I didn’t want to watch this movie.
I didn’t even want to watch The Force Awakens.
George Lucas sold his property to Disney in 2012. When I watched him sign away his beloved creation to an organization I knew cared nothing for it save what it could milk from it financially I quietly mourned the end of Star Wars. What they have done with the property since its acquisition has only confirmed my fears that what was great about Star Wars was well and truly dead. So, why an article? Why a review? Why watch something you know you will despise? Simple, Star Wars may be lost, but that doesn’t mean other works of art need be lost as well. With Disney gobbling up yet another corporation I feel it’s incumbent now more than ever to speak out and about the various ways organizations like these and the people they hire destroy creativity as opposed to engender it.
When I started to learn what type of movie this was and the hatred many fans felt toward it I knew that it had to be the first entry in the Evisceration Series.
So…I watched it.
I did not feel hatred towards it. What I felt was…a wearyness. A sad disgust. This film was so mundane…so misconceived that more than anything I just wanted it to end. I wanted to pretend it never existed. I still do.
The Force Awakens created a great many open threads. This is classic JJ Abrams and is one of the main reasons I stopped dealing with this buffoon in the first place…because he doesn’t have, nor cares to have, any endings to these threads. He pulls them out of his ass because they sound good and who cares if they ever get addressed…when it’s all said and done he has your money. A large part of the outrage is the result of a mark realizing that a pick-pocket has just stolen their wallet; the genius of Abrams…is that Rian Johnson is being blamed for the theft. However Rian Johnson’s culpability lies in…other areas.
Directorial Choices
What happens in the movie is essentially this:
The First Order chases the Rebellion around destroying them bit by bit until they are pretty much non-existent. Luke Skywalker helps the remaining batch escape in the end. This is it, there really isn’t much there save for poorly conceived scenes, political statements, and useless subplots.
Snoke punishes Hux and the diminishment of the Force
When Vader punished someone for failure it meant something. This was emphasized by the auditory hum of the force being used. No such sound accompanies Snoke’s use of the Force against Hux…perhaps Rian thought that this would interfere with the squeaking sound of Hux sliding across the floor. No doubt more attempts at silly humor in a situation that should be anything but funny.
This undercuts both Snokes menace and the severity of the situation. This also undercuts the awe that the usage of the force used to have. Now it is virtually indistinguishable from, say, Jean Grey from the X-men using her telekinesis. When a force user used the force, thsi sound emphasized to me that they were tapping into something much larger than themselves…it made it special. As we move forward the destruction of what was once deemed special in Star Wars is a recurring theme.
Random Irritations
“You’re no Vader” — Supreme Leader Snoke.
What’s wrong with this line? Aside from the fact that it almost makes Kylo cry (I still can’t believe this is who they have as a primary villain). The problem is we have villains who are fanboys of past movie villains. If we enter Snoke’s quarters will we find a picture of Darth Vader in the corner? Did Count Dooku wax poetic about Darth Maul? No.
What now remains are villains who do not make their own mark, who only retrace the marks laid down by others. Gone are the villains who walked their own path. What’s left are hollow echoes of better villains of the past.
Kylo had the balls to kill his father…face to face. But doesn’t have the minerals to take out his mother who is in a whole different ship? I wish there was no way to read something from that. I wish I could say that him killing his father weakened his resolve and that he couldn’t bear committing patricide once more. I would like to say that. Because the possibility of taking this as an embedded message to mean Mothers are more important than Fathers is pretty darn tempting.
Grotesque sexual innuendos from Maz Kanata…like I needed those visions in my head.
“The downtrodden and oppressed” –Vice Admiral Holdo
Didn’t the Republic just fall days ago in The Force Awakens? How much time has “The First Order” had to create a group of “downtrodden and oppressed”. If there are any downtrodden and oppressed then they must have been downtrodden and oppressed under the now fallen “Republic” which makes me wonder why they would be interested in providing any ‘sparks’ to reignite this Republic.
