Following the week's events surrounding actress Kelly Marie Tran, as covered in this week's Film & TV Friday, I thought it would be an appropriate time for my very first repost, of my very first post here on Steemit. Yup, I posted that before writing an introduction. It's a post about why Rose's main sequence in the film, on Canto Bight, is a critical part of the film. So, here we go with Why Canto Bight Matters:
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a man raised in privilige as a member of the Jedi order, said this of the Mos Eisley Space Port: "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
It's an iconic line. It's also crap.
Many people have complained that the Canto Bight storyline in The Last Jedi is redundant. I very strongly disagree. Because Canto Bight is, to my mind, an answer to that statement.
Mos Eisley isn't a savory place. It's not nice. But compared to Canto Bight, it is the sweetest, most innocent place imaginable. And the person to point that out is Rose, SW's newest character. A brilliant young woman who has recently lost her (awesome, heroic) sister, with whom she grew up in poverty, in the kind of place which I am sure Obi-Wan would not approve of.
Canto Bight is the Kylo Ren of places: Much like emo, tantrum throwing, incompetent raw power and privilige Kylo, It is the evil that exists in the world.
(an aside: Kylo and HUx are an embodiment of Kim Jong Un. and the 45th president of the US, the scariest incompetent clowns out there).
War profiteering and unfeterred greed cause much more harm than any collection of poverty stricken rogues ever could. They are an evil that is real, and Rose sees that, because of her background, because she grew up poor in a place where the costs are felt.
Rose is pure and good both despite AND because of that background.
And that is brought home by the casting of the magnificent Kelly Marie Tran, a woman of color, in this pivotal role.
Yeah, it's one of the things that really aggravates me about the haters of The Last Jedi. They vaunt the original trilogy, but I doubt any of them have examined it with a critical eye.
If Rey's a Mary Sue, then so is Luke. His Force training was the equivalent of a long weekend at a Hyatt Inn, and it's shown many, many times in canon that he was kind of a cruddy instructor, mostly because he'd had so little instruction himself. Luke only had to stub his toe and Force Spirits would pop up to advise him.
Kylo Ren is pretty much symbolic of the dark side of the first 6 movies, where it went from heroes coming from anywhere (remember the dozens, hundreds of diverse Jedi in the prequels?), any race, any gender, to just the Skywalker (white) men (Anakin, Luke, and Kylo/Ben). Kylo comes from a pure and privileged line, he had training offered pretty much from birth and when he left, there was someone waiting to offer more training and praise.
The whole point of The Last Jedi was that heroes could come from anywhere (which derailed J.J. Abrams original plan to tie Rey to the Skywalker or Kenobi line, and placate the grouchier "fans"), because The Last Jedi is the darkest hour, scrambling for any hope left, and a hero has to come from somewhere.
I think the reason the haters are bagging so hard is the same reason straight white middle-aged men hated the Twilight movies: Because it wasn't explicitly for them.
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Yes to literally all of this!
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💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
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So much yes! It is literally the most disgusting place in all the movies. The stink of unchecked privilege and unbridled greed. I love how grounded and strong Rose is. I love how she has way more sense than basically anyone else. I can't help but pull for a Finn/Poe, but I love Rose a whole lot.
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I love the Last Jedi, but it I appreciate Canto Bight much more than the first time I watched it. Also, could that force sensitive child have an important role in future movies?
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