A strange time in the fandom
April 2020
Dave
Dave
It has been a strange four months since Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker hit cinemas in late December. What with half of Australia (it seems) on fire, a plague of locusts sweeping across central/west Africa and now a global pandemic that is affecting most countries to some extent.
However, the fans (and the not-so fans who enjoy cruelty on social media) are again having pops at the actors who were in the latest movie. Daisy Ridley has been reported to have been dismayed by the comments she was seeing about the movie and the characterisations of Rey (her character) and Kylo Ren earlier this year. I have seen similar disturbing comments that have, at their core, unhappiness with how Rey and Kylo were portrayed.
I feel this, in large part, stems from The Last Jedi. Now, I know, for many of you who have read my comments previously (and seen my tweets and listened to our podcasts) it will come as no surprise that I am not a massive fan of that movie. However, I won’t discuss (again) my wider dislike of the movie, I will instead focus on how that movie pertains to Rey and Kylo and this disturbance in the fandom. For the people who did love The Last Jedi, I would ask please bear with me whilst I try to explain my statement.
So, to repeat, I feel this current undercurrent of disgruntlement, in large part, stems from The Last Jedi. In The Last Jedi we saw the connection between Rey and Kylo (the dyad that we now know), which was played out across the movie with a strong quasi-romance aspect. Kylo was seen to be courting Rey, enticing her with both ‘his understanding of her’ and ‘an opportunity to no longer be alone’.
However, the fans (and the not-so fans who enjoy cruelty on social media) are again having pops at the actors who were in the latest movie. Daisy Ridley has been reported to have been dismayed by the comments she was seeing about the movie and the characterisations of Rey (her character) and Kylo Ren earlier this year. I have seen similar disturbing comments that have, at their core, unhappiness with how Rey and Kylo were portrayed.
I feel this, in large part, stems from The Last Jedi. Now, I know, for many of you who have read my comments previously (and seen my tweets and listened to our podcasts) it will come as no surprise that I am not a massive fan of that movie. However, I won’t discuss (again) my wider dislike of the movie, I will instead focus on how that movie pertains to Rey and Kylo and this disturbance in the fandom. For the people who did love The Last Jedi, I would ask please bear with me whilst I try to explain my statement.
So, to repeat, I feel this current undercurrent of disgruntlement, in large part, stems from The Last Jedi. In The Last Jedi we saw the connection between Rey and Kylo (the dyad that we now know), which was played out across the movie with a strong quasi-romance aspect. Kylo was seen to be courting Rey, enticing her with both ‘his understanding of her’ and ‘an opportunity to no longer be alone’.
Many fans of the movie liked this romantic entanglement – there was even a large movement on twitter (my preferred social media platform) that was entitled ‘Reylo’. It was a movement that wanted to see a villainous male character give up the anger, hate and evilness for love of a good woman. The fans of this movie were happy to go to ‘social media’ war with those of us who disliked the movie, accusing us of being ‘old’, ‘male’, ‘manbabies’ who didn’t like the ‘new’ Star Wars and were emotionally restricted in some way. Relishing in telling us that Star Wars was not ‘ours’ and we needed to either let it go or get with it.
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These fans had high expectations for The Rise of Skywalker. A fulfilment of their desire to see Kylo be redeemed and settle down to a happy life with Rey. But, Kylo had murdered his father, had ordered the executions on Jakku and had been part of a tyrannical organisation who had slaughtered billions across multiple worlds. For me, there is no redemption and happy ending for that, and many fans agreed. I also had trouble swallowing the ‘romantic’ elements that The Last Jedi attempted to portray. Kylo used the Force connection to bully and belittle Rey, to undermine her confidence in herself, her family, her friends. Is this love? Or is it the controlling actions of a bully, of a man who abuses his partner? For me, the movie was attempting to get us to like someone who was manipulative and abusive, romanticising abuse if you will. Ben Solo may have been good, but this was not Ben. It was Kylo Ren at full strength.
And then The Rise of Skywalker was released. The story was ‘realigned’ in large part to the format and direction that had begun in The Force Awakens. Many of the wrinkles caused by The Last Jedi were ironed out. And the redemption of Kylo, by way of his rebirth as Ben Solo, ultimately came at the cost of his life – as it had done for his grandfather. I have heard (regularly from fellow Jedi Council member Alex) that there is a cyclical nature to the Star Wars Saga, that themes are recurring. And I do agree with that sentiment. Following that theme, this redemption arc of Ben required the same sacrifice as Vader. The galaxy could NEVER accept a redeemed Ben Solo, in effect he HAD to die.
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And that is where much of the current anger and dismay is being drawn from. The fans who enjoyed The Last Jedi are not happy with the story in The Rise of Skywalker. Their expectations were subverted. They have now become the ‘fans’ they accused the ‘old, male, manbabies’ of being. Star Wars, that they had seen as now ‘theirs’, had in fact, been proven not to be. The Last Jedi was, even more so, exposed for the non-Star Wars movie it actually was. I would go as far as to question if the fans of The Last Jedi (if this movie was their first experience of Star Wars and is their favourite movie of the Saga) are actually Star Wars fans, or if they were actually, ‘just’ fans of The Last Jedi?
So, I can see Daisy’s dismay at comments directed at her for something that she, and all of the actors in all of the movies, had no ability to influence. They gave the best they could with the scripts they had. It is not their faults that the story did not go the way that some fans had expected (across the whole three movies) and so they should never be heckled or singled out.
So, I can see Daisy’s dismay at comments directed at her for something that she, and all of the actors in all of the movies, had no ability to influence. They gave the best they could with the scripts they had. It is not their faults that the story did not go the way that some fans had expected (across the whole three movies) and so they should never be heckled or singled out.
The problems are higher up. If the trilogy had a single hand controlling the story across the three movies, I believe that we would not have had the change of pace and direction across the story arc. Perhaps JJ Abrams should have remained in firm control across all three movies? Perhaps Kathleen Kennedy should have not allowed such freedom from individuals to take the story in different directions? But what is done is done. Whether all fans are in agreement or not, this IS the Saga.
Fans can choose which parts they like, and are free to criticise the parts they don’t, so long as the criticism remains directed at the story and not the actors who were in it, nor fellow fans who don’t agree. |
So, enjoy Star Wars, be prepared to debate (in a healthy manner), and stay safe.
May the Force be with you…
May the Force be with you…