The Last
Jedi is creating waves – critics loved it, but fans are more divided
than ever (note major spoiler alerts ahead). People have queued up to criticise
the plot holes – Snoke’s early demise after so much hype; the seemingly pointless
casino side-story; the strange morphing of Luke from perhaps the only male hero
of the series to a crazy, spoilt fool, the poor humour, and so on (see a
summary of fans’
biggest complaints). But I think the real reasons run deeper
than all of this.
Most mainstream films comprise certain key threads,
such as a world cloaked in meaning and purpose within a bigger story of good vs
evil, or a hero who saves the day. If you are a Christian you might note that
the narrative arc of so many films mirrors that which we see in the Christian
worldview - the most epic Story of all, of creation, fall and redemption
through Jesus Christ.
Christian or not, all of us have a worldview - a set of beliefs and assumptions that we use when interpreting the world around us. And it is when these fundamental assumptions come into conflict, or are exposed as inconsistent, that things get interesting.
Here are three worldview themes that The
Last Jedi has tampered with, and why they might affect how many have
received this film.
1. History
Kylo Ren to Rey: ‘Let the past
die; kill it if you have to. That’s the only way to become who you were meant
to be’ and ‘We are weak when we need
others, when we search for meaning in others…’
Yoda to Luke: ‘…look past a pile
of old books…read them have you?...Wisdom they held, but nothing that girl Rey
already possesses…’
A pervasive theme in The Last Jedi is that the past doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter
who Rey’s parents were; it doesn’t matter what Luke did in the past; it doesn’t
matter if the ancient Jedi texts are destroyed.
Why?
Because the past can restrict you. If the Force is
only for the Jedi, then ‘ordinary mortals’ won’t grasp that they too can
harness its power. If we are constrained by our genes, our biology, then we
won’t live out our potential to grow beyond the shackles of the past.
Director Rian Johnson has ingeniously tapped into a
central doctrine of our culture – that we are defined by what is inside us. Not
by our lineage. Not by our ‘externally imposed’ gender identity. Not by
oppressive religious structures or ancient texts.
And yet, deep down, there is a conflict at the
heart of Star Wars. The build up to the back-story of Rey and of Snoke from The Force Awakens were cast aside with a
few brandishes of a lightsaber. The tension in the cast (and now among fans)
seems palpable. But why this tension? Because it mirrors our reality. Deep down
we know that history does matter. Where we have come from is important. The Last Jedi goes against the Star Wars
grain here. A pre-episode VIII Christianity Today article, commenting on how
Lucas started with Episode IV rather than I, sums it up:
‘By dropping us into the middle of the action from the start,
Lucas made us feel like more must be out there somewhere, languishing in some
back closet, the untold story that might have something to do with us…There is
something deeply religious about this tradition, this recovering of
history—something we tend to forget, but that’s buried in our subconscious.
It seems to me that we live in a world more alive to
religious questions than it has been in decades—but also one more stripped of
historical memory. I wonder, perhaps, if the Star Wars saga, dropping us
into the center of the story and then stringing the story along for decades in
both our universe and theirs, reinvigorates in us the deeply religious need for
a sense of belonging: not just to a group of the living, but to those who’ve
come before us, and will come after.’
2. Purpose
Kylo Ren to Rey – “You come from
nothing…you have no place in this story…you are nothing. But not to me!”
The Last Jedi powerfully portrays
how mere mortals can be the heroes. Rey’s parents are lowly junk scavengers.
But it doesn’t matter - she can be special. She needs to learn to control and
then reach out with her feelings to be all she wants to be.
This is again the wisdom of our age – you can do it! You have the power
– in your home, phone, or even in your head. There is no such thing as an
anointed hero. Just search for the hero inside yourself.
But again, there is tension here, and by the end even The Last Jedi
can’t get away from the fact that perhaps Rey is a bit special after all, and
that we long for heroes like her who will save the rest of us.
