4 ms·

Assuming this is at all serious (which I doubt), it would be a rather cynical, facile, and insipid reading of both The Last Jedi and history itself. The most eg

Assuming this is at all serious (which I doubt), it would be a rather cynical, facile, and insipid reading of both The Last Jedi and history itself. The most egregious point (of the many to choose from that I could dissect) is the following: > But she has absorbed the rebels’ self-serving narrative, and it prevents her from realizing that the Skywalkers and the Rebellion—or Resistance, or whatever they are calling themselves now—have no answers. The answer is "not fascism." The Empire and First Order are fascist regimes. Fighting fascism is the answer. There is no perfect system. But systems that support the systematic oppression of all people via threat of violence are evil.

yters 9y ago
The empires are just attempting to establish peace throughout the universe. The rebels, on the other hand, appear to want chronic instability and violence, getting entire civilizations obliterated due to their dislike for authority figures.
- goatlover 9y ago
  Maybe the authority figures don't need to respond by obliterating entire civilizations? I think it's enough that a guy like Snopes or Palpatine wanted to control the galaxy to rebel against that.
  - JBlue42 9y ago
    >Snopes A rebellion against fact-checking? The movie is now even more relevant ;-)
- stale2002 9y ago
  The Empire did nothing wrong!!!
aerovistae 9y ago
Except, of course, for the point about saving the horses and leaving the stable boy.
scott_s 9y ago
The standard disclaimer at the end has some non-standard text: > The views expressed in this article are not endorsed by and do not in any way represent the opinions of their employers or Leo Strauss. They should also not be taken to express the views of the authors.
wu-ikkyu 9y ago
>The answer is "not fascism." And yet they are continually giving birth to it. The clone army becomes the storm troopers of the empire. The senator of the republic becomes the emperor. Anakin becomes Vader. Luke trains Kylo. It seems a negative statement is not a viable solution, which is what Luke realized.
trhway 9y ago
>The answer is "not fascism." The Empire and First Order are fascist regimes. Fighting fascism is the answer. There is no perfect system. But systems that support the systematic oppression of all people via threat of violence are evil. from the point of view of a regular citizen or a slave - the 2 fractions of the higher caste (consisting of, practically speaking, biologically different people, super-humans, basically almost different species), Jedi Order and First Order, are fighting for the power. Both sides are using super-power to enforce their will upon regular people. Somehow a regular person should be able to identify one side as not fascism, as not evil, and start to fight for it.
ashark 9y ago
I'd say that it felt like the movie wanted Rey to join Kylo. It was what it was building to. It would have fit with the taking-an-old-thing-and-twisting-it vibe of the rest of the film. The momentum of the film seemed in that moment to strain and fail against what I assume were the limits of how far off the rails JJ/Disney would let it go. It'd have taken what was already probably the 3rd most interesting and original Star Wars movie and given it a real shot at the #2 spot (A New Hope's nigh-unassailable in its #1 position, having created the phenomenon of the multi-genre pastiche film).
- da_chicken 9y ago
  There are a number of places where the movie felt like the plot turned away from where it was heading. Rey and Kylo unite? Nah. Leia dies? Nah. Luke overcomes pain and returns as a master? Nah. Finn does something impactful and important? Nah. Poe is a hero? Nah. Like, imagine if instead of Admiral Holdo it were all Leia. It sure as hell felt like it was supposed to be Leia. Imagine Leia never went into a coma, but she was clearly terrified by her near death and experience with the Force and upset over the loss of the command staff. (I mean, Admiral Ackbar is dead!) What if it were Leia's sacrifice at the end? I can't help but feel it should have been, and not because of Carrie Fisher's loss. The problems inherent to the narrative, like Luke Skywalker being completely without hope when he literally is the New Hope are just... weird, and it goes on a bit too long. Yoda should've shown up sooner. I get that Jedi masters are old and crusty and don't want to teach the ways of the Force anymore. I get that the Jedi were wrong to ignore all emotion. Qui Gon was wrong to take Anakin away from his mother and leave her behind. Obi Wan was wrong to hide Vader's identity from Luke. Yoda was wrong in Empire Strikes Back to tell Luke to let his friends die. Luke is wrong to tell Rey to leave. Luke was right about Vader in Return of the Jedi. Rey was right to go to Kylo (surprisingly, somewhat). What does Obi-Wan tell Luke in A New Hope? "Trust your feelings. Let go." It seems that Jedi only gain enlightenment in death. What the Jedi have done out of fear of the Dark Side is eliminate all emotions and therefore all virtue. The Jedi are not good. They're neutral. They're safe. But safety doesn't make heroes. Safety doesn't protect your friends. Safety doesn't overcome tyranny. In the end, again, Luke does overcome his despair. Again he follows his feelings and helps his friends, even at the cost of his own life. Say what you will about the end of TLJ, but Luke still died a hero.

