“Wait, we need to discuss the order of succession!”
[hurk!]
“…oh yeah I forgot you can choke people with your mind.”
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Thinking on this, part of the appeal of the original triology was the fact that Luke was from a backwater (er, backsandy) kind of place, apparently no one special, and it turns out that he’s really connected to an elite sort of legacy. In the case of Rey, she’s still from a backsandy kind of place, but if what Ben says is true, and her parents were nobodies, that means that her rise is even more of an overturning of class than Luke’s was. He was of this elite class (though he certainly brings his working class ideals to it). But Rey IS of the working class and is more effective in upending class barriers represented by Ben. It’s a nobody rising up without actually being of some special blood.
But it also occurs to me that he could have lied to her about her parentage. Or didn’t see it correctly somehow.
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Insert Keenan Ivory Wayans “message.gif” here yet again. It would certainly be consistent with other themes in the film if this were the case. A wild theory here is maybe with Luke as the last Jedi dying, this brings about a democratization of the force in almost a Buffy-like manner.
Indeed. This thought was in the back of my mind during this reveal – she just has to be of special lineage, right? On further reflection, I actually kind of like it better if she’s just a very gifted nobody. The Skywalkers had their chance, and blew it mightily. It’s time for a new generation to take the reins.
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Oooo! I like it! I hope so!
Ah, back to the old canard of generational conflict! 
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I desperately hope that they stick to the “Rey’s parents actually were nobodies” thing, because it really is one of the core messages of the film: you don’t have to be someone special – secretly or otherwise – to make a difference. Luke was even making that point about the Force in his angry rant against the Jedi Order: it belongs to everyone.
That resolution is also perfectly in keeping with TLJ’s overall theme, which Luke basically sums up in one of his first lines: “This isn’t going to go how you think”. The bombing run on the dreadnought was a disaster that cost the Resistance their entire bombing wing and half their remaining fighters. Luke doesn’t train Rey to be a Jedi. Rey’s parents don’t matter. Leia doesn’t die in the bridge explosion. Kylo doesn’t turn to the light side. Snoke doesn’t get a Sheev-ing, he’s just “The Emperor” 2.0. Vice-Admiral Holdo wasn’t just running away. Poe’s brilliant mutiny plan gets a shit-load of people killed. Finn and Rose don’t find the right codebreaker. The slick scoundrel with the wealth of folksy outside-the-system wisdom that they do find is actually just a regular old “asshole without a heart of gold”. Yoda of all people follows through on Luke’s threat to burn down the sacred tree on Ahch-To (and even that gets undermined because Rey already hid the texts on the Falcon). Luke doesn’t actually show up at the end with his laser sword. Nobody answers the Resistance’s call for help.
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I agree with all this… so much of it subverted the ideas of the original trilogy, and just made it so much richer as a story.
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And also the theme of “failure is the best teacher”. Nearly everyone failed at what they set out to do. Rey didn’t bring Luke back to be the Great Rebel Hope, she didn’t really get her training, she didn’t turn Kylo back to the light. Finn and Rose and Poe failed at everything badly enough to get a lot of people killed. Leia couldn’t even get anyone to answer her call.
What’s all this failure going to teach them? I can’t wait to see.
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Yoda: The greatest teacher, failure is.
Luke: Wait, aren’t you they guy who taught me “do or do not, there is no try?” That seems kind of contradictory.
Yoda: Failed to impart a meaningful lesson that time, I did.
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I mean, just because you do doesn’t mean you succeed…
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I never took the green milk… things as being intended for comedic purposes… but I have no alternate explanation for why that scene was included, outside of someone feeling it very important to establish how Luke eats and breathes, and other science facts.
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Well, blue bantha milk has been a long running gag in the Star Wars universe. I can only assume the rancid looking green milk is a “you’re not on planet Kansas anymore” kind of thing.
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Of all the things you’ve ever written over the years I’ve been on here, I agree with this one the most. It’s sad, to me, and it’s why I actively limit my time on social media. When there’s anonymity, or perceived anonymity, a majority of people go ape. And that’s an insult to apes. But that’s been the case since USENET groups. It’s not new.
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Yoda: If succeed at first you do not, then…
Luke: Try, try again?
