That is what Star Wars 'The Last Jedi' is about...
Yes, surprisingly the Last Jedi is not necessarily about it's characters hearts, emotions, hopes, fears, destinies... And it is definitely not about the audiences hearts, emotions, hopes, fears, or desires.
(The Last Jedi is all about Perspective.)
I never thought the day would come when I would be able to share something about Star Wars with an audience, that they may not know. But after watching the last Jedi, and really thinking about it, I realized that the beauty of perspective is actually sharing it. And if we don't share the past with the present generation, we truly are doing them an injustice. The truth is, Star Wars has changed, just like society has changed, and as hard as it may be for some to believe, the changes we see in a decade are more than we used to see in 50+years. This is the power of technology.
For those of us dedicated Star Wars fans...We clearly remember how 13 years ago, Revenge of the Sith squeezed our hearts when it revealed the yellow eyes of the fading Anakin Skywalker, the supposed "Chosen One" just before he gives in to the darkness and kills the innocents in the Jedi Temple. It breaks our hearts, as it does Padme's when her beloved husband begins to choke the very woman he has sworn to protect and vowed to save.
Yes, Revenge of the Sith more than any other SW film made plain to us the truth about the "Dark Side".
The Force is merely a power/energy that can be used for either evil or good, and to stay in the light is at the heart of what it means to be a Jedi and to give in to the dark is what it means to fall from grace.
You may not be a prequel fan, but in my philosophical opinion, Revenge of the Sith is the most pure in it's message. Whether you like the acting or not, or find the scenes a bit choppy, the truth about this movie is it truly is the one film that "binds everything together", for those of us who watched the original films...
It was important for us to see the journey of the most iconic character of the SW franchise...Darth Vader. I believe it wasn't just important for the filmmakers to squeeze more money out of the movie goers, but was one of the most necessary prequels ever made.
(You cannot be a Knowledgeable in something if you haven't been trailed.)
After you look beyond the never ending galaxies, the space battles, and the droids and aliens...Star Wars is a drama that fulfills it's promises. At the heart of Star Wars is a message, a message about good and bad, darkness and light.
This is why I liked Star Wars most. When I first saw the original trilogy I was 12 years old, and was going through a faze when I was fascinated by space travel and anything to do with outer space...So naturally, I enjoyed Star Wars because it opened a world of possibility and fed my wonder.
But, it was the heart of Star Wars that made it stick like glue. What do I speak of? The relationship between Luke and Darth Vader of course...and not even their relationship as characters, but in relation as opposite forces in a perilous galaxy. Luke stands for what is right, he works hard to learn the ways of the Jedi...but in the end what is it really that saves the universe? Is it his bad ass fighting skills? No. Is it his connections? No. Is it his knowledge of the force? No. It is love.
And what is it that destroys planets? Is it big guns? Is it big mouths? Or is it the root of the "dark side"? If you know Star Wars you know this quote,
"Fear is the path to the dark side...fear leads to anger...anger leads to hatred...hatred leads to suffering" - Yoda, Phantom Menace
This tells us that "the dark side" of the force is fed by: fear, anger, hatred, and all unhealthy negativity. The hardest chore of a Jedi in training is to keep one's mind single and focus true. This is not simple, this is not to be taken lightly by the apprentice, it requires work and dedication. The reality is that the profound message of Star Wars from a Truth Seeker's Perspective is this
"When the two suns set, and the day has come to an end...Your choice of side will determine your destiny."
If a Jedi chooses to give in to the "dark side" of the force, they will inevitably be destroyed by it. Just like bad choices have consequences, hatred never leads to peace, and love is the only true power we have. Eternal life is only something that is given to the Light Jedi in the SW universe. I wonder why that is? Perhaps it was Lucas's way of hinting to Christianity and the Christian's belief that "The Righteous Inherit Eternal Life". The fact that the fallen Jedi have the ability to be seen as spirits, is very similar to some bible stories where prophets were seen after death by other important figures.
Yet, even so, the force is said to be in every living thing, and bind all things together...as Obi Wan preaches in 'A New Hope'.
For those of many different religions there is something to be seen in "The Force". Christians may see it as Supernatural Power in general, New Age'ers may see it as Mother Earth herself, and Hindus may see it as a way that they connect with their many gods. But, that is why Star Wars has been so universally accepted and praised...it has just enough truth in it that people of any religion can at least tolerate it, but more likely can be inspired by it in a spiritual way.
