Power (Off-Topic)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Monday, January 06, 2020, 14:57 (1570 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by Kermit, Monday, January 06, 2020, 15:12

The key difference between Abrams and Johnson’s films, then, is an understanding of the Jedi. For Johnson, a Jedi is a hero and everyone has the potential to be heroic – it does not erase their flaws; in fact, overcoming the binary thinking of good and evil and embracing one’s flaws is crucial to a hero’s journey. To Abrams, it’s about power, and men understand power very differently: It’s inherited; it’s handed from one man to another without hesitation; it’s a right, not a privilege. They will commit countless atrocities and acts of oppression and subjugation to keep others – the marginalized – from wrestling it away. Take, for instance, Finn: The Rise of Skywalker suggests (and John Boyega and Abrams both confirm) that Finn is Force-sensitive, despite the fact that he is not related to any Sith or Jedi. Rey, on the other hand – the trilogy’s hero, who happens to be a woman – cannot possibly have power unless she inherited it from some crusty old white guy. The man needs no qualification to obtain power, but the woman does. It’s pretty insulting.

https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2019/12/30/knives-out-has-something-important-to-say-about-the-rise-of-skywalker

It's this kind of stuff that makes me want to wash my hands of Star Wars forever, or at least stop discussing it with any hint of seriousness. (I mean, Kylo got his force sensitivity from his MOTHER, which renders this whole passage nonsensical.)

If I did accept this analysis, I'd be in the Rian camp. To me the non-genetic aspect of the Force was one of the few things that The Last Jedi got right. The closest Star Wars (or as the kids like to say, Episode IV) ever got to saying the Force wasn't available to anyone was the intonation of "The force is strong in this one." As far as I'm concerned, the franchise jumped the shark the first time midichlorians were mentioned.