Different kinds of movies serve different purposes (Off-Topic)

by kidtsunami , Atlanta, GA, Tuesday, May 07, 2019, 16:53 (2025 days ago) @ Kermit

I think many actors are pretty dumb. Like they have one brain cell for bodily functions, one for memorization, and one for mimicry, and not much else. I don’t think Mark Hamill is dumb. Without the success of, say, Harrison Ford, he’s had a lot more time to think about the role that made him into a household name. I think it’s significant that he resisted the direction Rian Johnson took Luke. The thing is, I feel like I understand Rian Johnson. His viewpoint in that clip is valid. I also like movies that are challenging and not everyone “gets.” My favorite movies tend to be art house films. My interest in tentpole movies has decreased with each passing year. I adored “Roma,” for instance, and I have plenty of friends who just don’t get it. I wanted it to sweep the Oscars. I didn’t care that it didn’t follow some hero’s journey template. I didn’t care that it had things to say about politics in 1970s Mexico, the rigidity of the class system there, or male privilege. If those things had been its primary focus, I don’t think it would be the masterpiece I think it is, but that gets into ideas I’ve discussed before regarding the difference between art and propaganda.

I remain an admirer of Rian Johnson for directing the Breaking Bad episode “Ozymandias,” which I consider one of the best TV episodes ever made. He brought depth to a pivotal moment in a long story arc. He brought a bit of pretension to the material, but it worked because he understood the material. For the Last Jedi, I don’t think he did. I don’t blame him for taking the opportunity given to him, but I think a part of him did not respect or understand what made Star Wars tick, and he felt the need to interrogate, deconstruct and demythologize it, which undercut the power of myth (to coin a phrase) that lies at its heart. Add in some narrative beats that speak (in the correct way) to current cultural debates, and viola, suddenly you’ve got people who have never liked Star Wars loving Star Wars, and now they’re the right people, such as the artsy critics, and the cultural elite who normally don’t go near the cineplex.

I agree with you, Avateur, The Last Jedi isn’t a good Star Wars movie. It’s different kind of movie, wearing the carcass of Star Wars as a suit. I suspect Rian Johnson never thought there was much worth preserving at its core, so there was no harm in gutting it for his art. Good for his art. It’s not like George Lucas didn’t have artistic pretensions. His peers were making freaking The Godfather. He had uncommon (read not topical) enthusiasms for the 1970s—Flash Gordon serials, comic books, WWII dog fighting. Before making Star Wars, he studied how fairy tales worked, how myths worked. And part of what makes fairy tales and myths work is they are not specific to a time and place. At its best Star Wars takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The Last Jedi is 2017 through and through.

Star Wars was about the Vietnam War... he said as much.