When I was younger this fascinated me, and being the type of person that enjoys "seeking out the background facts" did enough research on the subject and listened to enough of Mr. Lucas's words on how he created the "religion" of Star Wars to tell you that; He took a bit of this, a bit of that, and sprinkled it all in a big mixing pot that included cultural references and some religious inspiration as well, but over all, Star Wars is NOT merely a religious film series, it is a SPIRITUAL one.
The Jedi Way is "The Jedi Religion", this is made clear by Luke Skywalker's words in the recent film when he calls it such.
(Star Wars is a Spiritual Film Series, about a Religious Sect called the Jedi)
In retrospect, 'A New Hope' gave us hope, it reminded us that no matter where you are from, you can make a difference. That a new world can open up before you at any time, any where, and all you need is courage, and a heart ready to take responsibility to do not what is "expected of you" but rather "what is needed of you". Sometimes in order to embrace the new, we must let go of our doubts, and trust...in this case, trust in the force.
But, the truth about Star Wars and it's first Hero Luke Sky walker is that Force Sensitivity is passed down. Luke and Leia inherited their force sensitivity from their Father, Anakin Skywalker, who was conceived by the force it's self. Was he conceived by the Light Side of the Force? or the Dark Side of the Force? Because they obviously are at odds with each other, with different desires...whether you believe they are or not...
But according to "The Last Jedi" the force is not light without the dark, and not dark without the light. Forget the sides, because according to new revelation about what the Force is in Star Wars, the Force is more of a Ying Yang, with shades of grey, and shades of green, with white fences and black staircases. In this "New Force" and I say "New Force" because as the Force is more defined in the new Star Wars films, it becomes less of something that makes sense, and more and more something that has no absolute shape or form. I this that the desire of The Last Jedi is to meld the two together, and to rid our eyes of the Jedi and their purest religion, but instead to promote the modern day beliefs of "Anything Goes", "Post Truth", and "Darkness has no consequences"
But, I personally don't want to give Star Wars too much weight. It doesn't even have to make sense, because at the end of the day it is just entertainment, and NOT a ligament religion. Still, I want to make it clear that many people ARE going to be very disappointed by this last Star Wars film...and that effect is going to be more intense then some of us give it credit. and it's not going to be the new movie goers, or star wars fans 13 and under that it effects; It's going to be the human beings that have grown up/ or grown old with the series.
It has been a baby sitter to many a young boy, it has been a training wheel to many a young child, it has been an escape for many a lonely soul, and it has been an inspiration for many a filmmaker.
I believe that films make impact on a spiritual, emotional, level. Ofcourse, the thing is...this generation is more numb to the effects than us from previous generations. We watch as the beauty gets drained from society, how appreciation for art is going down the drain, as "on demand" and "instant gratification" is more desired than "seeking to understand" and in result "being rewarded for it".
This all being said, I welcome you to the part where I give my "perspective" on the latest addition to the Star Wars Series: The Last Jedi
"A Long Time Ago in A Galaxy Far, Far, Away....
REVIEW OF LAST JEDI
* Character Development and Drive
The problem with The Last Jedi, is that the Last Jedi is the one who is setting the entire tone of the film. Without vision a people perish, and without vision one movie can ruin a franchise.
Star Wars is based around the Jedi, some would argue that without the Jedi Star Wars is simply another SC FI movie, that has no weight or worth. The Jedi are the blood of the movie.
Our Jedi in this movie "Luke Skywalker" has given up on his "faith" and his doubts have landed him right back where he was before A New Hope...blaming himself for the death of loved ones. Luke's weakness is his guilt complex. He can be whiny, and well age hasn't made him any less whiny that's for sure. Regardless of his many flaws, Luke is still a solid character. Mark Hamill's acting is very consistent with that of his acting in the original films, and more seasoned. I liked it.
But, the last thing this movie needed, was comedy where there should have been some meaningful moments of getting to "feel" Luke's pain rather than just see his negative attitude.
The beauty of true story crafting is "Showing rather than Telling" and allowing us to "Feel the Pain" rather than just have a character "Tell about it". It's one thing to hear Obi Wan tell Luke "Darth Vader killed your Father" and another thing all together to see it happen.
Luke is no less cryptic in his explanation of what went down that caused him to isolate himself, cut communication with his sister, and act like Miracle Max from the Princess Bride when Rey comes knocking on his front door. 'Cept Rey is a brute squad all unto herself.