But why? Could it be because we are so rooted in a bigger story as
outlined by the Christian worldview? A worldview that says we are somebody - created perfect, but
disfigured and misguided. We have become, like Rey, as ‘nothing’ – nothing that
would commend us as being worthy of special attention. But we have been called
to a special purpose. Like Rey, we haven’t asked for this. But unlike Rey, our
purpose isn’t contingent on what we DO, rather than what Jesus has DONE for us.
3. Reality
In Revenge of the Sith, one character says, "Only SIths (dark Jedi) deal in absolutes."
In Return of the
Jedi, Obi-Wan states,
“Many of the truths we cling to depend on our point of view.” Prior to
this, he justifies a lie by stating,
“What I told you was true, from a certain point of view.”
If the Force is all one, permeating
everything, then there is no room for actual evil or actual good. Good and evil
are part of the same whole, which means that ethics simply degenerate to
relativism –no truth is absolute.
What is interesting is not that this worldview
persists in The Last Jedi – it most
certainly does – but that the reaction to it seems to be stronger, as if the
tension between the two worldviews is at breaking point.
Whilst on board with Finn and Rose, Benicio del
Toro’s character DJ explains why he deals with both The Resistance and The
First Order - ‘Live free. Don’t join’
he says (and, being consistent, promptly betrays them when the price is right).
He further justifies how arms dealers sold to ‘the bad guys and the good guys’, saying that good and evil are ‘made up words’.
It is perhaps the backdrop on which this is painted
- the odious inhabitants and casino-lovers of Cantonica – which makes this most
jarring. How can you stare such inequality and greed in the eye and say that
good and evil are made up words?
The Last Jedi seems to be attempting to reject this
Christian worldview. And yet it can’t avoid it, because the franchise’s entire premise
rests on the reality of good and evil being real. We root for the oppressed
victims - the Resistance fighters – longing for them to triumph over ‘dark side’.
We urge Kylo Ren to ‘turn’ from dark to light. From evil to good.
Why does our knowledge of good and evil resonate so
deeply within us? Why do we know deep down that DJ is wrong? Could it be
because we are made in the image of a transcendent God who is the author of all
things good? In a world where truth is relativized, it is in Jesus that we find
the reality we are true wired for.
Lessons from The Matrix
Of course, we see other Christian worldview concepts throughout Star Wars. Self-sacrifice. Hope. The oppressed obtaining final (but as-yet-unseen) vindication against the wicked oppressors.
Even more so, these concepts are nonsensical in the worldview framework
offered by pantheism or Buddhism or Western Secular Individualism.
Why sacrifice yourself?
How do we even define ‘good’ and why should we want to fight for it?
If all is in ‘balance’, then will evil ever be destroyed?
The reaction to The Last Jedi
vividly shows what happens when you play with what is so written on our hearts.
We should take a warning from The Matrix trilogy which lost the fulcrum of the
‘chosen Saviour’. Instead it embraced a secular/pantheistic hybrid, with a
rapidly deteriorating trilogy ending in real disappointment for so many (I
still remember how I felt leaving the cinema after watching Revolutions).
Our place in the Story
As we watch films, we are often being invited to see our place in the
story. Are we a world-wearied Luke, or on a journey of self-discovery like Rey?
When we find ourselves pondering our place in the story of our lives, perhaps
we might echo Rey’s statement when in the cave on Ahch-To: “I need someone to show
me my place in all this.”
The gospel tells us that God came to do this very thing. He didn’t
write a message about himself in the sky, give individual trances about himself
or send down a book of wisdom. He himself came. Jesus walked on this earth so
that humans can know God come to be with us. He died a gruesome death by
crucifixion, but three days later he physically rose again. And now he says – “I
stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I
will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
The Christian worldview gives a consistent, comprehensive and
satisfying explanation of where we came from, who we are, and what our place is
in this world… But are we shaped and moulded by that worldview? Do we
uncritically accept the worldviews presented in what we watch, listen to and
think about? As we embrace Star Wars for its incredible story, let’s be
prepared to identify and discuss what’s going on beneath the surface, because
it might shape our reaction more than we realise.
Perhaps by playing with the formula, The Last Jedi has given us a helping hand in that direction.
Some articles which are excellent on Star Wars and Worldview:
Photo Credit J D Hancock (Flickr)
