Another great video essay from Just Write regarding the divisiveness of "The Last Jedi":
Like a lot people, I thought it was a bad movie when I saw it in the theaters. Not because it pissed on my fanboy sensibilities or because I had problems with its narrative structure or anything like that (to be open about this, though, I think the 'Star Wars' franchise in general is largely little more than bad movies). I was largely disappointed because I thought the swirling notions of the film being "subversive" and "divisive" were laughable upon release, because I ultimately felt that any of the teases at subversion there might have been were ultimately subverted by the end of the film. This is still ultimately true on a macro-narrative scale - it's still a binary Good vs. Evil saga without interesting boundaries in terms of who's who - but upon my second viewing, I had much more appreciation for the micro-deconstructions on a character level - namely Luke's legacy and the how of it, Snoke's diminution, and Rey's parentage.
In the video that precedes this one, Just Write makes an argument about how ultimately TLJ isn't the film fans wanted, but ultimately needed:
...And that's how I essentially felt about TLJ after the second viewing. I'm at the point that maybe this franchise needs to shed a good deal of its fanbase if it wants to grow into something great again. It has to be a voice for a new generation of viewers if it wants to maintain its prominent cultural relevance for as long as possible. It won't do that by giving nostalgic addicts constant re-ups of the same story beats, characters and themes over, and over, and over again.
Like a lot people, I thought it was a bad movie when I saw it in the theaters. Not because it pissed on my fanboy sensibilities or because I had problems with its narrative structure or anything like that (to be open about this, though, I think the 'Star Wars' franchise in general is largely little more than bad movies). I was largely disappointed because I thought the swirling notions of the film being "subversive" and "divisive" were laughable upon release, because I ultimately felt that any of the teases at subversion there might have been were ultimately subverted by the end of the film. This is still ultimately true on a macro-narrative scale - it's still a binary Good vs. Evil saga without interesting boundaries in terms of who's who - but upon my second viewing, I had much more appreciation for the micro-deconstructions on a character level - namely Luke's legacy and the how of it, Snoke's diminution, and Rey's parentage.
In the video that precedes this one, Just Write makes an argument about how ultimately TLJ isn't the film fans wanted, but ultimately needed:
...And that's how I essentially felt about TLJ after the second viewing. I'm at the point that maybe this franchise needs to shed a good deal of its fanbase if it wants to grow into something great again. It has to be a voice for a new generation of viewers if it wants to maintain its prominent cultural relevance for as long as possible. It won't do that by giving nostalgic addicts constant re-ups of the same story beats, characters and themes over, and over, and over again.
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