“It’s a terrible place, filled with the worst people in the galaxy” –Rose
Ah, of course, rich people. Naturally, those who have wealth are the scum of the galaxy. They even have an individual illicit a strong Texas accent…because, Texans. In addition, Rose’s assertion that the only way someone can get really rich in their galaxy is by selling weapons to bad guys is nothing short of imbecilic. Lando Calrissian was able to make it work via mining while running Cloud City…which also featured gambling as a tourist attraction. I suppose we can now count Lando amongst the worst people in the galaxy.
Yoda shows up and for reasons only Rian could answer, largely behaves like the false character he displayed in The Empire Strikes Back. Johnson continues to make narrative decisions that mar not only the past series but any that should come after (such as they are). Did he even remotely contemplate the implications of giving Force Ghosts so much control over the physical world? What’s to stop an army of Force Ghosts to just sweep in and dispatch any problem makers that show up on the scene? For that matter, where is Anikan Skywalker, Obi Wan Kendobi, Mace Windu to field questions from those Force users struggling with decisions? Why didn’t Anikan, or Yoda, or Obi Wan not just strike down Kylo…or Snoke before they could do any harm?
Or how about how he steps on his own ridiculous arguments he gave to Luke about how unimportant the Jedi are. If Jedi were so inconsequential regarding the force how come we don’t see Force ghosts of regular people or animals (none were shown in this film). Just because you can make a narrative choice…doesn’t mean you should. Not when it destroys the fabric and integrity of a fictional universe you didn’t even create.
“Someone needs to stay behind to pilot the cruiser” — Vice Admiral Holdo
In a universe filled with droids…makes sense. But then if we actually used a droid we wouldn’t get Hyper-spacing through other ships. This is another one of those extraordinarily bad decisions made just because it could be made without factoring in the repercussions of such an act.
Because Johnson wanted to do something that ‘looked cool’ he invalidates not only the entire military strategy that has occurred in his own film but every battle that has occurred in the Star Wars films before his. Why were all these deaths allowed when such a devastating blow could have been delivered through automatic unmanned space craft? Oops.
“I cannot be betrayed, I cannot be beaten, I see his mind, I see his every intent.” — Supreme Leader Snoke.
Sometimes it’s best to not have your characters talk so much. They might just make you, the writer, seem like an imbecile. Johnson pumped Snoke’s abilities up quite a bit giving him an almost omnipotent air. When you give a character that much power…you make it more difficult to give their defeat credibility (see the Force Awakens)…a classic tenant of Hero Theory. Kylo’s little lightsaber maneuver did not offer that credibility…in the least.
Kylo and Rey play tug the lightsaber. They break it ( or at least that’s the way it looks ) and are both knocked unconscious. Rey clearly, clearly awoke before Kylo did. But instead of finishing off her boyfriend she leaves so that she can fight his forces again via the Millennium Falcon.
“This is how we’re going to win, by not fighting what we hate but defending what we love” –Rose
Given the context in which it was uttered this is probably the silliest quote in the film. Take a poll of the resistance and ask them how many of them have warm feelings toward The First Order. If Finn had bellowed “I love the resistance!” instead of “I’m not going to let them win” would Rose still have rammed his ship? Would she have told Holdo not to jump into Hyperspace? Would she have told her sister not to drop (gravity??) those bombs? Did Rian Johnson write this script on toilet paper while in the potty?
I fully believe the primary reason Johnson had her ram Finn was so that Luke could walk through the big hole made by the gun.
Projection Luke – Everything about this scene…was wrong and this article is long enough as it is.
Finn and Rose
These two nimrods were a waste of space and time. Their sole purpose was to fulfill a diversity checklist. Not only was Finn and Roses trek to casino-land an offensive bore but they returned only to put the “resistance” in even more jeopardy.
“It was worth it though, to tear up that town, make them hurt” –Finn
A line that could easily come from a member of Antifa. Here we have supposed heroes in the story implementing childlike solutions to elements they view as a problem. A disturbing message to present to the youth in the audience.
General Leia Organa
Leia spends most of the time pensively hunched over (or laying on her back ) in the film. I was still mesmerized by the change in her appearance and her voice. I guess that’s what comes with hard living. For the most part I found her performance okay.
