Star Wars: The Last Jedi is an amazing movie and you can't change my mind

In the face of yet another bushfire (this one a few hours south but it's still way too hot and smoky to be outside), I have elected to sit in the air-con in my underwear and rewatch Star Wars: The Last Jedi while drinking iced tea. (Definitely a great plan, if you're wondering.)

(Also, spoilers ahead but come on, you should have seen this movie by now.)

I am well aware that some fans hated The Last Jedi and honestly I don't understand why. Literally my main (and only?) problem with the movie was the Finn and Rose's quest to shut down the First Order's tracking device was kind of useless and could have been resolved with some better communication, but seriously, have y'all seen any Shakespeare play ever? (Romeo and Juliet and Othello would have ended totally find if people just talked to each other.) 

In general terms, the movie was great. The fight choreography was fantastic, the plotting tight, A+ visuals (I love me some juxtaposition and this movie NAILED it), A++ characters/acting, and nostalgia in all the right places.

There's two things I want to talk about that I love in this movie (and the trilogy in general, but specifically this movie). One, the celebration of minorities, and two, the excellent handling of hubris. 

One, the celebration of minorities. While I adore stories that focus on the experience of minorities through the lens of discrimination and feeling alienated from the rest of society (The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, Whisper by Chrissie Keighery, Half the Sky by Nicholas D Kristof to name a few) I also love movies that have diverse characters and show them doing heroic things, where the issue of race/sexuality/gender/disability isn't even thought about. I like seeing an alternate universe where people like me and people who aren't white or straight/cis or disabled can be heroes without those things impacting their autonomy. 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi doesn't care about race or gender (although notably absent are visibly queer and/or disabled people (COME ON, DISNEY)). Not only do the characters not seem to care what race or gender others are (especially in terms of leadership rank), neither do the writers. Amazingly, they have not one but two people of colour running off on adventures together (Finn and Rose). I'm not sure if I need to tell you this but that does not happen in these kinds of movies (huge budget, war/science fiction/fantasy movies that are typically watched by men in their forties). 

Beyond that, this movie is a celebration of women (and not in an in-your-face way, which is a breath of fresh air). The two main leaders of the resistance are women, General Leia Organa and Vice Admiral Holdo (who has purple hair and thus is amazing). Never once do either of them have to 'prove' themselves because they are women, their authority is respected because of their abilities as leaders. One of my favourite moments is when Holdo and Leia are saying their goodbyes. That is such a powerful moment. Two older women, high ranking in the army, acknowledging their friendship and power and sacrifice during a time of conflict and uncertainly. Those two women are the reason the resistance escaped an impossible situation, they are the reason the spark of the rebellion survived. Not only that but they are old; they aren't the eye-candy that some older Star Wars movies stooped to where the woman is onscreen to be looked at and looked at only. They have wrinkles and grey hair and they are powerful in a genre where older women are typically erased.

One more thing. When Rey is being mocked by Snoke the writers could have easily made Snoke throw in a sexist comment in order to make the audience hate him. They didn't, though, instead strengthening the scene with references only to her character and character flaws. 

Two, the excellent handling of hubris. (For the sake of clarity, 'hubris' is described as "excessive pride or self-confidence".)

The thing that I find so interesting about the themes of hubris is that it's present in almost every character's arc in this movie, and it makes sense. Star Wars has always explored hubris, from Anakin's confidence in himself to use the Dark Side of the Force without turning, to Obi-Wan's faith in his Padawan, to Sidious' pride in Darth Vader. Interestingly, this is the first movie that we get to see Luke's run-in with hubris, something he discusses with Rey (but I'll get to that in a minute).

When discussing The Last Jedi I would argue that excessive confidence in one's own abilities always leads to disaster but excessive confidence - or hope - in the good of humanity, in the hope for the future, always leads to fruition, and that's an important distinction to make. 

Let's start from the beginning. Poe decides to take on the First Order fleet (which is attacking the rebel base) almost single-handedly, against the orders of General Organa. They manage to take out the dreadnought but at the cost of almost their entire fleet, and yes, while Poe's daring plan technically worked it was no doubt a hollow victory. They could have escaped without the suicidal attack but Poe was determined to see it through, despite the risks, because he wanted to be the hero of the hour. That's what the good guys do, right? Luke Skywalker took on the Death Star as his fleet was falling out of the sky around him, refusing to back down until the Death Star was nothing more than space dust. That's where the difference lies, though. Luke's reasons were selfless. He was only there to help the rebellion, he didn't want the praise or the promotion or for his name to go down in history. Poe was a trigger-happy pilot who wanted the glory, and thus his attack ultimately failed. 

