Why Luke Skywalker of ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Doesn’t Feel Like Luke

threadsketchier:

culturevulture73:

Another good article.

This big change to Luke happening without anyone around also feels like an invalidation of what he learned and went through in the original trilogy. Really, Luke already ought to know better about the hubris and personal pride of the Jedi, because nobody has been failed by the Jedi like Luke has. His most trusted mentors lied to him and held back key information about him and his family, in order to manipulate him into killing his father. Luke ends “Return of the Jedi” disillusioned by his elders, and spends most of that story in pain. Even after redeeming Vader, Luke seems nearly broken by his loss. The ending of “Return of the Jedi,” with his father’s quiet funeral, is a distinctly downbeat moment, during a party no less, because we see a pained Luke struggling with everything he’s seen and experienced.

Luke Skywalker knows better than anyone the failings of the Jedi, because he lived them. To see him repeat the same mistakes of Yoda and Obi-Wan feels like a backstep. The man we watched Luke become and the man he is in “The Last Jedi” are out of sync. We missed what could have made him this way, and a few short lines of dialogue in which Luke explains a moment of weakness seems insufficient when set against three movies of character development.

…

By the end of “Return of the Jedi,” Luke isn’t a guy who sees darkness in someone and fires up his blade to strike them down; he’s a guy who sees darkness in someone, and reaches out a hand to help them.

LOUDER FOR EVERYBODY IN THE BACK

captainsaltymuyfancy:

rainysweetsstarfish:

diversehighfantasy:

captainsaltymuyfancy:

Maybe this is a cold take but I’m serving it up anyway

R/eylos and K/ylo stans always spout off like “Star Wars is about ReDeMpTiOn!!!!!” to justify why Rey and k/ylo should bone or why k/ylo should be redeemed but tbh it’s bullshit?

Star Wars is not about redemption, at least not for redemption’s sake. First, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader was never redeemed. George Lucas himself said that Anakin/Vader was not redeemed, nor could he ever be. He returned to the light. That’s not the same as redemption. People like to cite Anakin’s journey as thematic proof for why evil characters can/should be redeemed, but the argument is invalid because he never was.

And he only returned to the light because of Luke. Luke’s unconditional love connected with that last minute shred of humanity, and that was what brought him back to the light. Had it not been for Luke, Vader never would have returned to the light. His turning was not his accomplishment, it was Luke’s. I will refer to Anakin/Vader’s return to the light as his “redemption” henceforth, but only for the sake of concision.

Now, even if we accept the argument that Anakin was redeemed, that still does not mean Star Wars is “about redemption”. Star Wars, at least the theme of the original trilogy, which we commonly consider the theme of the franchise, is about choice. Luke’s choice to bring Leia the Death Star plans. Luke’s choice to disobey Yoda and go to Cloud City to save his friends. Luke’s choice to disregard Yoda and Obi-Wan’s view of Jedi philosophy. Luke’s choice to offer forgiveness and redemption to Vader. Luke’s choice to cast aside his lightsaber. Vader’s choice to sacrifice himself to save his son.

Redemption is a potential side effect of choice. It’s not a precursor and it’s certainly not automatic. A person isn’t redeemed just because they’re sorry. A person isn’t redeemed because they tried to make amends. You don’t get to choose redemption. Redemption is given to you. Vader wasn’t given redemption. He was given a choice. Once. By his son, out of love and compassion.

K/ylo was given a choice to return to the light. Twice. By two different people. Both times he refused and then killed or tried to kill the people who offered him. This man has made his choice TWICE, AFTER choosing to fall to the dark side in the first place. Why should he be offered yet another chance? And why would he expected to make a different choice? And even if he did, why should he be considered eligible for redemption? He can’t un-murder all those innocent people, he can’t un-torture Rey and Poe.

K/ylo Ren does not want to be redeemed. K/ylo Ren does not deserve to be redeemed. K/ylo Ren made his own evil choices and clings to the dark side. Thematically speaking, K/ylo Ren is a sub-optimal candidate for “redemption”. Practically speaking, redeeming that slithering trash heap after all he’s done would just be yet another case of powerful (white) men not being held responsible for their actions because they say they’re sowwy.