yters 9y ago

The empires are just attempting to establish peace throughout the universe. The rebels, on the other hand, appear to want chronic instability and violence, getting entire civilizations obliterated due to their dislike for authority figures.

goatlover 9y ago
Maybe the authority figures don't need to respond by obliterating entire civilizations? I think it's enough that a guy like Snopes or Palpatine wanted to control the galaxy to rebel against that.
- JBlue42 9y ago
  >Snopes A rebellion against fact-checking? The movie is now even more relevant ;-)
stale2002 9y ago
The Empire did nothing wrong!!!

aerovistae 9y ago

Except, of course, for the point about saving the horses and leaving the stable boy.

scott_s 9y ago

The standard disclaimer at the end has some non-standard text: > The views expressed in this article are not endorsed by and do not in any way represent the opinions of their employers or Leo Strauss. They should also not be taken to express the views of the authors.

wu-ikkyu 9y ago

>The answer is "not fascism." And yet they are continually giving birth to it. The clone army becomes the storm troopers of the empire. The senator of the republic becomes the emperor. Anakin becomes Vader. Luke trains Kylo. It seems a negative statement is not a viable solution, which is what Luke realized.

trhway 9y ago

>The answer is "not fascism." The Empire and First Order are fascist regimes. Fighting fascism is the answer. There is no perfect system. But systems that support the systematic oppression of all people via threat of violence are evil. from the point of view of a regular citizen or a slave - the 2 fractions of the higher caste (consisting of, practically speaking, biologically different people, super-humans, basically almost different species), Jedi Order and First Order, are fighting for the power. Both sides are using super-power to enforce their will upon regular people. Somehow a regular person should be able to identify one side as not fascism, as not evil, and start to fight for it.

ashark 9y ago

I'd say that it felt like the movie wanted Rey to join Kylo. It was what it was building to. It would have fit with the taking-an-old-thing-and-twisting-it vibe of the rest of the film. The momentum of the film seemed in that moment to strain and fail against what I assume were the limits of how far off the rails JJ/Disney would let it go. It'd have taken what was already probably the 3rd most interesting and original Star Wars movie and given it a real shot at the #2 spot (A New Hope's nigh-unassailable in its #1 position, having created the phenomenon of the multi-genre pastiche film).

da_chicken 9y ago
There are a number of places where the movie felt like the plot turned away from where it was heading. Rey and Kylo unite? Nah. Leia dies? Nah. Luke overcomes pain and returns as a master? Nah. Finn does something impactful and important? Nah. Poe is a hero? Nah. Like, imagine if instead of Admiral Holdo it were all Leia. It sure as hell felt like it was supposed to be Leia. Imagine Leia never went into a coma, but she was clearly terrified by her near death and experience with the Force and upset over the loss of the command staff. (I mean, Admiral Ackbar is dead!) What if it were Leia's sacrifice at the end? I can't help but feel it should have been, and not because of Carrie Fisher's loss. The problems inherent to the narrative, like Luke Skywalker being completely without hope when he literally is the New Hope are just... weird, and it goes on a bit too long. Yoda should've shown up sooner. I get that Jedi masters are old and crusty and don't want to teach the ways of the Force anymore. I get that the Jedi were wrong to ignore all emotion. Qui Gon was wrong to take Anakin away from his mother and leave her behind. Obi Wan was wrong to hide Vader's identity from Luke. Yoda was wrong in Empire Strikes Back to tell Luke to let his friends die. Luke is wrong to tell Rey to leave. Luke was right about Vader in Return of the Jedi. Rey was right to go to Kylo (surprisingly, somewhat). What does Obi-Wan tell Luke in A New Hope? "Trust your feelings. Let go." It seems that Jedi only gain enlightenment in death. What the Jedi have done out of fear of the Dark Side is eliminate all emotions and therefore all virtue. The Jedi are not good. They're neutral. They're safe. But safety doesn't make heroes. Safety doesn't protect your friends. Safety doesn't overcome tyranny. In the end, again, Luke does overcome his despair. Again he follows his feelings and helps his friends, even at the cost of his own life. Say what you will about the end of TLJ, but Luke still died a hero.