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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

ST I want to like The Last Jedi (seriously)

Discussion in 'Sequel Trilogy' started by mbowsher76, Jan 19, 2018.

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  1. mbowsher76

    mbowsher76 Jedi Padawan

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2017
    I have been hoping to find a place where I can have a good discussion with people who were disappointed or angry about The Last Jedi, but I want to have an actual discussion and not just random people spewing vitriol.

    Warning, this will be long!

    A little background. I am almost 42 years old. Star Wars has ALWAYS been important in my life. My oldest son's name is Luke. One of my earliest memories is my father bringing home the Empire Strikes Back read along book and record! I had a ton of Star Wars toys and loved playing with them long after The Return of the Jedi left theaters. In the early 90s as a teenager I was beyond excited when I discovered Heir to the Empire which opened the next 25 years of expanded universe for me. In the late 90s I was one of the people that sat in line all day for the first showing of The Phantom Menace. And while I agree with many criticisms of those movies, they were still Star Wars and so I enjoyed them. The music by John Williams moves me and often to tears as it brings me back to all those great memories growing up.

    So when Disney bought Lucasfilm, as the saying goes "I got a bad feeling about this". I was worried that they would go in directions that George Lucas would have never taken his universe. And that was worsened when they wiped out the Expanded Universe I had been enjoying for decades. But, being a Star Wars fan I wanted to give it a chance. As things started moving with The Force Awakens, my trepidation turned to excitement. I, like many my age, got goosebumps when I saw that first teaser trailer and heard John Williams soaring music as the Millennium Falcon soared onto the screen and when Han & Chewie came aboard and Han said "Chewie...we're home" I literally shed some tears. Force Awakens released and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I watched it multiple times including on IMAX. I heard a lot of people's criticism about it being way too similar to A New Hope, and while I could see this take, I wasn't worried about it. I was upset that my childhood hero, Luke Skywalker, only appears for a few moments at the end, but that just built up my excitement for the next movie.

    So fast forward to 12/14/2017. I had purchased my Last Jedi tickets when they went on sale October 9th and was very excited about the new movie. Luke Skywalker was back!!!! That night I went into the movie with some reservations. I had seen some spoilers about Luke that really had me concerned. But as I watched the movie, I really enjoyed it. My one sentence Facebook review upon coming home late that night was "Star Wars The Last Jedi is AMAZING!" Over the next few days I started to pick up on some people that were very unhappy with the movie and as I read their comments and watched their videos on YouTube, many of the same things I was trying to convince myself weren't that big a deal, started to bother me more and more.

    So, I went and saw it a second time that Sunday. and the issues I had became more apparent. I left that viewing feeling downhearted and upset. I spent the next 3+ weeks growing more and more angry. As I continued to listen to others with similar views I got to the point of feeling like Star Wars was becoming lost to me. I could not imagine how I could continue to support a movie that had betrayed my expectations so badly and moved things in directions I hadn't expected and didn't like. I was heartsick that the universe that had brought me so much joy and entertainment for most of my life was moving away from me.

    So, I looked at a future of Star Wars that would be lost to me. If I continued on this path, and wrote off all the new Star Wars content (Disney Star Wars) I would be missing so much. But up until the last few days, I had many who shared the same opinion. You can find new anti-Last Jedi, Disney Ruined Star Wars, etc videos all over YouTube almost daily. And I continued to allow them to fuel my angry and resentment of what had happened with my beloved Star Wars.

    But one video review kept pulling at my heartstrings. I watched Kevin Smith's hour and a half review and at many points he broke down crying about how certain scenes moved him so much. I would go back and see this guy whom I respected and was not much older, loving this new movie and seeing his passion for Star Wars. The passion I used to have and was in danger of losing.

    And then a couple days ago I picked up Star Wars Battlefront II for my Xbox One. I wanted it for the story, the online multiplayer was a secondary appeal for me. As I worked my way through a campaign that told a really good story and moved from Return of the Jedi up to The Last Jedi, I realized if I continued to let this negative attitude destroy Star Wars for me, I would miss fun, enjoyable things like this. If I drew a line in the sand and said "Disney Star Wars is not my Star Wars" I would miss out on so much.

    Last night as I completed that campaign I also realized that I had immersed myself in an Anti-Last Jedi echo chamber. I wasn't even willing to consider that maybe some of my criticism was a bit hollow. Maybe there was another way to look at the movie that would help me to enjoy it more.

    So I started looking at videos and reading articles of people who did enjoy The Last Jedi and had come up with some answers to many of the haters criticisms. And I went back to that Kevin Smith review. Watching him get choked up and teary eyed talking and showing so much passion for the universe and characters, I have decided I don't want to be a hater. I don't want to draw a line in the sand and ignore all the new things that will be coming in the future. I want to continue to enjoy this universe that brought so much joy to me for 40 years.

    And then I began to get excited. To feel that child like excitement in me that wow, if I just try to embrace this, think of all the Star Wars I can enjoy. I can go back and read the novels that fill in many of the blanks, I can look forward to new stories, cartoons, video game and yes, movies. And in the end, none of the negativity will go back and change the story. They are not going to re-make The Last Jedi because of those people who don't like it. This is the new Star Wars. So you can either continue to be unhappy, or put some of the criticisms aside, look at alternate points of view that may help with your problems with the movie and enjoy what is to come, or you can sit and be miserable and angry and left out in the cold while new Star Wars content continues to be released.

    So if you made it through this small novella, I would like to discuss some of the many issues with Star Wars people have.

    My biggest issue, and the one I am working through currently, was that Luke Skywalker was not the same man he was when I last saw him. I didn't like seeing my hero broken and defeated, hopeless and cynical. After all he was "A New Hope". But if he had been the Luke that we left him as. If he hadn't experienced any hardship and tragedy, we likely wouldn't have much reason to have a movie. If he was still the same man he was 40 years previous, he likely would have been fighting alongside Leia all along and the threat, the problem would have just been another in a string of problems that he would be called upon to help fix and would not have been much of a reason to tell a new story.

    BUT. By having the tragedy of seeing his nephew fall to the dark side...to know he is likely the final push that lead Ben to becoming Kylo Ren, that would be a good reason to cause a crisis of faith. To know he considered murdering his nephew, his sister's son, that for a moment he gave into the dark side and that moment changed the history for Ben Solo. That would explain why he felt so broken. And if he then isolated himself from any kind of counsel (friends & family) and by shutting himself off from the force he just stewed in his despair and depression and negativity.

    That is where he had to be in order to have a chance to grow. To regain his faith. To come to peace and help (as they said over and over) be the spark that would light the fire that would burn down the First Order. He restarted that legend and re-created that hope by growing from his failure. That is actually very heroic...and after some serious thought...he ended his story as the Luke I always knew.

    Anyway, that is a LONG post. I would love to discuss this and other issues with anyone. I would like to really through ideas and theories back and forth and not let this devolve into "your opinion is different than mine, you are a dumb poopy head" lol.
     
  2. Ubraniff Zalkaz

    Ubraniff Zalkaz Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 26, 2014
    I love TLJ.
     
  3. Darth Chiznuk

    Darth Chiznuk Superninja of Future Films star 8 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2012
    Welcome to the boards.

    This thread HERE would be a good place to post this. I'm going to lock this though since this is the Episode IX forum and the post itself doesn't require a separate thread.
     
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