I went to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi last night with my family. As I was thinking about it, I realized that it was never a question of "if" we see it, but "when". then I realized that this was true of everybody I knew as well. There were never any conversations I had overheard where there was some question as to whether or not someone would see it. They always go something like, "So, when are you going to see it?" Or "Have you seen it yet?" (often followed by a mild rebuke if they haven't.)
Truth is, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Star Wars as a whole "is" our modern mythology. It's as much a part of our mythos here and now as the Illiad and Odyssey were to the ancient Greeks. It's the sacred text most moderns proverbially sleep with under their pillows to draw inspiration from regardless of their official religious affiliation. I recall seeing a headline from the parody site "Babylon Bee" about a pastor who lost his license to preach because he failed to reference The Last Jedi in his sermon. It was tongue in cheek, but there was an underlying cultural understanding behind it. These are "our" stories.
To use this analogy further, if "The Force Awakens" was akin to the Odyssey, then "The Last Jedi" is the Illiad. It's the tragedy of Troy where gods and men alike wage a war where there are few if any winners. The Illiad is often referred to as the greater, more mature of the two works, and so it is with "The Last Jedi" in my humble opinion.
There are consequences to actions, no matter how noble the intents. This eighth movie displays this truth in multiple ways. Failure is the greatest teacher, says Master Yoda, and this too is a hard lesson learned for the story's heroes. Things don't always go the way you planned them. The wisdom of one's elders should not be ignored in favor of heroic, if rash action. There is divine purpose beyond what mortals are able to understand, and that purpose is often misinterpreted, and twisted for selfish ends until it is fully revealed. There is light and darkness in everyone. Even heroes and demigods (think about who Luke's "grandfather" was) must pass eventually. Death is not the end, but only the beginning. Mortals are indeed saved by their faith. All of these are lessons which "The Last Jedi" has to teach with spectacular battles both physical and spiritual, drama, humor, and sorrow.
There are those who don't like this installment of Star Wars (even trying to have it recalled). There are also those that would like to edit out certain uncomfortable passages in the Holy Scriptures, or at least leave them unspoken and untaught. Things like rape, genocide, incest, murder by proxy by a Biblical hero; these are the passages that are not taught in children's Sunday Schools, or, if they are, are so sugar coated that they are hardly recognizable. People are uncomfortable with their heroes being seen as anything less than perfect or "good". But "heroes" are human beings, and human beings are deeply flawed no matter how much they want to do the right thing. This was part of the lesson from ancient Greek literature as well. Our fatal flaws tend to be our undoing, especially if we don't learn from them.
Luke Skywalker was, above all else, human. He made mistakes. So also is Poe Dameron. So also is Ben Solo. So also is Rey. Human beings are not cut and dried "good" and "evil". Human beings are complicated. The hubris or humility of one human being affects all other human beings around them in both positive and negative ways. This is reality, and in the Star Wars universe, it is the truth of the Force as well which binds and connects everything one to another, and it is the "unseen" hand of the Force, itself neither wholly light nor wholly dark but a balance between the two, which is seen working to effect its will everywhere in this movie to achieve the equilibrium it wants its own "children" to understand.
I am reminded of an illustration from mathematics I learned years ago. The balance point on the number line is "0". There is no actual beginning or end. The starting point is "0". This can be represented by the equator around a spherical shape. As long as a motion remains locationally at "0", that is, running the circumference of the equator back onto its own path, it remains in balance. Any deviation from "0" however, regardless of how slight, results in the path of the motion spiraling off into infinity regardless of whether it is positive or negative, and balance is lost. The same is true if weight is added to only one side of a scale. Regardless of the amount of weight, balance is lost. Nature abhors a vacuum, and vacuum is imbalance. There are two sides to the Force, not one. This is a lesson both the Jedi and the Sith fail to understand. The Force is balance between them, as Master Skywalker says in the film.
I think that, like every great religious or philosophical text, there are going to be those who don't like what The Last Jedi has to say to them. There are going to be those who prefer the fictitious dichotomy between light and darkness, good and evil, and will militantly protect and advance their points of view, much like the Jedi and the Sith. Such do not understand the great truth which the Force is trying to teach: light and darkness, good and evil, are dependent on each individual's own point of view. Another, similar truth was expressed by Rose in this film, "That's how we are going to win this, not by destroying what we hate, but by saving those we love."
[There are, whether by brilliant deduction on my part, or most likely by sheer coincidence, a couple of things in this movie that share similarities with my own fan fiction stories involving the Jedi. The first is Luke coming to the conclusion that the Jedi must end. This is the same conclusion I had Yoda come to in my story, "Star Trek: Enterprise - The Last Jedi", written prior to the release of "The Force Awakens". The second was the ability of a force ghost to manipulate the physical world in an almost deity like way. Here as in the movie, I had Yoda as an ascended being summon a massive storm to bring lightning to destroy certain targets on a planet's surface. It's Lucasfilm's and Disney's property to begin with so they can do what they want. I was just stoked I wasn't completely off base.]