The infamous space flight scene
Leia is blown out into space. Remember that auditory cue I mentioned about the force? The one used in George Lucas’s films to indicate that the force was being used? Well, just like when Snoke was playing puppet master with Hux that sound is absent once again ( it would turn out this sound was completely absent from the film period ). With it, it would have been more evident to the audience that she was using ‘The Force’ to pull herself to a ship.
This however…does not excuse her being exposed to the vacuum of space.
There is no indication that Leia is using the force to create a pressurized, oxygenated atmosphere for herself. Without such an atmosphere she would be dead within 15 seconds. Leia was out there floating in space for over a minute. I counted. Her being alive…much less force-pulling her way back to a ship is grade A horse shit.
No matter which way one wants to shake it…this is poor directing and storytelling. A part of being a bad director is making bad decisions. And the absence of that auditory cue ( not to even mention allowing her to get sucked out into space in the first place ) was a bad decision.
No wonder audiences were confused as to what the hell was going on.
Return of The Mary Sue
In the Force Awakens JJ Abrams built up a great deal of mystery revolving around Rey’s heritage. This sparked endless speculation as to who Rey’s parents might be. The reveal to this answer in the film was…beyond anti-climatic. Needless to say this was yet another example of how disjointed the strategy was regarding the making of these films. Essentially it was willy-nilly, with each person doing whatever they wanted without heed to cohesion and logic. The idea behind this non-story regarding Rey’s parentage was a hackneyed attempt to shove the Skywalkers aside and proclaim that anyone could be a Jedi. This message appeals to ‘progressives’ and falls in line with their agenda of less white males and more everyone else.
There of course is one problem; this concept has already been established years ago by George Lucas. There were Jedi from all races and all walks of life. Lucas was implementing diversity correctly long before it became the battle cry of the left. Had they given the films some actual thought they would have revealed, even showed, Rey’s parents from the outset, making it well-known that they were very average people, or even less than average. This tact might have actually made the character interesting.
“It lets you control people…and make things float” — Rey
This is what Rey knows about the force. In short…nothing.
The Force Awakens apologists far and wide defended Rey’s outlandish ability to be good…at everything. They squawked that her backstory was not fully revealed, that she probably was trained as a young child by someone who had mastered the force (as if that could explain her usage of advanced skills like the Jedi Mind trick). After this film the whole world now knows what we knew then. She could do all the things she could do because they needed/wanted her to do them.
There was no logical reason for it. It just was.
Chalk it up to girl power.
The Disrespect of Luke Skywalker
“You have failed your highness, I am a Jedi, like my father before me” –Luke Skywalker
These are the words of a man who has come to terms with who he is and where his place lies with the force. They are the words of a man who has passed the hurdles of wisdom and come out the better for it. They are the words of a Jedi. The new series of films rips apart these moorings for Luke, much like they did for Han Solo and Leia. It is indicative of a culture in this country more interested in tearing things down then preservation and creation.
One of Luke’s “lessons”:
“The force does not belong to the Jedi. To say that the force only belongs to the Jedi is vanity” — Luke Skywalker
What in the hell is Luke babbling about? Being a Jedi is a discipline. A group of people with shared goals and gifts (one of those gifts happen to able to use the force). Where in any Star Wars canon has a Jedi stated that only Jedi can use the force?
From Star Wars A New Hope:
Luke Skywalker: “What is the Force?”
Obi Wan Kenobi: “The force is what gives a Jedi his power. It is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.”
Nowhere in that explanation does he say that the force belongs to the Jedi. This would be tantamount to saying that in Star Trek warp travel belongs to the Federation. “No no…only the Federation can warp travel…stay on your planets you non-federation folk”.
This interjected philosophy is truly mind-boggling moronic. The ability to control the force is a power. One that allows those who can use it to dominate those who cannot. The Jedi served as peacekeepers for thousands of generations in an effort to ensure that those who could manipulate the force could not do so to hurt and subjugate people. Is Luke trying to tell us that no one should have stood up against these evildoers?