The movie begins as the last film ended, with every character unsure about who they really are and where they really are. Rey wants Luke to train her in the ways of the force. Luke, the once mighty Jedi Master, wants to be left to his new life style of Speer heading fish and milking seaside sows. Kylo Ren is starting to show signs of being torn between the past and the present he's created, Snoke is a Villian without a backstory, Po is causing conflict because he is headstrong and trying to fill the invisible shoes left by the death of our beloved Hon Solo, and Fin...well he wakes up with a bunch of tubes attached to him.
It's a good way to start a film perhaps, but not a good way to end one.
I'm hear to tell you that Po does NOT make decisions that gain him respectability, Rey does NOT grow in wisdom of the force, Luke does NOT train Rey nor physically leave the island, Kylo Ren is still trying to kill people to make himself feel good, Snoke remains story-less and leaves the film much like a puff of smoke, and Fin...well he almost ends up dead again, accept this time someone takes the blow for him and ends up laying in the medic bed of the Millennium Falcon near the end of the movie, sound familiar? It's all very lacking and tacky, to say the least. There is little to almost no character growth or revelation in the movie.
(No Character Growth = reveals a World Where Self Betterment is Unnecessary for Progress)
The Jedi that we were looking to to set the tone of the film, he finally makes one last mighty appearance towards the last half of the movie, yes, Luke does show some force powers eventually...but, sadly they kill him, and although it does show some a change of heart for Luke to actually put some effort into being a Jedi again, it is not enough to save the movie. Too late Luke, yeah you might have pulled a Loki move that gets you an easy way out of your guilt, but it's not enough to give this movie a positive review.
The Characters in this film are lacking drive and believe-ability. Many of the aspects that gave Star Wars the unique ability to be both a SC FI Fantasy and yet relate-able to people on a person level, was not it's acting, but the reliability of it's core. You can still have bad actors, but have a good screenwriter who returns the story to it's center. Bottom line is that none of the main characters drives, weaknesses, or strengths, made sense in this film. And every time you thought there might be some development of either a light or dark nature for a character, the screenwriter failed to carry through. Luke shows some spunk towards the end, and honestly instead of it awakening an old man it sends him off.
Honestly, I didn't go into the film with false expectations. I liked The Force Awakens, and I thought that it had potential to take us in a cool direction. But the Force Awakens set us up for disappointment.
I liked the acting and character of Kylo Ren in the Force Awakens. His anger is childish, and he gets his butt kicked by a character with no trailing...but he's interesting. And Rey is interesting in the Force Awakens because she has all this raw untrained power that makes us question her origin and role in saving the galaxy. I can't say that the other two main characters (Po and Fin) really have a purpose in this story...It seems almost like they were tacked on to replace the roles of Leia and Hon Solo, because after all, it was 4 main characters in the originals.
* Film-making
I might also add that the only memorable lines in this movie were in fact recycled from previous films, which only served to remind me that as time goes on, originality is lost, and creativity is most definitely sacrificed on the alter or oxymorons.
This film's poor timing/editing really surprised me. I felt like most of the film was in fact stalling, for what reason I am not sure, other than perhaps the filmmakers had no idea where they were going with the story. The little bit of hope we had for plot twists such as the revelation of Rey's parentage, was in fact so untactfully revealed, the changes in direction so uninteresting, that it didn't stir one single emotion. Towards the end Luke and Leia have a moment, and that's probably the most moving in the entire film. Oh, and sorry folks, no light saber duels.
Not to mention that the battle scenes were severely unrealistic even for a SC FI movie. If you look closely you will see Ridley Scott's handiwork everywhere.
So why does this film get a 'F' rating from me? It failed to fulfill the 6 major things I look for in movies:
1. A Good Story Arch
2. Good Character Development
3. Consitant Worldview
4. Intentional Acting/Performances
5. Impressive Creativity
6. Believable Choreogprahy
THE PERSPECTIVE
Since the desire of the truth seeker is to indeed find truth, you may ask...what truth or lie is there to find in this movie? What essentially is the goal of this film?
Like I mentioned at the start of my post, this film's goal is to target your perspective, and to shatter what you might believe about the force, or good and evil in general.
You might think that's too deep to be saying about this movie...
