Star Wars Universe Thread: May The 4th Be With You

[robinvandamn]

They need to announce an Obi-Wan film

 

[robinvandamn]

basically the whole film was accurately leaked in May

https://archive.is/3UTlo

And an interesting not from the Art Book. Poe was originally black, so i'm guess this is what MBJ was meeting with JJ for.

 

[yancancook90]

Has it been speculated how TFA connects w/ the Shattered Empire comic run, now that the movie has been out??

Like any theories with the force tree that was given to Poe's parents??

 

[onlyXXVIII]

I was looking for that leak from a while ago! I remember thinking after walking outta the theater that the synopsis was pretty much on point.

Gotta applaud JJ, man. Imagine the pressure. "Ok, JJ, take one of the most beloved franchises with arguably one of the most fickle and hardcore international fanbases and mesh together old and new while kicking off a new trilogy with three brand new no-name leads. Also, make sure its 90%+ on Rotten Tomatoes."

 

[Master Zik]

After watching this twice now I think when Kylo was interrogating Rey and looking in to her memories the part where he failed to get the map and she went in to his mind and discovered he was scared she must've also borrowed his Jedi training to suddenly be able to use Jedi mind tricks, etc.

Also I know it had to be a sort of surprise but I wish we had seen how Poe survived.

I totally get what Osh was saying earlier but I just took the movie for what it is with all of the cast in mind and while Finn was quick to bail, lied, and crushing hard which was his only reason to go after Rey the movie really is mostly told through him even more than Rey. It's like a what if one of us regular humans were thrust in to the SW universe.

I totally bought in to Finn's and Poe's bond and growing friendship. Didn't feel forced to me. Some Rey and Finn scenes did though. She's totally unaware most of the movie he's interested and she isn't treated in a sexual way at all.

Movie definitely needed more Phasma. Felt they could've done better with the composing this movie too. Wasn't as strong as the other 6 movies.

That awkward silence with Rey and Luke was even worse than the one with Ben and Han

I got the feeling Han was not a good father It was a bit too easy for Kylo to kill him after pretending like he changed.

It was a good movie, a little too sad at the end but good

 

[Mr.Guy]

Will Finn be the same weak character in the next two films?

 

[...So]

.

 

[everysingletime]

^^^'Do you have a family? A boyfriend? A cute boyfriend?'

Chick hella dense for not knowing dude's intentions

Finn sold me with that line, btw

 

[Nike Jordan]

 

[Master Zik]

Will Finn be the same weak character in the next two films?

Depending on when he wakes up, I assume he'll have a robot spine and join the resistance. He'll either learn from Poe and be a dope pilot or become an expert with weapons and shooting the blaster.

That's if after he wakes up the first thing he doesn't do is try to go after Rey and try to just be with her The simp in him is strong.

 

[...So]

.

 

[everysingletime]

Lmao, the Finn slander is quickly getting to Fitz-like proportions.

Maybe it's not a coincidence their names sound alike

 

[CP1708]

Yeah but didn't Yoda tell Jinn he couldn't have another apprentice and then that's when he said Obi-Wan is ready to be tested to be a Jedi knight?

Yoda made it pretty clear Jedi masters can't have more than one apprentice.

Luke basically had a whole school of apprentices with Ben possibly being his first apprentice.

Rule of Two is two Sith in the entire galaxy.

You're talkin about teachin a second apprentice, with thousands of Jedi across the galaxy. Bit of a philosophical difference there.

Jedi are about peace and tranquility and keeping order across the galaxy.

Sith were about power and ruling, and they devoured each other trying to be "the man" so much so that it weakened them against the Jedi. They fought themselves, AND the Jedi, and that's how the Jedi would ultimately defeat them. So they came up with the Rule of Two. One the Master, the other the Apprentice. Lurk in the shadows and use pawns to do their bidding waiting years/decades to strike at the Jedi when the time was right.

 

[robinvandamn]

Sources tell Variety Harrison Ford came away the big winner earning a paycheck in the 8 figure range ($15 million to $20 million) to reprise his role of Han Solo.

Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher earned salaries in the low-seven figure range for the Disney and Lucasfilm sequel. Newcomers John Boyega and Daisy Ridley were paid in the low-six figure range ($100k-$300k).

Actors Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac, meanwhile, received offers of mid to high six-figures. Because Driver and Isaac had fixed quotes from previous film and TV work, sources say their deals were negotiated higher compared to Boyega and Ridley, who, for the most part, had never appeared in a large-scale film before.

 

[everysingletime]

That's not fair. Lol most of the movie was told through them.

 

[...So]

.

 

[the antihype]

Just peeped the TFA yesterday with my 7yr old son. We BOTH LOVED IT. It was nice to see him enjoy the film. I'm 37 and still remember watching ESB in theaters as a really young child, with my pops...as well as every other SW film there after. I wasn't born yet, when the original came out in '77.

Anyways the things that keep running in my mind are

1-What will Kylo's appearance be like in episode VIII? I could've sworn Rey sliced of dudes hand. Not to mention Kylo's severely cut face. Kylo wants to be Vader so bad, any chance that his new garb is similar to Vaders? Might be dope if executed correctly.

2-Finn was a cool character, but dude got his back ripped up. Never even saw him walk after he took the L. Chances are he won't even be able to walk on his own now. Will he get some kind of cyborg treatment?

3-Still not sure who Rey's parents are. Can't wait for that reveal.

4-Snoke has gotta be Plageuis. (I really hope he is)

5-IMO Han stole the movie. Loved Han's scenes.

 

[yancancook90]

Chill lol Finn just met Rey. Fitz been friendzoned since he and Simmons were in the academy.

 

[mrsneakerman]

Not sure if posted but great read on the prequels and "balance" in the force.

http://www.gamesradar.com/george-lu...ct-prequel-trilogy-he-just-didnt-seem-notice/

 

[Master Zik]

Yeah but didn't Yoda tell Jinn he couldn't have another apprentice and then that's when he said Obi-Wan is ready to be tested to be a Jedi knight?

Yoda made it pretty clear Jedi masters can't have more than one apprentice.

Luke basically had a whole school of apprentices with Ben possibly being his first apprentice.

Rule of Two is two Sith in the entire galaxy.

You're talkin about teachin a second apprentice, with thousands of Jedi across the galaxy. Bit of a philosophical difference there.

Jedi are about peace and tranquility and keeping order across the galaxy.

Sith were about power and ruling, and they devoured each other trying to be "the man" so much so that it weakened them against the Jedi. They fought themselves, AND the Jedi, and that's how the Jedi would ultimately defeat them. So they came up with the Rule of Two. One the Master, the other the Apprentice. Lurk in the shadows and use pawns to do their bidding waiting years/decades to strike at the Jedi when the time was right.

Hmmm, I can understand the cannibalization on the Sith side being too greedy, backstabbing each other at a drop of a hat to run **** but were they that cocky/confident to think just two of them could take down all the Jedi and run **** permanently? (Yes clearly that's what happened ). It just doesn't seem like the best strategic plan.

And like I said in the other thread I was reading up on Darth Bane and understand why the rule of 2 was established.

As for the Jedi, I dunno it just seemed other than Yoda not wanting Anakin to be a Jedi there was something to Jinn not being allowed to have a 2nd apprentice. Yes there were a whole bunch of Jedi but at that point I can question how they thought they could could remain strong and last long if they held so many padawans at training status if there weren't enough masters to make them apprentices? Doesn't make the best sense imo.

Not sure if posted but great read on the prequels and "balance" in the force.

http://www.gamesradar.com/george-lu...ct-prequel-trilogy-he-just-didnt-seem-notice/

Nice.

 

[CP1708]

Some incredible stuff from the Fate of the Jedi series, just the first book, Outcast.

Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala sat at the end of the table. A woman of late middle years, she had copper-colored hair and lovely features made less appealing by her rigid, military bearing. She wore a white admiral's uniform with broad swaths of service medals across the tunic. A onetime protégée of the Empire's Grand Moff Wil-huff Tarkin—and uncharitably assumed by many to have achieved her military rank because she was also his lover—she had been leader of the Galactic Alliance for two years and had done a fine, measured job of restoring the union's economies and networks of political alliances, which had been shattered by the recent war.
To her right sat Jagged Fel, the young Head of State of the Imperial Remnant. Raised among the Chiss, proven in battle as a combat pilot in the Yuuzhan Vong War, he was a reluctant leader who had shown himself to be adept at keeping the Imperial Moffs in line and in managing difficult Imperial–Hapan relations.
To Jag's right, immediately beside the still-droning Bothan, was Turr Phennir, Supreme Military Commander of the Confederation. He was the closest that loose alliance of planets had to an overall leader. Pale, aristocratic, with a scar reaching from the middle of his left cheek to the left corner of his mouth, he, like Fel, was a former combat pilot. The reputation he'd earned early in his career for classic Imperial backstabbing politics and combat savagery had changed over the years to one of pragmatism and honorable service.
And until now, Luke had given no conscious thought to the fact that these three, the most eminent politicians on Coruscant at this moment, were all Imperials. That realization struck him like a bucket of icy water. He had fought the Imperials for decades, had played a role in the defeat of every one of their major operations during that time, and here they were, in charge of … everything.
Leia glanced at Luke, amused. “I felt that.”
“I didn't put it together before now. I've been thinking of the three of them as themselves, not as Imperials. The fate of the galaxy is, all of a sudden, in the hands of Imperials.”
“Yes.”
“When did it strike you?”
“Two years ago, when Daala and Fel took their posts within a short time of each other.”
“You didn't mention it to me.”
She shrugged. “There was nothing I could do about it. Or should do about it. The symbolism of them all being Imperials in one way or another is nothing compared with the question of who they are inside. I mean, the Rebellion was largely made up of former Imperials. Crix Madine. Mon Mothma. Jan Dodonna. I'm a former Imperial Senator.”
“True. And all three leaders up at that table are honorable people.”
“Yes. But that doesn't mean they want what we want. Or that they can see the consequences of their decisions the way we can.” Leia's smile became distinctly ironic. “I bet Palpatine's ghost is laughing at us right now.”

