Posted on 01/05/2018 9:41:37 AM PST by Rummyfan
Star Wars’ roots in mythology are so well-established that they have become a sort of legend in themselves: Somewhere in a hallowed office in the ’70s, George Lucas, poring the ancient pages of Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces, struck the molten iron of the sci-fi zeitgeist to create a new myth, a fantasy set in the stars, with futuristic light sabers and a misty philosophy which feels like long, long ago.
Every subsequent Star Wars film has attempted to recapture Lucas' initial magic, with mixed success. Each trilogy is wildly different, from the archetypal myth of the originals to the shallow politics of the prequels to the meta, self-referential Disney films.
And yet they all share one thing in common: the failure of authority structures. In the original trilogy, Luke has to come to terms with the reality that he is the son of the most iconic villain in cinema history. The prequels loop back to observe the tragic rise and fall of that character, and his disenchantment with the stilted bureaucracy of the Jedi Order. The Last Jedi combines both of these anxieties—the crisis of absent, immoral parents and failed institutions. But having abandoned its mythic roots, TLJ has no way to handle these conflicts.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
The whole article is a spoiler.
BTW, as a Christian I see the movie as exposing the meaning of life without God.
First SW film I skipped since 1977. I’m grateful to Disney for helping me put away childish things.
meaning = meaninglessness
Good way to put it. I’ve not seen it either. I saw the first one 26 times in the theater. I own Rebel One and like how it wraps all the prequels up right to the very second the first movie starts.
I’m good. The kids can have fun with it from this point on. :)
Okay, that was funny (and accurate.) But I stopped reading at the point where she says that Rey fails to turn Kylo from the Dark Side. This isn't necessarily true. He kills Snopes (or Snork or whatever) and is left in the position of having an Empire before him with a sudden job opening at the very top, and himself as the most likely successor to the throne. This is not Dark in and of itself. He could take command and change the direction of the First Order. The fact that he holds out his hand to Rey and says, "Rule with me" indicates a willingness to do just that. Why she rejects him is beyond me. My only answer is that they need to squeeze one more movie out of this material.
Shame, you missed a good film
Or a theme park.
-PJ
I heard Alex Jones say the movie was one big Social Justice/Politically Correct propaganda machine wrapped up in script. Not sure if that is correct, but I have read enough bad reviews to not want to go see it.
Got the best explanation last night of this movie from a friend of our nephew, who’s in his early 30s. The “Star Wars” franchise decisions have been taken over by the Millennials. Their generation absolutely loved “The Last Jedi”, according to him. Us old farts, to whom Mark Hamill is a contemporary, don’t understand the new direction. Besides, it’s JUST a movie.
I guess so. My major problem, besides all the PC bullcrap, is that ‘TLJ’ did little or nothing to extend the story lines of previous editions, but didn’t work as a stand-alone movie. Mainly because the writers assumed we all knew who the characters were.
When I first viewed the trailer for the new Star Wars movie, my first impression was: “Are you kidding? Another Buck Rodgers story?” But after viewing the movie, I was hooked. Since then I’ve come to the conclusion that without the John Williams’ soundtrack the movie would have not been nearly so popular. I remember the great Musicals of the thirties and forties, wonderful tunes wrapped around average plots. Maybe this is not a good analogy but great soundtracks sometimes make the movie. Of course this is just IMHO.
New movie = the first Star Wars movie.
From the article:
"..... The Last Jedi spends an entire film demolishing organized religion"
That was the intent of the nihilistic atheists who wrote it.
That was "the message."
And then the article's author says this:
"It didn’t have to be this way. Hopelessness isn’t inevitable in a story about failure. Take the other major modern myth, The Lord of the Rings. Failure is central to its plot, yet it is never hopeless. Tolkien wrote, "I am a Christian and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect 'history' to be anything but a 'long defeat'—though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory." In this vein, Tolkien's characters all see their quest—to take a magic ring into the very heart of enemy territory in order to destroy it—as a desperate venture, nothing more than "a fool's hope." Yet they fight on, nonetheless, because of faith in an ultimate victory and inspiration from an ultimate beauty."
Somewhat windy discussion that hits a few good points. I disliked the ineptitude of the leaders of the rebellion. They never seemed think even slightly ahead and were always caught with their pants (well, OK, skirts - since most of the leaders are ladies) down
Which makes you wonder: what happened to the men? Except for that one rather excitable pilot and a nearly worthless used-to-be Jedi, the males seemed to given up and went home to raise the kids.
Great special effects and some fun parts but on the whole, strange.
Star Wars Minus Williams - Throne Room
Exactly. He says "it's time to let old things die." Seems that would equally apply to both the Rebellion and Empire.
A long boring feminist sermon.
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