Star Wars: the Last Jedi

[sasha_feather]

Star Wars: the last jedi



spoilers ahead

I didn't like:
--It was too long
--It didn't make much sense to me why the Vice Admiral would not just TELL Poe what her plan is, and forestall his foolishness. The resistance is not all about trusting in authority and following orders-- it's the opposite. I am hung up on this! She could have even approved his plan as a Plan A/ Plan B thing, and it wouldn't have affected the plot much.
--Snoke. Another evil character with facial disfigurement.
--No queers
--Speaking of which, I'm with Rey in that I didn't need to see Adam Driver shirtless.
--the constant death wore me down

I liked:
--Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Daisey Ridley, John Boyega, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill, the droids, etc
--Rey being a willful, resolute, absolutely good person
--The salt plains were super beautiful and so was the sacred island!
--I LOVED the spooky, mysterious cave beneath the island, and I like that it wasn't explained. I hope we see it again. This was the most science fictional and cool thing I've seen on screen in a long time.
--Leia SLAPPING Poe's face
--Fight choreography
--My roommate pointed out: WWI and WWII imagery, with bombers supported by dog fighters, and even a trench
--The casino full of rich arms dealers being the worst place in the world! And the detail about the arms dealers selling to both sides. And the dig at animal racing.
--The reveal about Rey's parents. The world can regard you as a nobody from nowhere, but you are still someone important. Everyone is someone.
--Some quite funny moments
--Overall, it felt fresh and interesting and layered. The theme of fighting facsists; surviving; holding onto hope-- felt needed and relevant.

Comments

[isagel]

I found Rose’s point of living on to hope and love rather than dying to destroy even more valuable when seen in dialogue with Rouge One. Rouge One is all about the nessecary self-sacrifice, TLJ builds on that argument with a “but” - that dying for the cause isn’t of value in itself, that surviving can be resistance enough.

[sasha_feather]

Yes, absolutely! Good point.

[longwhitecoats]

Oooh, I hadn't even thought of how that's in dialogue with Rogue One.

[beccatoria]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree with a lot of them (I enjoyed the relationship between Rey and Kylo in this film when sticking with my own non-romantic interpretation, but I can see that it could be interpreted otherwise and that bothers me).

I did have a different reaction to Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern). I can see why watching the Resistance engage in tropes of traditional military obedience would be counter intuitive (though given Rose is stunning people and turning them in for desertion I think they do run themselves as some kind of military force in that sense - but that doesn't necessarily mean it will feel thematically coherent).

Anyway, a few points that may or may not explain my reaction. I really loved Poe learning about leadership from middle-aged women in evening wear, and I also loved that this involved him not being pandered to or coddled. Like, viewing it in a wider social context, it shouldn't automatically be the woman's job to placate the grouchy man who is refusing to respect her authority. She shouldn't have to expend extra effort ensuring he won't fuck things up for her. I know that those gender dynamics aren't why you wanted her to talk to him (it's about the way the Resistance should work vs the First Order works). But I think that the story does serve as a refutation of those dynamics.

And I think that looking at the interaction through that lens meant that I had extra sympathy for why Space Laura Dern refused to engage with Poe. "Vice Admiral Holdo, of the Battle of Chyron? Not what I expected..." implies that even though he has great respect for Leia, he is judging the Vice Admiral on her looks and more feminine demeanor. Also from her perspective, his recent behaviour was dangerously reckless. He disobeyed Leia's order and lost their entire bombing fleet, seriously weakening their position. She may see what Leia sees in him and like him personally, but she can't trust him right now, and that's because of his actions. If she told him the plan, he could continue to argue against it - in front of frightened crew members who she felt needed unity and leadership. I'm not saying it was the right call, but I can understand why she made it.

As to Plan A/Plan B - I'm not sure that would have improved the situation, ultimately. The evacuation plan failed because, when Finn and Rose were captured, the hacker cut a deal and sold them out. So like, had she okayed it, the same thing would probably have happened. My suspicion is that Poe was right in his assessment that she'd turn his request down because she was trying to avoid the additional risk. Which in hindsight she was right about (though of course it could have gone the other way).

Anyway, this is getting tl;dr! As I said, I can see why you'd find it disappointing, but I liked it.

[sasha_feather]

Thank you for this analysis! It makes a lot of sense. I suppose because we're seeing things from Poe's perspective, and supposed to sympathize with him, it can be hard to see him as unlikable and messing things up.

[brainwane]

I agree with you. She was totally right to treat him like someone who is clearly going to do whatever he wants and take reckless risks, and thus to trust him less with information that, if leaked, might weaken the Resistance's position.

The resistance is not all about trusting in authority and following orders-- it's the opposite.

Huh, I've actually never perceived the Resistance in Star Wars to be against the practice of trusting in authority or following orders; I've only perceived the Resistance to be against atrocities, tyranny, and unjust government. I'd be curious to hear what the Resistance in Star Wars means to various people...

[sasha_feather]

I realize I'm influenced here by fanfic-- I recently read "Home out in the wind" which led to this way of thinking.

[sophinisba]

Yay, thank you for posting!

I have a lot of similar feelings, including not wanting to see Kylo Ren shirtless and loving the idea of Rey's parents being nobodies! And I thought the whole movie was gorgeous, especially the salt plains and the gambling place.

Besides Snoke being a villain with facial disfigurement he seemed pretty queeny to me (especially when he walked) and that combined with not having queer characters elsewhere or less gender-normative good guys gave me some sadness.

[sasha_feather]

Oh that is a good point! I didn't notice it but you are so right.

[eos_joy]

This post and the comments are everything I needed to help me process my thoughts and feelings. ^^

Snoke. *eye roll*

Luke. *is sad*

I love the parallel that Kylo/Ben comes from these heroes/legends/Force Family that wanted him and Rey comes from Nobodies that didn't (at least I assume so because they sold her). Yes, the "anyone can have power/be a Jedi/use the Force" stuff is cool, but it's also a nice "opposite and equal" thing going on for me too.

I absolutely thought Rose and Paige were lovers at first. *lol* I have sisters, and I love them very, very much, but for some reason (my own queerness maybe?) my head went "Oh! She has the same necklace! That must be her partner/spouse/girlfriend/lover! (*thinks*) ...or best friend! (*thinks some more*) ...could be a relative." I suppose I wanted the non-straightness to happen and I didn't think they looked all that much alike. (For anyone who doesn't think I know: yes, they are both women with Vietnamese background, but that doesn't mean they look related.)

Either way - we have lots of familial, partner, and friendship love in Star Wars. Where is all the non-straight lovin'? *WANTS*

So...yes. Beautiful to watch, funny, deep, interesting, diversity is great...but there are places where improvements could have been made. *still hoping*

[sasha_feather]

I also thought that Paige was Rose's girlfriend! The necklace that is obviously two halves making up a circle.

[longwhitecoats]

I like this post <3333 And I really loved the spooky cave too!!!!! I liked that the dark side had a temple on the island that was just as natural as the light side -- it was literally in the roots of the tree, just the mirror (heh) of what was on top.