A Reasonable Discussion of The Last Jedi - Part 5

 While Luke and Rey are on the island, Snoke chastises Kylo.  What's odd about this interaction is that everything Snoke criticizes is stuff that was set up in episode 7; the fact that he's mimicking Darth Vader, the fact that he was beaten by an untrained girl, etc.  It was here I started thinking that this movie was an argument between Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams.  I really felt like I should leave and come back when they've finished the argument and written a pair of scripts that supported one another rather than tugged in two different directions.  I mean, when Snoke says, "Take that ridiculous thing off," he's literally calling something JJ Abrams came up with a "ridiculous thing."  This is not something that should be coming up partway through the second movie of a trilogy; it should have been in the writer's room of the first one.

            Had this been a conversation they had before episode 7 was made, I'd be more on Johnson's side.  It is better to be original with these films, and Kylo Ren's character arc is the most interesting one.  We want to see his face through most of it, so the mask needs to be gone for that.  But once something has been established, right or wrong, you need to go with it.  You can alter course, but as any improv actor will tell you, you don't just say the last person's idea was stupid; you try to run with it and make it better.

            But instead, Johnson wanted Kylo to be completely different from Vader.  That's why he had him jump in a ship just like Vader's and fly into battle, leading tie fighters just like Vader did, destroying apparently the only hangar in the fleet.

            When he turns on the bridge, it's an interesting moment.  He can't bring himself to fire on his mother, and there seems to be a moment where they sense one another.  This sort of interaction with Leia would be interesting.  Perhaps they can do something with it where they connect through the force and...

            Nope, a minion blew up the bridge.  And here is one of the biggest fuck you moments in the movie.  Johnson had several well known figures from the earlier movies on that bridge, including Admiral Akbar and Nin Num.  Okay, think about how old those guys would be.  To be an admiral you have to be pretty old already, and Akbar was admiral 30 years earlier.  Nin Num was also supposed to be high ranking.  For them to be still in their positions would be like having admirals from World War I in charge during World War II.

            What I'm getting at here is that there was no reason to even have them there.  They should be retired somewhere and it should be new people working the bridge.  But Rian Johnson placed them in the bridge with the sole purpose of killing them.  It was the equivalent of someone taking out your favorite toys from when you were a kid and pissing all over them; it's entirely unnecessary and just a dick move.  What was the point if not to just troll the audience?

            Then of course there's Leia being sucked into space, then flying back in.  Now, I've been looking forward to Leia using the force ever since Return of the Jedi.  I've always felt they ripped her off of being as strong a character as she could be.  I had hoped that they'd rectify it in these new movies, but instead, all they've given her is the ability to sense her husband's death and the ability to be Mary Poppins.  Now with Carrie Fisher's death, the idea will never be realized.

            What's even sadder about this being Fisher's final performance is the fact that she spends most of it in a coma.  I genuinely hope this haunts Rian Johnson at night.  He had Carrie Fisher for her final performance, and he wasted it having her lie on her back with her eyes closed for most of it.  And what did he put in place of her?

            Purple hair woman.  Now, don't get me wrong, I think Laura Dern is a fine actress; and I resent a lot of the cruel names people have called her.  However, to replace what they had with this character is insulting.  Consider this.

            When they made Return of the Jedi they hired teams of craftsmen and women to work tirelessly to bring alien beings to life.  Using the best that existed in make-up and effects, they created faces that expressed emotions and felt real.  Now...

I've got some purple hair spray!

            I felt insulted the moment that woman walked on screen.  My movie ticket cost more than they put into her character.  This is supposed to be a galaxy of different species, made by a studio with more money than entire countries, and the best they can do is a human with purple fucking hair???

            Now I get that they're trying to push forward feminism, and I'm completely on board with that.  I believe feminism is by far one of the most important issues in the world, (they make up more than 50% of the population for god's sake,) and women need good representation in movies.  Leia herself is a feminist icon, (which again leaves me baffled why they wouldn't leave her conscious throughout this movie.)  But women can be of all different species.  One of the concepts they always subtly pressed in Star Wars was the idea that the Empire was a racist organization, employing only humans while other species joined the rebellion.  They could have hit both of these points by making Holdo a female alien.  But no, purple hair.

            Also, she doesn't appear at all until the others on the bridge are killed.  If she's the highest ranking officer left, why have we seen others in command positions and she's only now showing up?  The way they portray her it's like they just brought her up from the kitchen.

            Then, of course, there's the problem that everyone has noticed, (even those who love this movie but refuse to admit this problem exists,) she doesn't tell anyone her plan, essentially forcing everyone with any initiative to mutiny.  But that's coming up.