I think disliking TLJ and not thinking its direction was worth taking is totally valid. Those against it and its Luke are only judging it in the context of their own personal perceptions of what the franchise has been to them and should continue being. There’s probably something to be said - positive or negative - about how Johnson opted to double down on a specific interpretation of the world, rather than keep it broad enough for everyone to appreciate.
No, that’s not quite right. We are judging it in context of what has come before. Meaning, what has already been developed over an entire trilogy concerning the character of Luke. Luke was “the new hope”. The whole point of the original trilogy was that good can overcome evil, primarily by taking the high ground, being patient, facing ones fears, sacrificing self, and ultimately by redemption. Against all advice and conventional wisdom, Luke persisted in his mission to save his father, and therefore destroy the Sith. He proved that he was right, and he succeeded, sacrificing himself in the process. (He didn’t actually end up dying, but he was willing to do that and nearly did). Same thing for running across the galaxy to save his friends.
But suddenly, with no real transition, here’s Luke abandoning his friends (and his own family!) when they’re struggling in a fighting retreat against the new bad guys, and on top of it he even tries to kill his own nephew, in his sleep, because he sensed darkness within him. Darkness…? Within a young Skywalker…? Say it ain’t so!
…um…Luke, have you completely forgotten everything you’ve done, seen, and learned…? Did Palpatine’s lighting assault actually fry your brain?
In no way does this make any sense at all, and goes against everything Lucas and company worked hard to develop in the entire OT. So yes, with respect, we’re stuck in our established perceptions of who Luke is and should be. Maybe, as I said, if there was some transition that shows us why Luke would veer so far off course (it won’t be sudden because radical changes like that are a process), then maybe it could be accepted. But as it is, it makes no sense at all. Even the Prequel Trilogy took three films to show a slow corruption of Anakin, and his ultimate fall.
So, there’s been a lot of discussion about this already, and I don’t want this thread to keep going in circles, so I’ll just link to posts I’ve made before about how I personally feel about it:
http://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1152347
http://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1152366
This is ok for me actually because DrDre just dropped our discussion after my last post, so it’d be nice to continue it with someone else.
Basically, the fact that he went through all of that - had that entire arc in the OT - is why it’s as big of a failure as it is. Anything less than Luke doing something against the ideals he spent so long developing would make the failure less pertinent. If you feel let down and disappointed in where Luke starts in this movie, to me, that’s the point. That’s how Luke feels about himself. After everything he’s been through… how could he? He then stops seeing himself as the hero he was. Maybe even as the friend, uncle, and brother that he was.