“One who has fallen so far and done so much does not deserve redemption.”

-Kreia/Darth Traya-Arren Kae

YES. Star Wars is about choice. It’s always been about choice.

Great Meta.

If its choice, what if he chooses light at some point? if he chooses darkness, the answer is obvious, but what if he starts doing good? Is there nothing that he can do to be redeemed, or is dying for the cause the only way, or prison, or what? I’m super curious about how the powers that be will do, Its almost like they have painted themselves into a corner, and no matter what, there will be a bad outcome. The last Skywalker dies, or he gets away with murder.

1. He’s not necessarily the last Skywalker

2. No, there is nothing he can do to be redeemed. It doesn’t matter how much good he does. Even if he dies, he won’t be redeemed. He can’t un-do genocide. He can’t un-do mass murder. He can’t un-do war crimes. He can’t un-do torture.

Redemption is a matter of undoing, and for the right reasons. If you can’t un-do the harm you’ve caused, or if you did it selfishly, you can’t be redeemed. His death would not make up for the hundreds of lives he’s directly responsible for taking and the billions of lives he indirectly took. He could never die enough times to be redeemed for the suffering he caused. He could never spend long enough in prison to be redeemed for the pain he created.

And the thing is… Kylo Ren living happily ever after with Rey (or whoever) after being “redeemed” is a contradition in terms. Even aside from the fact that he can’t be redeemed, even if we take the word in the sense of him becoming a better man and seeing the wrong in what he did… what happiness can there ever be for a GOOD man who has committed genocide, mass murder, and torture? How would he get a single peaceful night’s sleep? If such a man can live with himself, if he can be happy and content and in love with one of his victims… then he is obviously not a good man. He is obviously not sorry for what he did, has found some way to rationalize or blame someone else for his deeds.

Either Kylo Ren can be happy or he can be good, but he can’t be both. Chances are he’ll be neither, because happiness is a really dicey proposition after all the misery he’s caused.

captainsaltymuyfancy:

Tbh that shot of Finn just chatting it up with Nien at the end of TLJ is so important because all his life Finn was shunned by his peers and now he’s in a totally new place with totally new people and he’s being treated like one of them and having regular conversations and being included in the larger group and just having normal social interaction and it’s what he deserves! He’s waited his whole life to belong and thought there was something wrong with him but then he leaves the First Order and it just happens?

@finnappreciationweek Day 7: Why I Love Finn

Above all, Finn is a character who gives me hope. Watching his journey from a traumatized and abused soldier to a conscientious defector and a hero who follows his own rules, watching him find amazing relationships and be admired and adored, I have hope that I too can grow beyond emotional abuse and find other, better ways to relate to people. On a broader scale he gives me hope that people in general can rise beyond the toxic ideologies we’ve been indoctrinated with and live together without destroying each other.

Cassian said rebellions are based on hope. How could anyone endure so much and sacrifice so much without some kind of faith that things could get better? Finn is the embodiment of that hope, that even in the deepest darkness there is a spark within people that can be a candle to help us see each other, a fire to warm people and pull them together, a conflagration to burn down oppressive structures and build anew.

My life is better for knowing and loving this remarkable character and being in the fandom surrounding him. The character and the fandom helped me recognize many of my own racist and antiblack biases and try to work past them. For that and the countless hours of laughter, insight, and enjoyment of top-notch content I am so grateful to all of you, including the organizers of Finn Appreciation Week.

finnisskinny:

@finnappreciationweek + Day 7: FINNS THE BEST CHARACTER IN SW

There’s really nothing new I can say about Finn that I haven’t already said this past year or said by others but…lemme wax poetic about him anyway. He’s a beacon of hope for abuse survivors. He’s an image of Black masculinity that rejects hyper masculinity and the violence it comes with. He’s beautiful, kind, brave, and brash. He’s a tactical genius. He’s down to earth and untouchable at the same time. And he means so fuckin much to me and a lot of other ppl. Seeing Johns face on billboards w/that lightsaber… having so many expectations and then having them surpassed!!! wow!! Having an even better written Black character than I hoped for played by a phenomenal actor…it’s just… blessed!! The best fiction not only reflects reality but challenges it and forces it to change. Finn’s compassion, loyalty, and willingness to make hard choices not only for himself but for the benefit of others – it’s something that inspires us. It inspires me. Yeah he deserves to be treated better. We all know that. He’s FS and gonna be a jedi. We all know that. But even if his arc in ep 9 is even worse than that trash we got in ep 8… it wont do anything to the fact that Finn continues to be the most interesting character ever to exist in the SW universe! And that’s a fact!! He isn’t a vader wannabe, he isnt a flyboy, and he isnt a clone lily white heroine – he’s bigger and better than them all – he’s FINN!!!! We’re all blessed to see such an iconic character appear on screen while we’re alive and to see such a wonderful, humble, and talented actor like John Boyega play him!! I aint never been part of fandom before Finn and even if it’s been rough at times I’m so so glad if we’re gonna hyper-fixate on movie or kin (ha) any character we got Finn to love on!! What a blessing.

wordsinwinters:

What’s up it’s 12:30 a.m. and I can’t stop thinking about how after T’Chaka is killed in Civil War, T’Challa tells Natasha their culture views death merely as a stepping off point, but then explains that he doesn’t hold those beliefs himself, though his father did.

That little piece of dialog means this scene from Black Panther is far more significant than it first appears, without that context:

T’Challa didn’t believe in the afterlife or the possibility that he would ever see his father again.

When he comes back from the ancestral plain, smiling and laughing, out of breath, telling Zuri, “He was there, I saw him, my father was there,” the triumph of his joy comes from the fact he didn’t believe it was possible. He knew what was said to happen during the ceremony but he never expected it to be true.

T’Challa’s uncertainty at the beginning of this scene along with his pure elation following the first conversation with T’Chaka now have a totally different meaning for me.

T’Challa realizes the truth behind his people’s beliefs, understands that his father was never truly gone, and knows that one day he’ll be reunited with his father, his ancestors, and all of their loved ones – that death won’t be the end.

~~And yet despite that “safety net,” as it were, all he wants is to be a worthy king for the living.~~

Anyway, thanks for reading my Ted Talk, this is why I’m crying at almost 1 a.m.

lj-writes:

@finnappreciationweek Day 3 favorite relationship: Finn and Kylo Ren

I love the contrast between these two, the way they resolve their inner
conflicts in opposite directions every time. Kylo Ren, in defiance of
the pull to the light, orders a massacre of disarmed prisoners. Finn, in
defiance of the obedience drilled into him his entire life, refuses
that order. Ren punishes Finn by startling him
with the blaster beam. Where Finn reassesses his entire life in light of his trauma, Ren entrenches himself deeper by invoking the legacy of Darth Vader. Han recognizes Finn as a good man, if a psychically wounded one, when he tells Finn to keep the blaster he gave him. He does the opposite with Ren, attempting to take the offered lightsaber before Ren treacherously murders him. The contrast between Finn’s first face-to-face scene with Ren in the movie and his last is clear when, instead of being cowed into fear, he fights back. I look forward to their next meeting in Episode IX when their foil relationship is hopefully given its due.

widewonderworld:

A lot of people are saying that Killmonger functions more as an antagonist than a villain and I disagree with them mostly because I feel like they’re forgetting the moment when Killmonger had zero qualms about killing his own sixteen-year-old cousin (a direct contrast to Nakia defending the rebel soldier in the beginning btw). Killmonger is very much a villain.

However, he’s a villain in the way that every good villain is the hero in a Greek tragedy. I was actually shocked that Marvel let Ryan Coogler get away with this, but it is absolutely not a mistake that Killmonger is an American invention in every possible way.

Erik is graduated from MIT at what – 19? He probably had access to *some* scholarships but since Erik went into the military right after graduation, it’s heavily implied that he went to school on the military’s dime. Non-U.S. people might not know this, but the U.S. military has a *heavy air quotes* mandate to have the demographics of their forces to match the demographics of the country. So let’s say if the U.S. demographics say that the nation is 70% white, 30% nonwhite, 70% of the military should be white, 30% of the military should be nonwhite. However, this is very much not the case because the U.S. doesn’t have mandated military service for all citizens, and as a result, the military heavily recruits from under-served communities. More nonwhite soldiers sacrifice everything for U.S. interests than white ones every day, and usually because there’s no other way they can get a job with no training that’ll provide access to steady pay, housing, and education.