Luke attributes his failure with Kylo Ren to his hubris (I was Luke Skywalker…Jedi Master…a legend). Here, we once again, as in the case with Snoke and Ren, see our societies notion of celebrity-dom interjected into the Star Wars universe. This nonsense began in The Force Awakens with the talk of “Legends”. By any measure Obi Wan Kenobi or Yoda could have in the original trilogy adopted this moniker, but it was, of course, not present…because it didn’t belong. Star Wars has powerful and wise people. But it does not, and should not, have celebrities in the sense that our world does. Interjecting this cultural archetype is yet another example of the films poor storytelling. Luke may as well have been boasting about the number of Twitter followers he had because of his “legendary” status. That’s how inappropriate this mindset given to him was.
Having interjected this notion of legendary fame into
this universe and also saddling Luke with it…Rian then proceeds to use it as a bludgeon against the character. Like so many of those who embrace socialist ideologies they are quick to tear down those who have achieved power and standing but they never acknowledge that such status is often garnered through hard work and discipline. In their minds, success is evil. Or more aptly, those who are successful should be miserable about it and those who are not, are scum. In this film Luke hates himself and the Jedi order and in Rian’s eyes this is the only way to justify him being a good guy in this story.
In essence, Rian Johnson is punishing the character of Luke Skywalker because he is so admired by fans of the series. Which, in my opinion is nothing short of disgusting.
Luke Contemplating Killing Kylo in his Sleep
Not in a million years.
This is quite possibly one of the most egregious misrepresentations of a fictional character in modern history. It represents a fundamental lack of understanding on how sentient beings operate. Defenders of this idiocy also reveal their poor understanding of how psychology works when they posit that this was possible because a certain amount of time has passed. The fact of the matter is our core values seldom change over time. While it is possible for this change to occur a significant event or change in the individual must occur before this happens. The death of loved ones. A trauma to the brain. A trauma to the body. An eradication or severe altering to a way of life.
A core value determines whether one believes a certain action is right or wrong. For instance, one who holds peace and/or the rule of law as a core value would probably be against say…eating babies. To further illustrate how difficult it is for such values to change lets match these against some of the significant events mentioned above:
- The death of a spouse — is it baby eating time?
- A trauma to the brain — baby eating time? ….possibly
- The loss of ones legs — is the taste for baby flesh more prominent?
- You’re town is taken over by a foreign power – you’re taxes go up – life becomes harder — Do you now feel it’s okay to make a baby Soufflé? Probably not.
As you can see it is very difficult to change a persons core values. It was Luke Skywalkers core values that led him to confront his Father and The Emperor in The Return of the Jedi. It was his core values that made him toss aside his lightsaber in the duel with his Father.
At the time where Luke stood over Kylo contemplating his death, his friend and Kylo’s father Han Solo was alive and well. His sister, Kylo’s mother was alive and well. The Republic was still standing. Luke had 12 other students. What significant event are we to believe occurred that would make Luke abandon his core values?
- Kylo is being tempted by the dark side — Uh oh, time to kill my nephew in his sleep!
Doesn’t even come close to sounding feasible. For shame Rian Johnson…for shame.
Luke’s actions in this film were not inline with his core values. They were twisted and manufactured to serve the needs of the story at the expense of the integrity of the character and in disservice to his fans who know full well that he was doing things he would never do.
The character in this film is not Luke Skywalker.
The character in this film will never be Luke Skywalker.
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Those were the issues I found with the film that to me were particularly offensive – others have found a great deal more:
“Set-up: Is Admiral Holdo a traitor? Anticlimax: Apparently she’s not, she just wanted to hide her plan (of saving The Resistance) from everybody without any apparent reason, creating forced conflict.”
“This movie is all about making way for the newer generation and I truly hate the way it is done. Trust me, I love Star Wars and I would love to give the newer generations time to evolve and introduced in the most intelligent way, but this movie just wants to kill off legends.”
