The Last Jedi and Letting Go of the Past.

Star Wars Episode VIII the Last Jedi is one of my favorite films in the franchise. This statement alone I know can be considered rather controversial amongst the Star Wars fandom online. The film is probably the most divisive subject in a community full of divisive subjects. I fell in love with the film when I first watched it opening night and I love it more with each subsequent watch. 

The Last Jedi is a complex film that balances many themes some admittedly much more successfully than others. The primary theme I want to focus on in this piece is letting go of the past. On a first watch of the film I completely misread the films message regarding this, and I do think that is an easy mistake to make. Throughout the film we hear from both Kylo Ren, the primary antagonist and Luke Skywalker, the mentor figure and legacy protagonist that the past should be left in the last. Kylo Ren going as far as saying "Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to". This line was even used in the several trailers for the film, building up this idea in the audiences head before they even sit down and watch the film for the first time. Luke Skywalker's approach to letting the past die is a much less active approach. Rather than killing the past his approach is to simply run from, hide from, and ignore the past. Luke sees the failure of the Jedi order, both before his time and with his attempt to rebuild it and decided that the Jedi should be left in the past. When you have two major character's in the movie both spouting this similar rhetoric it is easy to misunderstand this as the central message. The problem is, the film clearly paints them both as incorrect. 

Let's look at Luke, he isn't one hundred percent wrong about the failure of the Jedi. The Jedi of the prequel era has lost their way, they had become generals, not peacekeepers. They had let Darth Sidious rise to power right under their noses. They raised Anakin to become their greatest enemy. Anakin's corruption could have likely been avoided if the Jedi Council had been less dogmatic and these instances are scene throughout the prequel films and the Clone Wars animated series. His own attempt to start a new Jedi order was also a failure, crucially a failure of his own creation. His moment of personal weakness lead to the fall of Ben Solo. However because he is correct about these elements it doesn't mean he is correct in his assertion that the Jedi must come to an end. He says to Rey dismissively early in the film " You don't need Luke Skywalker. You think what? I'm gonna walk out with a laser sword and face down the whole First Order?" At the end of the film, this is almost exactly what he does. Simultaneously with this he is also confronting Kylo Ren, Ben Solo his greatest failure. He isn't embracing the past, but he his no longer ignoring it either he is confronting it. His past, his legacy and most importantly his failures. Crucially during this scene Luke isn't actually physically present. He is projecting himself through the force. Luke has embraced the legacy of the Jedi, however he must still confront it's failures. If he literally did what he said to Rey earlier in the film he would have been setting himself up for failure once again. Instead he has learned from his failure. This was something taught to him by Yoda earlier in the film who told him "Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery, hmm… but weakness, folly, failure also. Yes: failure, most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is. Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters."

Kylo Ren in contrast sticks to his guns and embraces his kill the past mantra. This does appear to be something he does out of fear or insecurity. He needs to let go of the past to become who he thinks he wants to be. But he knows his past, his connection to his family, his obedience to Snoke is something he relies on. The only way he can avoid succumbing to this weakness is to kill the source. This is why he killed Han Solo, why he tried to kill Leia and why he killed Snoke. Snoke is often confused of being a disappointment or wasted character. However when you view Snoke not as the antagonist, but instead as a obstacle for Kylo to overcome his inclusion makes perfect sense. Kylo Ren is the ultimate antagonist of this film in the franchise, so it makes sense that his approach to the past contrasts so heavily with Luke's.

The Last Jedi's ultimate message about the past is that the past is what it is, you can't hide from it, you shouldn't kill it, you should accept it. Accepting it doesn't mean ignoring it's the failures.Your failures are as important as you successess if not more so. "Let the past die, Kill it if you have to. Thats the only way to become what you were meant to be." The problem with this line of thinking is that we are what our past makes us. We are shaped by every experience of our lives. Hiding from the past doesn't work, it will eventually find us. Killing the past doesn't work, it just leads to us repressing and supressing our problems. We need to find a healthy balance, and this is admittedly not always easy. 

Star Wars has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was born in 1998, the year before the release of the Phantom Menace. Revenge of the Sith is one of the first movies I remember seeing in a theater. I know it wasn't the first but it's the first I can vividly remember. I spent who knows how many hours playing Star Wars Battlefront II, Lego Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic, and The Force Unleashed. A solid 50% of the books I read as a kid were Star Wars Novels. The Last Jedi to me is a perfect love letter to the franchise. You can tell it was made with passion and a love for the franchise. Like the characters in the film itself, The Last Jedi learns from the past, builds upon it, and respects it. It doesn't do this via fan service. It takes themes and threads of the franchise and expands on them in new and interesting ways. I understand that this approach didn't work for alot of people, but for me it really did. The film isn't perfect, but no film in the franchise is. I'm glad the franchise was willing to take a risk on a film like The Last Jedi and I'm equally upset that they so quickly tucked their tales and ran in the follow up.