame http://bit.ly/2RKOaxB
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