My main take away from The Last Jedi...

[lizbee]

I mean, okay, it was ... structurally problematic.

"Let's just send two characters off on a side quest which ultimately doesn't affect the plot at all" was certainly a choice which was made, and it's just through sheer luck and the talent, charisma and chemistry of John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran that the Finn and Rose plotline was so entertaining that I almost forgot how ridiculous it was.

But what I keep coming back to is this: how are the second generation Rebel men so terrible?!

Poe: receives an important lesson from Leia about the more subtle types of heroism that don't end with a whole lot of people dying unnecessarily. Turns right around and chucks a tanty mutiny because a lady, who has no need at all to explain herself to him, refuses to explain herself to him.

He comes across as entitled and kind of obnoxious and mansplainy, and it's only because Oscar Isaac is so pretty that I don't hate Poe outright. (In fact, I kind of ship Holdo/Poe, but only if it's a bit kinky and he's not allowed to speak in her presence ever.)

(BASICALLY, now I have a second-favourite space vice admiral, and it's niche, but I'll take every crumb that 2017 throws my way, and also if anyone were to write fic where Holdo and Cornwell get drunk, lament the pretty-but-useless men under their command and then make out, there's an audience for that right here.)

Meanwhile, Ben Solo -- in addition to his many, many other failures -- has decided that the way to win Rey over is to re-enact Darcy's first proposal. You know, the one where he insults Elizabeth's family but deigns to love her in spite of them.

Mate. You gotta read the whole book. And also stop killing people, although his actual body count was a lot lower this time around, so well ... done?

Anyway, IN SHORT, someone has badly let down the sons of the Rebellion. I assume it's Han Solo's fault somehow. Or Lando's. Or both. Thank heavens we have Finn, The Only Non-Garbage Man Of His Generation, to save us all.

(I am genuinely annoyed about the Poe thing, though. Like, you go in expecting Kylo Ren to be THE WORST, and that is the one area where he's not going to disappoint you. But Poe turns out to be awful in such a common, mediocre way, just like millions of men out there in the real world. Only prettier.)

Comments

[orcofnewyork]

I personally felt like Poe was really in character to how he's been portrayed in the comics.

That's really good to know! I have been keeping up as best I can with the new novels but not with the comics yet. I'm glad that it's established characterization then and not just plot convenience for the movie to keep the side characters busy. I really appreciate your commentary, it makes me better understand where the Poe subplot was coming from.

I think Holdo was deliberately set up to be disliked by the audience in that cliche "Here's an authority figure that is antagonizing a protagonist character, but wait they had Reasons!(tm)" Like I knew the way the script was playing out that she obviously had information that Poe and the audience didn't have so clearly there was going to be a big reveal that she was right all along. Which is why I didn't appreciate that we were supposed to be angry with her for blocking a protag's action. I haven't read the Leia novel yet, but now I'm very intrigued because I wanted to like Holdo from the get-go in the movie and also I need more Leia-centric stories in my life.

Thank you again for the commentary! TLJ was a challenging non-typical Star Wars movie so there's a lot to chew on.

[sabrina]

I've been spot-reading based on interest/reception pretty much since they swapped canon, but Poe Dameron definitely falls under interest! But yeah, I really felt it was true to the Poe we see in the comics - super mission in front of him focused, a little reckless at times, dedicated to the Resistance, but not always mindful of the larger picture, and he pushes back against Leia at times too. Basically, I finished up through like issue 19? (thru vol. 3 of the TPB) in November, and the characterization flowed to me, and then I got online and people were complaining about him being OOC and I'm just like, wait, really? LOL. So obviously, for me it worked.

But....! Don't walk, RUN to go get the Princess Leia novel. So far I think Claudia Gray has written all of my favorite novels in the new canon. It's not just good Leia, it's good coming of age YA, and it's as satisfying as really amazing fanfiction. It's hands down my favorite novel of the new canon. And there's a lot of Bail and Breha and it left me wanting a whole story (or MAYBE an anthology film?) about Breha. Like, more Organas in 2018 please!