“Finn not performing the most courageous act in history, sacrifice. I know everyone else felt it as Finn was about to collide with the battering ram cannon, that swelling in the throat, and the tears starting to form as finally his character does something meaningful. To only have it ruined by Rose with her line that “We won’t win by destroying the things we hate; we win by saving the things we love.” OH REALLY??? well that is trumped by the comment Luke makes about war just beginning… last time I checked wars were won by ruthless tactics not by handing out flowers.”
“The only meaningful fight in the whole movie was reduced to big deus ex force fuck you to everybody who wanted to see Luke duel again.”
“The problem isn’t that these characters are dying. It’s the way they’re being killed off and what they’re being replaced with. This isn’t a trilogy it’s a fucking vendetta. Every two years a beloved character gets knocked off in terribly underwhelming fashion and the new characters get no better.”
“Wow, didn’t know that the mighty First Order Dreadnought that is capable of orbital bombardment was extremely vulnerable to “vertical-dropping bombs that defies space physics” from ONE Resistance bomber.”
“To start, one of the biggest issues with the new Star Wars movies are the excessive amount of puns and comedic entertainment that have now been added to the series. Star Wars is not a Marvel movie and is NOT intended to be a comedy. The Last Jedi adds too much unnecessary humor that takes away from the seriousness that is Star Wars.”
“Awkward directing and mini-plot holes. So… when Finn and whatshername were captured and prepared for execution by Captain Phasma, there were stormtroopers all around them. An explosion. Everyone except our gracious main characters is dead. What happened to the troops surrounding Finn and Rose? At the end after the crash, how did Finn carry whatsherface back to rebel lines without AT-AT’s obliterating them? My god. I admit I was tired, so maybe I missed some key elements. Could someone explain in detail how the main characters survived in some scenes for reasons other than their extraordinarily thick plot armour?”
In and of itself I found The Last Jedi to be a silly and uninspiring space film. As a Star Wars film…I found it to be an abomination.
When I was little, my younger brother and I loved playing with our action figures. We would create and enact elaborate storylines. Once in awhile we would have a guest child come over who would want to take part in the playing. When we played we naturally implemented common rules in the gameplay…like physics. For instance, our characters actually walked or ran…putting one foot after another. They crouched before they jumped. They used their hands, fists etc. when engaging in physical combat. Sometimes we would encounter a kid who didn’t believe in such concepts. They would take two action figures in each hand and begin clacking (slamming) them together. When we asked such individuals what they were doing they would say ‘they’re fighing!’.
We usually tried to explain to these kids that people don’t move that way. That unless both characters possessed the ability of flight and for some reason both thought it was more effective to hapzardly ram their torsos against each other that what they were doing didn’t make any sense.
Sometimes we got through to them. Most of the time we didn’t.
I have no doubt Rian Johnson was an action figure clacker.
A former toy clacker has no business making a Star Wars movie.
1 out of 5 stars
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That is the end of my review. The rest of this article deals with the political aspects and ramifications of the film.
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The ‘Progressive’ Agenda
It is the elephant in the room.
Few things pull a person out of supposed escapist media than an obvious insert of politics they find distasteful. Worse still, politics that directly indict the individual, who has paid money to see said media, as a bad human being. This is the precise experience millions felt once they realized that identity politics was woven into the fabric of Star Wars.
The strong politicization of the new Star Wars films began before The Force Awakens was even released and has only grew in intensity. The left saw the casting of minority characters as a declaration that Star Wars was now ‘theirs’ and that it was a referendum on the straight, white male.
What seems to have been lost in this collective is a sense of history. Straight, white males have had no problem embracing characters of different races and sexes in the past. Ripley from Alien, Aliens, Sarah Connor from the Terminator movies, Eddie Murphy films, Will Smith films, Wesley Snipes films, Milla Jovovich films, even Cynthia Rothrock was given the time of day.
But if these individuals decrying the past were to be believed none of those minority characters meant anything. What seems to be more and more apparent is that what is bothering these people is not the absence of minority characters…but the lack of scorn and derision directed at white males.
You see…it’s not enough to have representation…you must also incorporate condemnation.
“If it weren’t for his willingness to go outside, he’d be every entitled troll on the internet—and the stench of his toxic masculinity only intensifies in The Last Jedi”
“their way of life isn’t beautiful, it’s evil—and deserving of destruction.”
