Hah... I should explain (Rogue 1 Spoilers) (Gaming)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Monday, March 19, 2018, 15:25 (2237 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

I enjoyed Rogue One for what it was--mostly lost footage in relation to Star Wars (when I say Star Wars I mean A New Hope). There is a question that should be asked about all Star Wars movies now, which is why make them? The one good reason to make a Star Wars movie is to tell a good story, and Rogue One barely passes the test mainly by doing no harm. There are many not very good reasons to make these movies: to make a buck, to provide fan service, or to "update" them with nods to trendy cultural issues. You can accomplish the latter while avoiding the fan service issue with a kind of anti-fan service: just subvert or ignore the timeless mythological elements that made the original movies so good. Did I mention that I saw The Last Jedi again?

lol... I was just about to post about The Last Jedi, because I just watched it again too :)

I know we won't see eye to eye on this one, and that's cool. I do still think that it actually holds on to those mythological elements that made the originals great, just while addressing the messy transitional processes that the previous versions perhaps glossed over. I'm curious, what "trendy cultural issues" do you feel TLJ was paying service to? And you may have covered this in other posts (so don't worry about responding if its all covered territory) but what mythological elements do you feel it ignored?

In my eyes, all the classic Star Wars elements are there, but there are just more growing pains as characters step into their roles. We're seeing the young characters make some fairly substantial blunders on their way to becoming heroes, and the older characters are having trouble hanging onto the victories of their youth. But in the end, all the traditional mythological elements are there as far as I can see. Just my take :)

I think there are basic problems with how the story is told--that's a primary point. In my opinion, young Luke's transition to the old Luke we see in the film isn't given a believable exposition. The significance of this faux paux cannot be overstated.

To answer your specific question, I'll give one example: there seems to be an intent to highlight "toxic masculinity" (a trendy construct that assumes toxicity is gendered) and to shame male attempts at boldness or sacrifice, which are traditional mythological tropes. Luke's sacrifice seems begrudging and obligatory in this context and anti-climatic to boot. Where the movie gets the mythological elements right is with Kylo Ren's internal conflict, which is part of why those are the most compelling moments of the film for me. They are so brief and so quickly forgotten, however, that those scenes in retrospect seem weightless. I definitely got the impression that Rian Johnson is playing with the elements, but it's like someone who hasn't seen a face is given a Mr. Potato Head and proceeds to attach features willy nilly.