But I was talking about Black Panther, so let’s get back to that. Erik got inundated into this way of thinking where the only solution is violence and manipulation in order to further one’s own interest, and for most of his career, Erik was furthering American interests.

There’s a couple of little lines that almost got past me, but Ross says something about how Erik’s work as a black ops soldier was “toppling governments” and the way he says it grammatically kind of distances Erik’s actions from the U.S., but I’m pretty sure that in the script that he was still working for the U.S. at that time. Like when Ross says that I’m like “he toppled governments because he either did it explicitly for the U.S. or because the U.S. taught him how.”

Add on top of that the fact that Erik’s dad was killed the state (granted it was the state of Wakanda instead of the U.S. but still), the American military-industrial complex and then his own personal cocktail of rage, despair, and compassion for the suffering of others and Killmonger was born.

His tragedy, then, is that Erik wasn’t destined to be Killmonger. If he had been taken back to Wakanda, if he had found really any kind of community – Erik could have been an amazing leader in anything he chose to do, whether he stayed in Wakanda or not. But T’Chaka and the United States created Killmonger instead.

TLDR: Killmonger is the best MCU villain and Ryan Coogler is a genius.

The temptations of Finn and Rey in TLJ

One very typical beat for a fictional romance is one or both the partners
being “tempted” in some way by another potential partner.
There was a character in The Walking Dead who reminded Rick Grimes of his deceased wife Lori, a development which many fans thought spelled the end of his potential romance with Michonne. Princess Leia kissed Luke in ESB, something I’m sure we’d all like to forget
about. The Hunger Games had the typical YA love triangle which I
read the author didn’t even have in the original version–Gale was
originally Katniss’s cousin, not her potential love interest (Katniss
still comments on their physical resemblance in the book), but the
publisher wanted the triangle to spice things up. That’s how common a
trope it is.

Looking at these examples it seems to me that a lot of these
“temptations” from love have to do with family in some way, or the
unhealthy, traumatic aspects of family dynamics. Rick’s wife Lori
cheated on him and died in childbirth. leaving him to grieve for years. The woman who
reminded him of Lori (I’m so sorry, I can’t remember or find her name)
is an obvious callback to that complicated trauma. Leia and Luke for
obvious reasons, even if the familial relationship was a retcon. Gale,
even when he was no longer Katniss’s cousin, was still explicitly tied
to her identity as a provider and protector to her family. He
foregrounds this himself by saying how her attraction to him, to the
extent it existed, came from knowing he would take care of her family.
Given that Katniss’s need to provide for and protect her family,
especially her sister, from a young age not only drove her character
from the start but was the source of many of her issues and traumas, her
relationship with Gale was similarly based on this unhealthy part of her
family dynamics.

From these observations it seems Finn’s and Rey’s separate plots in TLJ, specifically with Rose and Kylo Ren respectively, have much more in common with temptation plots than endgame love stories. I say “temptation” here as more a plot element than a subjective psychological experience of being tempted. The temptation plot often does come with personal attraction, but in Rey’s and Finn’s cases the attractions do not seem to be romantic or sexual. Rather they seem attracted to things that are promised by or come to them through the tempting character, such as turning a powerful Force user to win the war, or the promise of comfort and freedom.

With Rey, the callback to the unhealthy/traumatic family dynamic is obvious since Ren uses her abandonment and family issues to try and tempt her into changing sides much as Vader did with Luke. Not only that, Finn’s relationship with Rose also reflects an unhealthy family dynamic, but with his upbringing in the First Order rather than his actual family. This may or may not be intentional on the writer’s part, but Finn’s first meeting with Rose is characterized by the compulsion, backed up with violence, to stay with an authority he is trying to leave. That original wrong is never addressed in a meaningful way but evidently accepted as part of the working relationship.