At one point in the film Rey decides to visit beneath the island, where supposedly the darkness resides. When she visits there, she merely finds herself in a boring place where only she exists. She reaches out her hand into the wall where she sees her reflection, and sees an endless chain of herself. Nothing is explained and there is no clarity about this scene. However, she asks her reflection to "Show her her parents"...and two dark shadows approach, morph into one, and when the face is reveled it is none other than herself. In a sense, it reminds us of the scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Luke finds himself in a training situation with the Force (a scene also imitated with Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens) Where Darth Vader shows up before him, and he battles his darkest foe...that battle ended with Luke decapitating Lord Vader, and seeing his own face in the helmet instead of Anakin Skywalker's face. Maybe this scene with Rey has a meaning similar to that of this throwback...
That evil is within us all, and at the end of the day the thing that we desire is not really as important as the power that we give it.
Either way, the darkness doesn't give any answers to Rey, and it's not really that bad down there in the center of the island, only a bit lonely a grey. So much for a dark side of the force being fire and brimstone.
I am reminded of Eve from the origins of Humanity, she listens to the snake and eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, mind you, that it is "knowledge" that is so important to her...because Eve knew, just like the Snake knew, that knowledge is the key to power. And this is the problem with Rey's faulted character. She has no weakness, she needs no knowledge, and she experiences no consequences...She can eat from the tree of Good and Evil, and it doesn't kill her.
I wish that much like the scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull where knowledge destroys the villain, the source of knowledge (the force) would have revealed to Rey more than she wanted to know...because that is the truth about knowledge, if you open the door, it can overload you. And eating from the intimate knowing of the tree of good and evil destroyed Adam and Eve's hopes, killed their dreams, and burdened their souls. Nothing was completely beautiful with the perspective of darkness. And that's the problem with the "dark side perspective" it is a endless pit, that goes on forever, a hunger that is never filled, a desire for beauty that never appears.
Knowledge about the light, and identification with it, only makes us more beautiful.
Rey "knows" the force in an intimate way. BUT, she still should be trained. You may not agree, but I believe that every person no matter how good they are, needs to be trained in the way they should go. What training is it that Rey needs? Well, she doesn't actually need any if she is going to embrace the darkness just as she does the light. That is the point of training, of guidelines, of the Jedi Order...to keep it's pupils grounded in the light. To teach padawans to have balanced "fear" of the darkness, so that they will stay far from it, and to be able to keep their emotions in check.
The perspective of The Last Jedi is that it encourages people to believe in the lack of absolutes. It teaches people to believe solely in the power of themselves, and that the "narrow way" is not the "only way" it is merely a self-righteous system that doesn't work. Teaching that being powerful is merely connecting to your yourself and your place in the galaxy. Giving in to the darkness is not portrayed as being severely dangerous in this film.
THE TRUTH
Without vision a people perish, without knowledge they perish, without understanding they fall, without growth...they devour themselves.
Training as a Jedi as portrayed in prior films requires growth and the following:
* Exersizing what you learn
*Singleness of Aim
* Abandoment
* Effort/Dedication
* Perserverance
* Long Suffering
* Submission to Authoriy
* Communion with the Sorce
* Sacrifice of Self
* Fellowship
* Trust
* Grace
* Discernment
* Wisdom
* Self Control
* Obedience
* Sanctificaiton
* Co-operation
* Stillness
* Conversion
* Hope
* Compassion
* Love (though forbidden for pleasure in the sect)
* Boldness
* Revelation
* Rejection of Lies/Darkness
These are all things that we should strive for and can relate to if we are dedicated to growth as individuals.
Is there anything in this film that is true?
Something that I think, is that it is true that much like the "Force Awakens" there is an "Awakening" happening in the earth today. There are many people who are being reminded of what they want, and many young people are going to be raised up to be "front line warriors". They have been born with destinies, and are experiencing God in ways more powerful than their parents did. Because they are unafraid, and "Called for such a time as this".
I'd like to say that the greatest truth that can be derived from the Last Jedi is this: The earth points to a powerful being, much like the force is in all things created, God also can be found in all things created.
Secondly, there is another truth spoken of and that is this "When Darkness Rises there is always a Light to Rise with it".
(The dark gets darker, and the light gets brighter.)
So what is my conclusion?
Remember these things as you walk in the light:
* It's NOT an easy path
* It's NOT about you
* The Enemy is REAL
* The Stakes are HIGH
* The Source is TRUTH
* The reaction is necessary
* The CHANGE is pivitol
* The Preperation is costly
* The Prize is ETERNAL
* The SPIRIT leads the way
* Our Participation Moves Mts.
* Our Choices are Important