Luke sighed. The impulse that had brought him here seemed no closer to revealing itself, and Daala clearly thought he was wasting her time.
“While we're waiting for the Force to announce its presence,” she said, “I did want to say something. I want you to understand, this suit is not personal. Even when we were on opposite sides, representing enemy forces, I had every respect for you. In reviewing your records, it became clear to me that you have had a significant and beneficial effect on the galaxy.”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “But you still need so very much to make the Jedi a mindlessly obedient branch of the government that you're pursuing the trial.”
“It's not about obedience.”
“Oh, that's right. It's about not detecting a Jedi turning to evil. Which we should be able to do far more easily than, say, noticing an Imperial leader growing so callous that he'd obliterate an entire innocent world to convince other worlds to obey.”
Daala became very still. Her face gave away no emotion, but Luke could feel, just for a moment, the pain she had experienced long ago as her love, respect, and even understanding for Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin withered and faded in the wake of the atrocities he had committed in the Emperor's name.
Luke was sorry to make her relive that. But she clearly wanted to exchange blows, and Luke was not unarmed in this match.
She regained her composure a moment later. “It's not about that, either. You're as guilty of not detecting Jacen Solo's turn to evil as others were of not checking the excesses of Imperial officers. But that's not why you're being tried. It's just the argument that will allow us to convict you.”
“Why am I being tried, then? Give me the next layer of truth. Or the next layer below that.”
“It has to do with fairness, and responsibility, and the rule of law.”
“Things the Jedi have always supported.”
“Things the Jedi have always subverted, at least under your leadership.”
Luke couldn't keep his astonishment from his face or voice. “That's ridiculous.”
“Let me give you a hypothetical example. A Coruscant bar in seedy sublevels. Two patrons decide they don't like the looks of a third. They assault him. A Jedi intervenes, out come blaster pistols and a lightsaber, whoosh, whoosh, severed arms litter the barroom floor. Law enforcement officers are called, the Jedi gives them a terse statement and then flits off to his next adventure.”
Luke nodded. “That's a simplistic and overly colorful way of putting it, but, yes, it happens.” It had, in fact, happened almost exactly that way to him, with Luke in the role of the patron about to be assaulted, back before he was a Jedi himself, many years before.
“Do you not see anything wrong with the way the situation was resolved?”
“Not really.”
“First, there's the maiming of the suspects. Would it have been possible for the Jedi to have defeated them without cutting off their arms?”
Luke nodded. “Possibly. Probably. But once the blasters came out of their holsters, the situation became a lot more dangerous for everybody, patrons and Jedi included.”
“Could the Jedi have disarmed them with some use of the Force?”
“That does happen. But we know the Jedi in your example made the correct choice.”
“How so?”
“He was not just reacting to what he saw with his eyes and knew from his experience. He was in tune with the Force. The Force alerted him to the true level of danger and he responded appropriately.”
“Sad that the Force can never be sworn in to testify about the suggestions it offers to the Jedi.”
“True.”
“Or to the Sith. The Force talks to the Sith, too, doesn't it?”
Luke blinked. “The dark side of the Force, yes.”
“You didn't say your Jedi was only listening to the bright side—”
“Light side.”
“Yes, thank you. You just said the Force. But let's stipulate that the good Force is the only one our hypothetical Jedi listens to. It still suggests maiming an awful lot of the time.”
“Hardly a life sentence of disfigurement and handicap. Modern prosthetics are indistinguishable from flesh and bone.” He held up his own prosthetic hand, waggling its fingers at her, as evidence.
“Though they have to be paid for by someone—often the state, when the amputee is of the lower classes—and then maintained, at a cost in credits and technical skill in excess of the upkeep of an ordinary flesh-and-blood arm.”
“Granted.” Luke suppressed an impatient sigh. “Is that what the suit is about, then? A perception that arms are being cut off at a higher rate than the government recommends?”
“No, it's about the Jedi giving a cursory statement to law enforcement and then leaving. Or dashing off without giving one at all. Or just refusing to answer one crucial question the investigating officer asks. And, in every case, getting away with it.”
“I still don't understand, then.”
“I'll walk you through it. The officers show up and ask questions, the Jedi gives a fifty-word statement, the officers say, ‘Thanks, now we need to go back to the neighborhood station for a full statement,’ the Jedi says, ‘Sorry, I have places to be,’ and he's gone. Did the Jedi respond with appropriate force? You think so, but at the government level we never learn, because a short while later he's on Commenor dealing with an organized crime family, then in the Hapes Cluster …”
“Usually the Jedi does make a full statement. Does cooperate to whatever degree the local authorities require.”
“Usually, yes. I have a report here of a Jedi Knight named Seff Hellin who assaulted law officers just a few weeks ago. Whatever he needed to rush off to do, he never came back to offer full cooperation to the authorities. Did he?”
