So, I’ve been listening to Sound of Sanity (and the spinoff episodes) for a couple of years now. I’ve found them to be hugely helpful for a bunch of reasons that I don’t have time to get into. But, as I’m sure you know, disagreement tends to draw out commentary more than agreement. (Sorry!) So I want to toss out a slightly contrary opinion, and I’m trying to do it before the viewing of The Last Jedi so that maybe I can successfully poison the well…or at least introduce some complications into ya’lls analysis.
So, I hated–hated–The Force Awakens. I dedicated a large number of words to why, which I will link here: For further comment–Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens | A Dark and Quiet Room
Context: I really liked Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy and really wish that they’d filmed that instead. Also there were a lot of other things going on in my life when The Force Awakens came out, which included a huge sensitivity to both the blatant feminism and the denigration of marriage that were present, so, you know, I’m not maybe the most objective source.
Also, Brick is one of my favorite movies, because I actually do like noir. 
So now that I’ve positioned myself…
Upon my first viewing, I thought that The Last Jedi redeemed most of what I hated about The Force Awakens.
I liked how Kylo Ren ditched his helmet.
I liked how Poe got his wings clipped.
I even liked Luke’s midlife crisis.
Now, I went into the movie having already read spoilers. I wasn’t originally going to watch the movie, because I hated The Force Awakens that much. But when I first watched it, I didn’t react to the feminism that was (if possible) even more integrated than it was in The Force Awakens.
Instead, I saw a movie aimed at an audience in its middle age.
A while ago, I wrote about watching the first few Harry Potter movies: Stories and seasons | A Dark and Quiet Room
In this post, I talked about the idea of stories for different seasons of life. And maybe it’s just the moment when I saw it, but The Last Jedi resonated with me, because it dealt with the regrets of middle age. Of having made bad decisions and wanting to run from them. Of having caused deep harm and not knowing how to move ahead. Of wanting desperately to have been a better man, and wanting somehow to be redeemed.
I saw myself in Luke. I connected with having once been an idealist, and having seen my (naive?) idealism crushed by my own actions. I resonated with wanting to pass on something of value to the next generation, but questioning if I even have the right to speak. I understood the deep sense of having failed, and not knowing if it was possible to take up the mantle of hero once again.
At the same time, honestly, I did kinda like that this was a movie that said, “You young kids don’t know what you’re doing and need to listen to your elders.” That’s how I read the Poe/Leia conflict at first. Not a “dumb male vs. enlightened female”–although that’s probably what it was–but more of a “old age and wisdom vs. youth and inexperience.” In an environment that exalts youth, I was pleased to see that the wisdom of age was being respected and that lessons were (slowly and painfully) being conveyed to another generation. That’s how I saw Poe’s progression, how he was able to expand his understanding of the situation and, therefore, was able to exercise truly wise leadership. Even though youthful exuberance would have argued for a “noble” last stand, he was able to take a longer view by the end of the movie and retreat to fight another day.
It’s also how I saw the final duel between Kylo Ren and Luke. These are the last lessons that Luke is trying to give to his apprentice. He is trying to teach Kylo how to reject his impulsiveness and temper and to learn how to control himself. By this point, Luke has himself learned the lessons that he needs to learn about himself and has been able to encompass his failures with Kylo and learn from them. He is so desperately trying to convey his hard-earned lessons to Kylo, who just won’t listen.
This was the lens through which I viewed The Last Jedi. Well, on my first viewing. On my second viewing, all the feminism that was woven throughout the story was apparent to me, and, honestly, I just wasn’t all that excited about the movie after that. I’ll likely rewatch the original trilogy again, because these are the films of my youth, but the chances that I’ll voluntarily watch either of these newer films is just about nil.
Anyways, I wanted to toss out an alternate perspective on both of these films–especially The Last Jedi–as you all are going through this rewatching. Hopefully you find this valuable. Regardless, I’ve found your conversations helpful and entertaining, and I’m looking forward to future episodes.
But thank you for listening.