How The "Star Wars" Franchise Lost Its Way
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The thing with stories is that they can always be interpreted in a variety of ways. There is enough ambiguity in a good story, probably any story, to do that. So people tend to see in them either what they want to see or what they are afraid of seeing. Luke’s character actually does a fine job of modeling what a good man must do when he realizes he made a horrible mistake… and then realizes he made another mistake in response to the first mistake. In the end, his resolve and courage rivals that of any of the female characters in the story.
As for the prominence of the females in the saga in general, the reality is that women often have these roles in the lives of men and we’re the better for it. Deborah comes to mind.
I actually liked that Poe’s character was wrong, though, like Luke, he meant well. In pop culture, the person who is rebelling against authority, the lower ranked person who has a better idea than his superiors, is nearly always right. It’s one of our favorite cultural tropes: the peasant vs. the aristocrat, the enlisted man against the officer, the officer worker against the manager/ceo, etc.
I’ll concede that there is a disproportion of flawed men relative to women in the tale, and it would be more interesting if at least some of the women made mistakes as well. And there are a couple of annoying condescending exchanges (in reference to men of a certain type), but I find it hard to take that very seriously. And given the fact that all humans are flawed, the flawed characters who struggle with their weaknesses end up being the most compelling characters in the story, and the always-virtuous women seem less real.
On the other hand, the women aren’t really so awesome either if you look closely at their choices and outcomes. Rey is courageous but frequently confused, uncertain, terrified, and needy. And the top female brass in the Resistance don’t exactly see overwhelming success from their military strategies.
It comes out pretty close to even, really.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
I thought that Finn was quite possibly a better and more compelling character than Rey is. Did I miss something?
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
Not much of him in this one. And what there is = not his better moments. Maybe they’ll do more with him in the next one.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
In the IFB world of my youth, going to a movie theater was a sign of a rebellious heart and/or a poor testimony, and perhaps an outright sin. (Although in my parent’s household, discretionary movie theater attendance was always permitted.) At age 14, after my then 21 year old sister took me to see Star Wars (the first film) in 1977, I innocently told some classmates at my Christian school about the cool movie I had just seen. [At this theater, a grand 808 seat movie palace that is now long gone: http://slphistory.org/coopertheater/ .] Let’s just say the administration took a dim view of students who enjoyed a fictional saga that took place “a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.” So I chuckle a little when I see Aaron casually discussing his viewing of the current film…..
Saw it with the family this weekend. It wasn’t bad, but I’m really just sick of the whole thing. As long as Disney continues to churn out glossy sequels, I’ll be condemned to travel with the kids to the movie theater to watch more melodrama about space wizards with colored glow sticks … I’m just tired of it.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
Bumbling man….problem solving woman……sounds like some of those Berenstein Bears books.
Haven’t seen the movie. I’m too cheap.
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
“the long term contract I had to sign said I’ll be making these movies ‘till the end of time”
From “Yoda”
Really, I’d almost expect them to have gotten some of the old vibe back now that Russia is re-asserting itself in the world. That was, after all, a big part of why the original movies were so big.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Speaking of Star Wars, this is the best magazine cover I’ve ever seen - the context is the Falkland War of 1982 between Britain and Argentina.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
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