Luke suppressed the urge to fidget. He found himself wishing that Nawara Ven were here, though Daala was herself not being backed up by an advocate. “I can see how incomplete reports and investigations would be frustrating to the government. But you have to trust that we made the right choice at the right time. It's what we're trained to do.”
The smile she turned on him was as frosty as anything Luke had seen in the snowy outback of Hoth. “I do, do I? We'll get back to that. Grand Master, the hypothetical incident I described shows at a very minor, very frequent level that the Jedi are above the law.”
“Not true. Anyone in the bar situation you described could have intervened with lethal force to save the victim from his beating.”
“And then would have been obliged to make a full report, and stay in contact until the investigation was resolved. The Jedi don't respect that law, or any law they find inconvenient. And the choice to sever the arms comes dangerously close to a judicial sentence being enacted at the time of the intervention. Judge, jury, executioner: Jedi.”
“I'm sorry you have that impression.” Luke frowned. “I'd come here hoping that I could persuade you to drop the case. But now I'm wondering whether I should go through the whole trial just to demonstrate to the public that we do cooperate with the authorities. That we don't consider ourselves above the law.”
Daala nodded, her expression agreeable. “Let's talk about Kyp Durron.”
“Master Durron is a fine, responsible Jedi.”
“I'm not talking about the Jedi he is now. I'm talking about the teenager who destroyed most of the life in the Carida system all those years ago.”
Luke, his composure no longer entirely intact, shifted uncomfortably. “He was under the influence of the dark side of the Force at that time, affected by the mental sendings of a long-dead Sith Lord. And in the years since, he has proven himself to be courageous, a defender of life—”
“Yes, he has. I'm not questioning that. But I want to take you back a little over thirty years to shortly after he killed everyone who hadn't yet managed to evacuate Carida in the two hours he generously gave the population. Of course, the solar system he destroyed was an Imperial system, your enemy at the time, which does mitigate his crime in your eyes. Is that why you protected him, shielded him from legal ramifications, trained him?”
“No.”
“Why did you?”
“Because I could look into his heart and see that he had cast the shadow of Exar Kun out, that he was no longer an agent of the dark side, that he had repented.”
“He said he was sorry, and he meant it, and that was sufficient justice for the millions who died on Carida.”
“You're oversimplifying. I knew that he was on the right path again.”
“Because you have the power to see that. Because that's what Jedi are trained to do.”
“Yes.”
Daala sighed. “And because they're trained to do that, to see into people's hearts, sort truth from lies, see into the future where the criminal has reformed and turned to a life of picking flowers, they can decide who should be thanked and who should be cut down, who should be forgiven and who should be left for the ordinary officers of the law to convict. They protect the common citizen but do not answer to him. They do not pay for their mistakes. They obey government orders when those orders conform to their moral code and not when they don't. And that's wrong. Any other group exhibiting that degree of arrogance, that unconcern for the rule of law, would be classified as a criminal organization. That, ultimately, is what this case is about.”
She was wrong. And yet she was chiefly wrong from the Jedi perspective. Remove the Force from the equation, and she suddenly became right. That was jarring to Luke. It was so hard for him now to remember what it was like not to have the Force always contributing to his decision making.
It was then that he detected it: the evil that the Force had brought him here to see. He did not see it as a person or an object, but as a process, a trend—one that he was a part of.
Understanding things as much as he could through Daala's perspective, through the perspective of the common citizen, the one truth he could discern was that if the galaxy thought that the Jedi were above the law, abuses were sure to spring up from that notion as toxic weeds growing rapidly from a pile of manure.
Young Jedi, seeing the ease with which their Masters slid out from underneath common but inconvenient civic responsibilities, would come to think that such behavior was their right. A few, on the fringes of the border between the light side and the dark side, would discern that Kyp Durron had escaped any visible consequence of his actions at Carida … would accept Luke's assertion that Darth Vader had been redeemed, had died a Jedi instead of a Sith despite his many murders, and would not understand the true meaning of the story.
The answer settled across Luke like a leaden shroud. To prevent this evil from growing, he had to lose this case, to be punished. That was what the Force had brought him here to understand.
He met Daala's gaze again. “Will you be prosecuting Master Durron next?”
“I will not. But I could authorize extradition for him to the Imperial Remnant to face their charge of planetary genocide. Head of State Jagged Fel has rather reluctantly presented me with a proposal from the Moff Council on that very subject. But such a thing could be avoided, of course, if we had already set another decisive example.”
Luke gave her a slow nod. “I came here hoping that, face-to-face, without advocates whispering in our ears, we could negotiate a deal. Now, having heard what you have to say, I am certain we can.”
“Tell me.”