“In themes and plot, The Last Jedi asserts again and again that monolithic dominance isn’t good for anyone. The movie isn’t here to Make the Galaxy Great Again. It’s to tell the stories of the people who want to actually fix it.”
“and the misogynist, racist, classist, dark side of the populace that’s always been present, wielding power in one form or another”
Watercutter, A. (2017, Dec 15). Retrieved from https://www.wired.com
Couldn’t be more clear, the author of that article believes The New Star Wars movies illustrate that white males are the problem with the world and people who look like Finn, Rey and Rose…are the solution. That’ll be $15, thank you for your patronage.
Johnson has admitted that he made the movie he wanted to see and the left has deemed him their champion.
“The flag was planted in 2015’s “Episode VII — The Force Awakens” with director J.J. Abrams’ introduction of heroes like Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) to a canonical universe historically dominated by white men. It continued in 2016’s “Rogue One,” in which a culturally diverse band of misfits led by Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso steal the plans to the Death Star.”
“In a film that slyly subverts the traditional male-hero imperative, the best-laid plans and aggro methods of men on both sides of the Force give way to the valor of women. “The Last Jedi” also posits the radical notion that one doesn’t need Skywalker blood to inherit a powerful destiny, a populist concept that should ripple across the galaxy in future installments to come.”
“[Poe] is a hotshot pilot, so you ground his X-wing and you face him with the question of bravado vs. true heroism, which is leadership,” explained Johnson. “I started watching World War II movies, because you see that type of relationship reflected a lot in films like ‘Twelve O’Clock High’ or ‘The Dawn Patrol.’ The fact that it’s a woman, and not only that, but it’s a woman who isn’t in a general’s outfit but has a real feminine energy, seemed like the toughest thing that Poe could come up against.”
Yamoto, J. (2017, Dec 17). How Rian Johnson made heroism inclusive in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Retrieved from http://beta.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-star-wars-last-jedi-rian-johnson-20171217-story.html
“How is diversity — and the lack thereof — used to indicate the values of the opposing sides of the conflict in the Star Wars series? Why is it notable that the First Order has very little diversity, while the Republic has a lot of it?”
Bozdech, B. (2017, Dec 23). Retrieved from https://www.salon.com/2017/12/23/5-conversations-to-have-with-your-kids-after-star-wars-episode-viii-the-last-jedi_partner/
And on and on it goes..
Lost lessons of The Past
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
There was a time when these wise words were embraced by most the inhabitants in this great nation.The Civil rights era ushered in on the wave that a person’s exterior was not that persons defining property. That they had a mind, a soul that superseded their casing and established them as a unique, special entity.
Sadly we have entered a time of regression, a time where many have eschewed these principles in favor of an ugly belief system that holds the collective over the individual, the flesh over the mind.
Disney has embraced Identity Politics
Make no mistake, we are in the midst of a culture war and Disney has chosen its side.
Instead of presenting a timeless universe that dealt with aspects of good and evil virtually everyone could get behind they decided to back the side that specifically champions the notion that a person is not more than their exterior and that the superficial shell that covers human beings is more important than who they are inside…a curious choice.
In doing so they have done a disservice to Star Wars creator George Lucas. And they have done a disservice to the legion of fans who have supported these stories for decades. What this means is simple and plain. This movie was made by and for people who despise those who have the audacity to judge others solely by the content of their character.
The Illusion of Progress
The direction Disney has taken with the property should come as no surprise to anyone. The Force Awakens established precisely what the heads at Disney considered “Good” storytelling. An all-powerful female character, her loyal, but incompetent black toadie, evil white men…and the other minorities (Poe Dameron) being nothing more than after thoughts.
Almost from the word go Finn once again plays the role of the fool. This character was injured in a supposed dire situation. The stakes under this injury were made to be life and death but his reintroduction is brought under the haze of bad slapstick. Slapstick which follows the character throughout the film. He is paired with another, Rose, who essentially spends her time being the mouthpiece for progressive talking points. If these characters feel empty it’s because they are. They do not exist to serve any meaningful thematic purpose, they exist as ideological props. They are tools, and they are used much like the left uses minorities in the political arena.