Poe doesn't learn from his mistake and decides that he knows better than Holdo and Leia and takes matters into his own hands. Yes, he of course does it to save the rebels but I would argue that a large part of his motivation is sticking it to Leia and Holdo, in showing them that he can run this show when he doesn't have the self-control or awareness of the long game that is necessary to lead an army. He sees a battle while Leia and Holdo see the war. He sends Finn and Rose off in a suicidal mission to infiltrate the First Order's ship, but this ultimately results in a lot of dead people. It's only near the end of the film when Poe realises that being a hero isn't always running out to face an army with a blaster, that sometimes it's retreating and living to fight another day that he overcomes his hubris. Leia recognises this character growth and even passes her command onto Poe (in an informal way).

Finn has a similar arc to Poe, albeit less involved. The biggest moment of his arc is when he almost dies as he tries to destroy the battering ram near the end of the film. It's obvious to everyone but Finn that he's doing it in an act of almost selfish self-sacrifice, that him colliding with the battering ram isn't about saving the galaxy but about a personal vendetta, and it almost gets him killed. Rose summed it up best. If we're going to survive, we have to fight for what we love, not destroy everything because of what we hate. I would argue that Finn hasn't overcome his hubris yet as it is Rose who saves him, so I'm interested to see what happens in the next movie. 

Rey also struggles with hubris, but her arc is slightly different. Remember that distinction I made earlier about how excessive self-confidence leads to ruin but hope for humanity/the rebellion leads to success? Rey is fascinating as she walks this thin line. At her heart she is a selfless character, sacrificing everything for the rebellion in the name of a better future, but she also longs to know where she fits in the world, what the identity of her parents is and what that means for her. She wants to know that she's important, that she means something. On one hand, her hubris causes her to almost fall for Kylo Ren's offer of ruling the galaxy. She wants that power, to know that she is important, that she has her powers for a reason. Rey wants legitimacy to her self-confidence that she can gain through Kylo Ren (and it is hinted that she can also gain it through the Dark Side), but it is almost her undoing. On the other hand, it is her extreme confidence in the good in others and hope for a better world that causes her to confront Snoke and Kylo Ren (but that fight scene though), mirroring's Luke's confrontation with Darth Vader and Darth Sidious in earlier films. They both arrived in the throne room of the Sith with a twisted version of hubris, wherein they never relinquish their hope for goodness and peace and they survive - and win - because of it.

Then we come to Luke Skywalker. Luke didn't have much of an issue with hubris before this trilogy but now we see that he has become a legend, a walking myth, the hero of old. That got into his head and so when he tried to train Kylo Ren his attempts turned sour. Luke thought too highly of himself, he thought he could bring the Jedi back from extinction and start a new Order but the truth is that he is just a man, capable of making mistakes like anyone else. He was able to defeat Darth Vader because he believed in the good in everyone, in second chances, in a world where his friends would be safe. He failed to train Kylo Ren because he believed in himself, in the legendary Luke Skywalker, and tried to control everything as an all-powerful god. Incidentally it is only when he realises this and stops trying to be the legend that he becomes one. He takes his belief out of himself and into the rebellion, he stops focusing on the power of one man (Kylo Ren) and focuses on the power that we have when we band together for good. The rebellion doesn't need a powerful Sith like Kylo Ren at the cost of everything else. They need to survive, and so when Luke steps out on to the battleground to face down his nephew (in the most epic fight ever, I might add) that he completes his arc and his final battle against his hubris. 

I think one of the reasons why there were negative reviews for this movie was because, in a way, we as the audience had to overcome our own hubris. We are used to seeing things like Poe's stunts succeed so when his hubris is his downfall (*cough* and the female generals know best *cough*) we have to face our own understanding of our stories and examine what it means to be a hero. We are forced to grapple with the idea that sometimes retreating is the only option when we are used to seeing Luke Skywalker step out to single-handedly take down the Death Star or Kylo Ren, or Han Solo doing something stupid and brave that ends in a win. Reality is more complicated than that, and that kind of sucks. We are used to putting value on lineage and history but The Last Jedi asks us to examine what kind of people we are right here, right now, and if acting like a god is really the best idea. I don't think we as the audience liked that very much, and why would we? The Last Jedi challenged the tropes of previous Star Wars movies and that can be a hard pill to swallow. 

Kylo Ren's plea to Rey surprisingly seems to echo the film's plea to the viewers. As he says in the throne room after Snoke is killed, "The Empire, your parents, the Resistance, the Sith, the Jedi... let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. That's the only way to become what you are meant to be." The Last Jedi is asking the viewers to let go of our pre-conceived notions of heroism and story and asking us to take a step into the future. It was a deviation from Star Wars tradition, but I believe it was a deviation in the right direction.