I found it!!

Master Zik You should read this. It has nothing to do with the film, I will explain later. But you mentioned the Jedi Council intriguing you. There's great stuff in this conversation.

 

[everysingletime]

Chill lol Finn just met Rey. Fitz been friendzoned since he and Simmons were in the academy.

Fully believe he'll secure the yamz before the trilogy is over.

*edits

Or maybe not. What if he's paralyzed for life. Greatest c-block ever?

 

[Master Zik]

^ I'll get on that.


I read this guy on the usual and knew he'd have this take on Finn



THE MISSION: Star Wars, the Rey & Finn Dance, and a Post-Racial Futurepast

My mother introduced me to The Force when I was a child, by taking me to see "Star Wars."

I had not yet encountered racial prejudice at that age, and "Star Wars" was not yet the global phenomenon it would become, so I had no reason to have a problem with The Problem.

An absence of Black heroes in the film.

I wonder if my mother saw The Problem, as well, but kept it to herself, so as to not ruin the experience for me.

Three years later, my mother took me to see "The Empire Strikes Back," and we got Lando Calrissian, the charming smuggler played by actor Billy Dee Williams.

Lando was handsome, and he was there, but he was no hero. He was the guy who once owned the ship we, the audience, identified with the White smuggler, and he sold out our heroes to Vader.

I never saw "Return of the Jedi" in the theaters, for various reasons, so my mother and I never got to compare notes or share feelings on the end of the first "Star Wars" trilogy.

RELATED: 10 "Force Awakens" Questions Every "Star Wars" Fan Is Asking

On December 18, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" premiered nationwide in U.S. theaters, and now a variety of people have asked me the natural question: "What did you think about Finn?"

Portrayed by actor John Boyega, the character of Finn may be the most impactful, neutered, subversive Black male character in popular global fiction.

But I want to talk about Rey, first.

The female scavenger of the film played by actress Daisy Ridley, Rey speaks in part to the heart and soul of the film and the entire franchise. We meet her living on a planet of harsh climate, social hostility, and competitiveness. Getting the last drops of water out of a metal canteen, and banging the sides of it to get a few more drops.


Rey is a navigator, and a savior, of sorts
She is diminished by other denizens of the planet because she is poor, because she is in need, and quite possibly because she is a young woman. Held down by the hope that her family will return, Rey's shoulders carry a burden much easier to connect with and feel for, than that of the entire Resistance.

Planets are destroyed, civilizations laid to waste, evil rules the galaxy, but all that pales in comparison to the trial of Rey. With the odds stacked against her, Rey survives.

She needs money, but will not sell her newfound droid companion for a huge sum. She is targeted for murder, and defends herself well and without hesitation. Rey does not wait for the offered hand to take her to safety. She extends the hand of salvation to another.

She takes a ship which has seen one too many space fights of legend, and navigates it though caverns with the same survival instinct utilized to descend into the bowels of ship carcasses. In the supercompressed time-space of blockbuster films, Rey is exposed to the expanse of the universe beyond her world, tortured, experiences psychic-emotional disillusionment upon contact with her legacy, opens up a guarded heart, and acknowledges her true potential.

Rey is a navigator, and a savior, of sorts. She saves a droid. She also saves Finn, a lot, and that's where things get tricky.

Finn, the ex-Stormtrooper who chooses to leave his job, leave war and run, is neither a protagonist nor a savior of the film. He's not connected to The Force, and he doesn't understand what it is. He doesn't want to be a bad guy, but he doesn't want to be a good guy, either. He was taken from his family, doesn't even know his birth name, and isn't even wearing his own clothes.

On the surface, Finn is a slave-like character without a lot of enviable character meat sticking to his bones. But his emotions are real. Fear of war and evil are real.

Trying to get away from the last moment to propel yourself into the next moment, with the hope of landing someplace where you can rest, is real.

Having the capacity to make jokes in the face of overwhelming odds, bonding with someone your age, and finding a kinship with one person after having been part of a clique with no depth of cause is real.


Finn's emotions are real, and he wield a lightsaber to try and save his friend
Finn's belief that Rey needs his help is humanely automatic, outdated, and comical. We like him, and while we're liking him, the idea of Finn, his presence, the indelible impression he leaves on us after we leave the theater, becomes a viral thing in the global consciousness.

Yes, Finn did not manage to hold his own against Kylo Ren, but he held the lightsaber, the symbolic instrument of power and wisdom.

He had no chance against the military might of The First Order, but when he saw Rey being taken away, he ran toward the danger he'd been trying to avoid.

