Okay here we go.
See whenever I see people say "TLJ crapped on SW" or "crapped on the lore" all I hear is "TLJ crapped on Endor dance parties, teddy bears, and my favorite heroes who were supposed to live happily ever after." A lot of you *claim* that ESB is your favorite SW movie but it's clear that that isn't what you ever want out of SW again. What you really want is just more ROTJ. And by "you" I may mean you personally Bravomite or I may not. You judge.
But it definitely applies to a *lot* of TLJ naysayers.
What crazy rule exists that says that when a hero stops himself mid-murderous rampage and then tosses away his lightsaber that suddenly he's this perfected being of light that is immune to any further temptation, inadequacy, failure, depression, etc.? That's some goofy arbitrary limitation that apparently *only* applies to Star Wars. When Professor X slaughters his entire school of students? Oh that's transcendent art. A real evolution of the genre. But if Luke Skywalker even *thinks* about killing *one* student who is on a path of galaxy wide destruction? Well crap that just breaks the Saga. Funny I don't recall any notmyprofessor hashtags or Jake Xavier memes when Logan was in theaters.
TLJ has simply exposed the level of BS inherent in so many who claim that they hate the fact that Disney is making these movies when the fact of the matter is that most naysayers apparently want SW to be nothing but the MOST Disney-fied of all fairy tales. Remember Beauty and the Beast when he came back to life, kissed Belle, all the spells wore off and the castle was all shining as people lived "happily ever after" in cartoon heaven-on-earth fantasy? Yeah that's clearly what a number of people want out of SW. Oh they'll claim that they don't want things to be stagnant but that isn't really the case. They'll claim that they want to see development and/or conflict but at the *most* all they want is the pseudo-challenges experienced by your average MCU hero.
Like Tony Stark in Iron Man 2. Where Disney tried to adapt "Demon in a Bottle," one of the most celebrated of IM tales...but without actually making Tony an alcoholic. Can't do anything that would make him a "loser." So he has this honorable affliction where the suit is merely infecting his blood or skin which then gives him the *appearance* of having the flaw of alcoholism...but not the flaw itself. Oh he had a little too much to drink at *one* party. Whoopety do.
And here's the thing (and I'm so not directing any of this directly at you Bravomite) if certain people want that out of SW that's fine. Clearly we got an entire film where everybody was a shining star of morality and pro-active righteousness (even the previously gray scoundrels like Han and Lando) in Return of the Jedi. And that's fine if that's singular format that you want all SW films to take with respect to story and characters from here on out. I'm sure Disney will make plenty of those types of movies for you eventually and you can embrace them while those of us who like our stories with flawed and relatable heroes can embrace films like RO and TLJ.
"Wait Khev we actually liked RO it's just TLJ that sucked." Eh, now I believe that the only reason most TLJ naysayers liked RO is because they didn't have any preconceived notions about how Jyn and Cassian and everyone should be. If Jyn appeared in a previous film where she did something heroic at the end then she'd need to be perfect from that moment on and the second she hit a rebel in the face with a shovel everyone would have immediately disowned her. Because that's just how irrational and flaky a good portion of the fanbase is when it comes to these films.
There have been countless tales about heroes or main characters who ascend to the top of their field only to come crashing all the way back down in order to set the stage for an epic comeback. "Why didn't Rocky throw the towel sooner??? He forsook Apollo!! He literally got him killed! #notmybalboa" " Why the **** is Aragorn off sitting in a bar while the world goes to pot? 'Strider?' What's that bull****? Osgiliath and countless strongholds are falling while he mopes around by himself instead of marching into the halls of Gondor and claiming his crown!!" When you apply the complaints against Luke to any other hero in any other genre the absurdity just gets all the more exposed. "Aragorn spilled Eowen's nasty soup on his beard! I'm gonna go make memes!" smh
The truth is Rian Johnson actually dared to treat Luke Skywalker like a genuine character again. He isn't some force of nature in the background, he isn't a cartoonized embodiment of wish fulfillment fantasy (that people ironically scream bloody murder about when manifested in other characters like Rey,) he's a character with an actual arc who starts out lower than he's ever been before ultimately ascending higher than he's ever been. And that's simply good story-telling. I get it if people just want to escape and have AT-AT's and Sith Lords be stand-ins for whatever troubles you're facing in life. And that the extent of SW being an inspiring tale goes no further than watching things blow up so that you can either enjoy the pretty explosions or at most tackle your problems at home "just like Luke attacked that AT-AT." But what if Luke *himself* actually had to tackle your *real* problems at home? I'm not talking lightsabers and murder but simply the act of making a critical error that permanently estranges a close family member. Or handling hopelessness or depression. Those things just bring this epic space fantasy all the more down to real, honest, much more emotionally tangible themes.
I've literally read about amputee military veterans coping with losing a limb because there's a certain "coolness" to having a prosthetic hand or something because it's so ingrained in our consciousness after it happened to Luke Skywalker. Now Luke has gone several steps further by becoming an "emotional amputee" of sorts. And like his reaction to losing a hand where at first he gave up, he ultimately pulled himself up by his bootstraps and faced life head on until the very end. None of that is negated by how he faltered along the way, however ugly (though lovably so) it might have been during that process. In fact in the end it's all enhanced by his shortcomings and failings. He got to prove once and for all that his victory in ROTJ wasn't a fluke. That no matter what gets thrown at him, no matter who fails him and no matter who comes at him, whether it be friends, family, or even *himself,* that he's never ever fully down for the count and in the end will always be the hero that we can respect and admire.