- Virtue Signaling
- Votes
True diversity verses false diversity
The root of why ‘diversity’ is executed so poorly from those who ascribe to identity politics is based primarily on the fact that they do not know ( or refuse to acknowledge ) what diversity really is. They believe that diversity stems from the exterior, the shell, the casing of a human being. When it is quite the opposite. True diversity begins in the mind. You can find like individuals within every group all over the world regardless of their skin tone or cultural background. The gift of sentience has changed us from the reactive, primitive creatures who relied upon groupthink and tribalism to ensure our survival…or should I say it has changed most of us. As sentient beings our diversity is determined by the conclusions we have drawn from this puzzle called life. This is revealed when one looks at the individuals of any ethnic group. The notion that belonging to an ethnic group means that an individual believes or thinks a certain way is one of the biggest lies ever put forth in humanity, and one that should be demolished at every opportunity.
When you understand that diversity is not a physical construct but a mental one you can begin to portray human beings as they really are as opposed to hollow speaking points. You are forced to give them real dreams, ambitions, desires, strengths and weaknesses that supersede their physical shell. They become beings of life as opposed to political props. Rian Johnson does not understand this important distinction and as such his checkpoint of inclusivity failed to incorporate characters that were more than statements of his supposed virtue.
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A Parable
A white man builds a boat. He sits in his boat and enjoys laying in the boat as it rocks back and forth under the sunlight.
A few of his white friends come along and ask if they can climb aboard his boat as well. He says sure, come on in.
Later a black man comes along, see’s the group in the boat and asks if he could come aboard the boat. They say sure.
Later a woman comes along, and ask if she too, can climb aboard the boat. The man looks around, and tells the woman that there is still some room and she can come aboard.
Later an Asian man, an Asian woman, a Hispanic couple, a gay couple, and a trans-gender person gather around the boat and ask if they too can come aboard. The man looks around and says sorry guys, I don’t think there is any more room.
The group becomes irate. They start to hurl insults at the man. They say that he is lying.They say that he is being racist, that he is being sexist. They say he isn’t being inclusive enough. They say that there are too many white people in the boat, that if he made those white people get off the boat there would be more room for different types of people.
The man motions for the crowd, threatening to become a mob, to quiet down so he can speak.
“You have called me names. You have accused me of being a bad person because I have not asked you all to come aboard my boat, for if you did, surely it would sink. I see that you like boats and want to lay in one as we are doing. Might I offer a solution to this problem?”
The crowd is quiet, curious to what he will say next.
“Build your own boat”.
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Did you ever wonder why progressives are so gung-ho about changing or destroying the creations of white males as opposed to putting their energies in seeing that minorities create such properties of their own? When you notice this trend…it becomes blazingly apparent that the notion of creating a property to rival Star Wars has never occurred to any of them. This…more than anything else reveals the fowl, disingenuous motives behind their protestations of equality. If minorities were creating their own franchises like Star Wars, Marvel and DC then they could not be so easily used as weapons for Identity Politics.
Identity Politics is an abhorrent, base, destructive ideology that has no place in a civilized society. Disney has decided to embrace this ideology and they are going to have to live with that decision. Fortunately, it now seems that many fans are starting to smell the stench of it.
Perhaps Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote has finally caught up to the house of mouse regarding this property:
“You can fool all the people some of the time,
and some of the people all the time,
but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
Let us no longer play the role of the fool. With this new insight we should do what was not done before…what Kylo Ren has suggested we do. Let the past die. On that much I agree with him. This series should have died a peaceful death under George Lucas. But we could not let it go, we pried it from his hands and begged a corporation to breathe life into it. But what arose was not a hopeful phoenix…what arose was Frankenstein’s monster.
A monster that hates us.
A monster that calls for our destruction.
It is time to put it to sleep once more. This time for good. Let it die. Let Star Wars die.
I promise you. There are other creators out there. There are other stories out there.
There are more worlds out there than these.
Merry Christmas