Yoda: Wait, got something for this I have.
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Perhaps you didn’t see the news that the Star Wars Land expansion at Disneyland and WDW will include a cantina, which presumably will need a variety of beverages to sell? I’m sure the traditional blue milk will be a popular item, but it can’t be the only thing on the menu.
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Just as long as I’m allowed to smoke the enormous and gaudy hookah pipe in there.
I’ll settle for some spicy porg wings.
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Jeeze, that roasted porg looked delicious didn’t it?
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Just saw the flick tonight so now I can dish with the rest of the cool nerds.
Based upon what evidence?
Kylo Ren’s word alone? In the scene where he was fucking with her mind the most, trying to manipulate Rey to join him?
Pssssh.
That said, I liked:
- That BB-8 is way more of a secret badass than R2D2 was
- The red salt flats
- The kamikaze maneuver - that was Laura Dern’s whole point of being in the movie, though a death that momentous should have been General Leia’s, RIP Carrie Fisher
- Leia using the force on screen, finally.
- Luke’s Loki-like projection for like hours - I had a feeling when he just popped up in the dead-end strong hold which only had one way in and one way out - talk about the ultimate Jedi Mind Trick.
I disliked;
- The length. (Seriously there was a whole lot of ‘padding’ in this movie, enough to make a drag queen jelly.)
- The conflict between Luke and Kylo Ren seemed a bit forced, (no pun intended) as does the whole darkness rising in Kylo theme - what exactly was his tipping point that sent him spiraling down on the Dark Side? Even though all things Anankin sucked in 1, 2 and 3, I could understand the motivation that made him ‘break bad’; growing up as a slave, the death of his mother, being responsible for his illicit true love’s death… I can see how all that would embitter and corrupt someone. But Ren had two loving parents and a solid support system; so what’s his fucking excuse?
- The romance angle with Finn and Rose; while I appreciate her keeping yet another Black character from nobly sacrificing himself for the greater good, it was just too cliched for me. There doesnt always have to be a n underlying love story for fuck’s sake.
- The multi-boobed alien thing that so many folks have already mentioned? That was an unnecessary visual cliche - the fat lady, singing. O_O Also it should be said that it seems like that’s a weird, scifi fanboy fixation that goes way beyond the Star Wars franchise. Peep the dialogue about ‘female extraterrestrials’ from Farmer Ted’s crew of dipshits:
(Also, I totally missed the yo mama joke and the milking scene, because I guess that’s when I unexpectedly had to use the restroom. Damn theater soda.)
So did his son Luke, for all intents and purposes; he had no idea about who his parents were and grew up with none of their affluence or privilege.
There’s nothing special about the Skywalker bloodline, IMO; it’s about the force within and what each person decides to do with it.
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I had no choice but to take it that way. My warped mind made it so. When Luke pressed the teat and filled his nalgene bottle, I literally LOL’ed with about ten other people in the theatre. Our reactions were instant. I have no idea how many people found it funny but did not burst out laughing. It was funny. Those long shots of the Elephant Seal thing looking wistfully at the camera, perched on its rock, and then the teat. Oh man, so silly. Lots of silly in this movie.
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There’s always been silly, goofy, and gross-out moments in Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies. Jabba eating a frog and belching, Luke getting stuffed in a Tauntaun, chilled monkey brains, Han shooting the telecom, etc. The green milk was a goofy moment that made me laugh (between the look on the alien seal’s face and Luke’s earnest “aww yeah, green milk, baby” grin), but it also showed that Luke’s a little odd after spending 30+ years without seeing another human being. Dude’s a hermit, he’s not going to think milking a local seal/cow thing is weird.
It’s also why I had no problem with him tossing the lightsaber. Some fans are incensed by that moment (“it shows how little this movie cares!!11”) but, c’mon. Luke’s been hiding for decades. The last thing in the world he wants is a mysterious girl handing him his dad’s lightsaber and probably asking him to come save the universe for her. Maybe he could’ve chucked it into the sea dramatically or just dropped it. But he’s cut off from the Force and couldn’t care less. He flings it aside and walks away. Perfect payoff for two years of wondering how he’d react. Made me laugh with surprise, but not because it was dumb, because it was unexpected.
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