Star Wars: You've Come A Long Way, Baby

Want to know what side of the political force you side with? Look no further than your reaction to the latest Star Wars film, The Last Jedi.

Dont agree that a political polarization is at hand? Check out how the latest installment in the Star Wars franchise fell victim to extreme right-wing trolls who attempted to thwart the films box office receipts or the vitriolic online chatter around having an Asian-American heroine on its roster.

But even without these stirrings of the darkside, it should be no surprise that The Last Jedi has such a polarizing reaction among audiences.

While some drum this up to how Luke was handled in the film, I would argue something more subversive is at play.

A long time ago, say about Forty years, the original Star Wars film arrived a movie that presented a galaxy filled with strange aliens, a gaggle of good and bad white men and just one woman. By The Empire Strikes Back, creator George Lucas added one African American male round out the roster. By Return of the Jedi, the leader of the Rebel Alliance, albeit in only one scene in the film, suggested that Princess Leia may not be the sole female around. Of course, this was also the film where Leia was made into an aliens sex slave, complete with a skimpy gold bikini. One step forward, one step back for George.

Contrast that with The Last Jedi, where gender takes an unexpected turn by having the films central hero be a female. I write hero as opposed to heroine because between Reys androgynous facial features, sex-less hairdo and garb, she could easily be a stand-in for a teenage boy instead of female. (Interestingly, Reys design takes on many cues from the final girl in horror films , who male viewers also easily associate with for similar reasons.)

Besides Rey, the ratio of male to female officers in the Resistance seems close to fifty/fifty, while we even get to see a few women among the ranks of even the First Order. But perhaps most significantly, unlike other Star Wars films, where brashness and derring-do often win the day, in this film the male characters repeatedly make impulsive, egotistical choices that have terrible repercussions.

While the first Star Wars trilogy dealt with father issues, for The Last Jedi, maternal figures guide the narrative, whether it be General (No more Princess here!!) Organa reprimanding and demoting Poe Dameron as his actions lead to the decimation of all the Resistance bombers to Finn attempting a suicide run on the laser cannon pointing at their base, only to be saved by Rose Tico at the last moment. We even witness Luke Skywalker milking the oversized mammaries of an alien version of a mother seal. Whether intended or not, connections with the mother seems to have been on writer/director Rian Johnsons mind.

Also, on Johnsons mind was questioning the need for royal lineage and noble hierarchy. Besides the father/son relationship, the first Star Wars trilogy was defined by the hierarchical privilege aka royalty. Being a Jedi was only something you could aspire to if you belonged to the Skywalker clan.

In this story, the value of being a Jedi and the necessity of continuing the Skywalker lineage is put to question: Why should some people have a monopoly over the force while others only get the scraps off of the Skywalker table? Why were so many people disappointed to learn that Reys lineage was a non-lineage - that becoming a Jedi could come from anyone, anywhere, whether it be a nobody like Rey or the stable boy that we see at the very end of the film?

So, between the emergence of female characters, the renunciation of the hierarchical view of the Star Wars universe and the underlying truth behind those responsible for perpetuating the conflict, the galaxy will never quite be the same again.

Which brings us back to why this film has such polarizing reactions. If ones belief system is based on a view of the world in which all people should be treated equally no matter their gender, race, religious, ethnic or financial backgrounds, then the experience of this film will feel like dropping a proton torpedo into the deathstar exhaust hatch. If, however, one believes in a strict moral hierarchy (ie. God over man, man over woman, rich over poor, Christianity over other religions) The Last Jedi may be more painful than watching Lukes hand be severed over and over again in an endless loop.