He didn't even get to kiss Rey.

Romance tends to be at the center of American hero films, and if both Rey and Finn were Caucasian, I bet there would have been some lip lock at the end of the film before Rey became the Skywalker/Solo analogue of the story, on the flight to see her Yoda.

But Finn was not even conscious at the end of the film.

Having survived the first two stages of personal transformation into the hero he will become, Finn was serenely asleep.

It would have been nice to see a young Black male Jedi, one with more personality and likelihood for survival than Mace Windu of the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy. It would have been something to see a Black man and White woman kiss in a galaxy far, far away. The absence of those things makes Finn less potent as a character in the story, but he has import and impact.

RELATED: John Boyega Just Wants to Be a "Star Wars" Fan on Opening Day

He's the Black man who survived, the one who left evil and survived, the one who will return and thrive, despite all of the haters who don't want him there.

A Black man who is part of a multi-billion dollar franchise, and his journey has just begun. He's going to become more important, powerful, and wiser. Finn is the idea that worms its way through various licensing products, the idea that has access to every corner of greed media.

Finn cannot be stopped.

His ascension is just as symbolic as that of Rey, when she climbed the mountain usually reserved for men in the hundreds upon hundreds of stories utilizing the Campbellian myth structure.


Finn and Rey are The Solution to The Problem
They may not have kissed, but Rey and Finn are a couple. It doesn't matter which one saved which, or how many times. Separately, they are symbols, and together, they are a super symbol.

They are The Solution.

The mythology of "Star Wars" looks like a future, but it really is the past. The post-racial distant past we have devolved from, and the beacon for the future many of us want.

I believe franchise creator George Lucas meant for that to be the case with the first two trilogies, and that "The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams plans to continue with that intent for the duration of this trilogy.

Whether or not either Lucas or Abrams planned for that effect, it was still achieved, so when I take my mother to see "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," we'll see the lightsaber-wielding woman and the heroic Black man, and appreciate the evolution of myth.

 

[39478]

Just got back from my 2nd viewing (IMAX). Loved it (again).

A few little things I picked up on throughout the movie...

1. Putting all the trailers and the promotional materials together with the story of the movie, I have NO doubt that Rey is the offspring of Luke Skywalker. The second teaser with the "the force is strong in my family" lines kind of confirm that to me. The connection with the lightsaber, her visions (and seeing the hallway in Cloud City during the Luke/Vader fight), her dreams of the island, her force abilities... There's just too much evidence pointing to it. I'd be shocked if Rey is not Luke's.

2. I think too much is made of Rey's "quick" development throughout the movie. The Force is an incredible power that can enhance the user. I hate to even mention the prequels, but Anakin used the Force as a young child without any training (i.e. the podrace). As the story progressed, she is further introduced to Force elements and is kind of thrown into a "fight or flight" mode and I think she finds her self fighting more than she has at any other point in her life. I think the wall or dam holding back her Force abilities was being chipped away with each successive experience until Kylo Ren pushes her to her limits when she conjures everything she can to fight his mind probe. I think that's the tipping point for her as she was kind of cornered.

3. I enjoyed Kylo Ren even more the second time around. It's painfully obvious that he is supremely talented as a Jedi/Sith/KoR/Force user. Using a sports analogy, he's a very raw prospect. He's got the genetics, the training, and the opportunity to excel. That being said, he's entitled and used to getting things his way. I think that Rey nails it on the head when she points out that he's afraid that he'll never live up to his grandfather's "good" (or in this case, "evil') name. He feels pressure to honorably succeed Vader, so with each seemingly small shortcoming (missing out on Rey on Jakku, not being able to penetrate her mind) he becomes more and more impatient. A small tidbit is that Kylo lost his helmet at Starkiller base. He drops it in his confrontation with Han Solo and does not retrieve it. Makes me wonder what he'll look like in Ep 8 (prepare for more merchandise!).

That's all for now.

I'm a big fan of the movie. It deserves every accolade. It's not perfect, but it's damn good and I'm more than happy with that.

 

[nomnom]

Dont know if posted already but good watch