On Star Wars, Sacrifice, and Darkness

So I saw The Last Jedi, and I liked it. I have to agree with Scalzi that it's a good thing we got Rogue One before this: not because there's a direct narrative connection between them, but because that film established precedent both for Star Wars movies that don't quite have the Joseph Campbell feel, and for Star Wars movies that are dark without being grimdark.

The purpose of this post is to unpack that last bit. Which I'll mostly do behind a cut-tag, to avoid spoiling those who haven't seen the film yet (and also because dear lord, self, wordy much?), but out here I'll say that what I mean by "dark without being grimdark" is that there's never a sense of cynicism about the whole thing. Trust is not folly; honor is not a lie; it is possible to win and not always regret it afterwards. What The Last Jedi does is acknowledge that war has a cost, and you can't have a Rebellion or a Resistance without risking, and often suffering, real loss.

Ah, you say, but didn't The Empire Strikes Back establish precedent for dark Star Wars movies, long before Rogue One came along?

Yes and no. Let's go behind the cut-tag.

( Read more... )