Even when they become friendlier Rose talks down to Finn at crucial points, impugning his courage and intelligence. (If you want to tell me she was joking, please see Tangled for what these “jokes” can do to a person. Maybe watching a blond girl being subjected to this treatment will help you see it’s harmful.) When he charges the cannon on Crait she again stops him with force. It is an accepted part of their relationship in TLJ, then, that Finn is lacking must be taught by the wiser and more knowing Rose, by violence if necessary. This calls to mind the constant berating and strict regimentation he endured in the First Order. The best thing he can do is tamp down on his own instincts and follow her lead, or he will be hurt–for his own good, obviously. This is the opposite of his storyline in TFA where Finn for the first time in his life acted in direct defiance of authority, both the First Order and Resistance.

TLJ, then, saw both Finn and Rey be tempted away from each other–not just as potential love interests, but also as co-heroes trying to break away from their respective traumas. They were both retraumatized in some way; Rey’s self-worth was questioned by an unsrupulous character who wanted to exploit her talents, and Finn was presented with the choice of either fully complying or being hurt by someone who “knows better” than he did. These dynamics are in direct contrast to the unconditional acceptance and affection Finn and Rey had found in each other during TFA and constantly yearned for in TLJ.

Finn and Rey’s unconditional love held true even in disagreement and conflict. When Finn wanted to leave in TFA and Rey wanted him to stay, he didn’t tell her he was the only person who could love her and she would be alone if she didn’t come with him. He sadly accepted her decision and told her to take care of herself, because clearly she could and she had friends and allies as well. Rey, though so saddened she couldn’t even bring herself to say good-bye, did not assault Finn or deride him as a coward; she let him go, because it was his decision and, if a mistake, his own mistake to make. That’s what it looks like when you love someone as a free individual and not an object to control for your own ends. It is the only way to love.

The respective temptations of Finn and Rey in TLJ, intentionally or not, serve not only as bumps in the road common in love stories but go to the heart of their characters and traumas. This is because the story of Finn and Rey’s love is about overcoming trauma and growing past it. And it is a love story, whether you think of it as romantic or not–it is the central relationship of the sequel trilogy, and that won’t change even if they have other or no romantic interests. Their story in TLJ was of them being tempted, in one way or another, from the true path of love. With their reunion the next part of their story begins, to extend their realization and growth into the galaxy at large and help others out of danger, trauma and hopefully servitude. The way may be hard, but together there is nothing they cannot do.

omgmirablog:

Seeing those gifs and understanding better what is going on in this fight made me bitter again. In particular, how Rey is not allowed to be herself, the Rey we got introduced to in tfa. I know these things were already discussed, but once again:

1) The girl grew up in desert. She scavenges every day, looks through the dirt, through dust, through oil just to get that one part. The first thing is survival, her buns are unkempt, her freckles are clear and there’s a smudge of dirt on her forehead.

The one we see on ahchtoo is someone looking like her. But this woman has never seen a spot worse than that from a wine, she has perfect skin, her highlight is blinding and later she changes her hair to look like something from a fashion mag (not many people look good with sleek hair, but better this than keep a reminder about her parents, isn’t it?).

2) This girl grew up where water and food is scarce. But now there is no need to look for food and the hunger and thirst she has known and was afraid of all her life is gone.

3) This girl grew up where sand surrounds you. It’s unforgiving, it rarely if ever allows for greenery. And what water you can get your hands on, it’s for drinking. Now she sees a lake, something she only heard of. But know matter, she knows how to swim. When did she learn, you ask? Perhaps the same moment she learned the knew way to fight?

4) The girl grew up knowing that getting things is almost impossible. But losing what she had to others, who were stronger, greater in numbers is a possibility she’ll have to face every day while she waits for her parents. She learns how to protect herself, to be brash, effective, use what many see as a helping tool like a weapon.

But no she has a sword. She doesn’t use it almost like a staff or a spear anymore, even tho she was never given any lessons. Now she is dancing, flashing a bright toy, knowing that enemies will step away before she even tries to hit them.

5) The girl misses her parents. She hopes they left because they had to. But they will come back if they are still alive. She remembers little. You could say she has never known family, but she knows that it should be something you cherish.

The woman we see later? She agrees that it’s okay to kill you own father and slaughter millions of innocents just because your uncle was checking batteries on his sword near you.

CHECKING BATTERIES