Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) by Leumas%20 L — 16 Jan 2018

Childhood ruined, everything ruined!

So many things wrong with this movie, and the other reviewers have articulated them well.

Essentially, Disney is trying to create their version of Harry Potter. I'm not a fan of the H.P. series, but I can see that they were fleshed out stories with a ton of good characters. However, the character I resonate with the least in the H.P. series is Harry himself. He's too perfect and everybody except the bad guys love him. Rey is essentially Harry Potter. In a way I think it's sexist the way they portrayed her. We've heard the Mary Sue argument, and that people, including Daisy Ridley, find that notion and that term sexist. Disney is right on to make a lady be the main protagonist, but it's almost like saying a woman can't handle the trials and tribulations it takes to become a Jedi. They just made her magical, that's Harry Potter, that's not how it works for Jedi. The orig. trig. taught us that you have to work hard and dig deep and then maybe someday you'll be a Jedi. To me this kind of writing (in The Last Jedi) reflects a parenting trend in society that I see a lot these days. That is, a shift away from the "work hard, dig deep" message to just, "you are special, you are the chosen one." It's not healthy folks. The broom boy at the end confirms this for me. He's already got the force, moving shit around with ease. This theme that Disney is going for is identical to the muggles and wizard kids model of the H.P. series. It's the "either you got it or you don't" mentality. So that all sucks in my opinion. It's not that different from midechloreans if you think about it.

Next is the issue with Finn. He was pushed off as a side character. The marketing leading up to TFA largely portrayed Finn as a possible Jedi in training. One preview even had Harrison Ford's voice say "A Jedi," as it showed Finn. He had more lightsaber time than Rey in the movie. I was ok with Finn's portrayal as long as they continued this story arc and it wasn't just misdirection. Nobody is talking about this. Had Rey been a white male character though, I think it would have gotten more attention. Lets be honest, Lucasfilm and Disney keep talking about inclusivity and representation, but guess what, ALL of the (humanoid) space wizards (Jedi or Sith) are white, All OF THEM, including Broom Boy. What the fuck kind of message is that? I guess it's ok because Rey is a lady? I sat in a theatre with a mostly black audience and watched a preview for TFA. Sitting behind me was a black man and his two sons. Upon seeing Finn with the lightsaber, the kids were so ecstatic, "he's a Jedi!" they gasped. Rian and Disney took that away from them, and from everybody who resonated with Finn. I still see marketing where Finn is being portrayed as a Jedi. In a car commercial the other day, there is a little boy holding a Finn doll with a lightsaber and he asked his grandma something about Jedi's. Grandma doesn't say to him, "sorry, but Finn isn't a Jedi, he's just normal." Jedi Finn is good enough for their marketing but not enough for their movies I guess. It's a disgrace.

Not gonna get into all the other shit wrong with this movie like shirtless Kylo, Snoke dying, Lukes portrayal, but I will say that I I'm done with Star Wars. It's too bad, I really loved it, I was a big fan and really needed this movie to be good. Disney wants us to let the past die, ok fine, but that doesn't mean I'm going to consume this slop you're serving up. RIP Star Wars.