Broom Kid said:
I’d say he probably makes a bunch of little ones on the way to that big one, much like many relationships don’t fail because of the one big act-out, but the tiny trail of screw-ups that led to it.
Sure, but it is the story, that has to sell this to the viewer. If these little mistakes are important in understanding Luke’s state of mind, when he enters Ben’s room, then show this to the viewer. It’s not the viewers responsibility to make sense of it all. It’s too easy to say, this story is not about Luke, but about the new generation, because it quite obviously is about Luke, and his redemption, only a few chapters have been ripped out of the book, that deal with his failure, and we are only there to witness the consequences.
And by the end of the movie, Luke comes around. But many of his fans can’t. They’re still focused on the failure, and the unfairness of it having happened AT ALL, and that focus prevents them from going on Luke’s journey. The whole thing is forgone because it’s flat out illegitimate, to them. In a way, they never got off Ahch-To island. Their resentment and disgust with Luke is keeping them there, just like it kept HIM there. It prevents them from joining him as he projects his way to Crait for the most impressive single act of Force mastery in all the films.
The problem is not, that the disgust is keeping “them” there, the problem is, that the story wasn’t able to provide the proper motivations for getting on that island with Luke in the first place. “They” are still with Luke on the Death Star, when he fulfills his destiny, and becomes a Jedi. It is the writer’s responsibility to write a story that compels “them” to understand Luke’s point of view, that makes “them” understand, that despite all he has learned, and experienced, this situation was so distressful, and extreme, that even “they”, if they were Jedi, would be tempted to just cut the boy in half. “They” should be made to understand Luke’s decision to run, and hide, rather than fix the problem, he helped create. Evidently, the writer wasn’t completely up to the task, considering the controversy surrounding this part of the story. It’s very difficult to laugh at the punchline of a joke, if you don’t buy the setup.
The Last Jedi is a great empathy test, honestly. It asks the audience how willing they are to forgive people, to look for the good in people despite their biggest flaws. Can you recognize the potential in people, greater and lesser, accomplished and inexeprienced? Can you give part of yourself to those people despite all that, because you know there’s more to them than their failings? It’s not really a bad thing if you can’t do it for all the characters, either. Or that you’re willing to offer more of that empathy and sympathy to Poe, or Rose, than you are to Kylo, or Luke. But the movie takes great care to explain why these people are all acting like this, even if you don’t agree with the actions themselves.
It’s one of the more stubborn contradictions in the myriad responses to The Last Jedi that the people least willing to go where the film wants to go are fans of the man who best embodies the full emotional/mythological journey the film takes.
As stated above, I disagree with the notion, that the movie takes great care to explain why these people are all acting like this. We have no idea, why Ben Solo would be tempted by the dark side in the first place. The boy was raised by two loving parents, and he had the great Luke Skywalker there to mentor him. What happened? We have no idea, why Luke would be so afraid of a Force vision, that he would draw his weapon on his own blood. What caused him to be in this state of mind? We have no idea, why Luke would consider leaving two dark side users to wreak havoc on the galaxy a solution to his predicament. Not only did he abandon Ben, he also abandoned the other students, that Ben took with him, and left them at the mercy of Snoke. Why? This is the same guy, that came back after learning his entire life was a lie, and his father was space Hitler, the same father that mutilated him, and cut off his hand. This was not the first major crisis he faced, and it never caused him to flee to an island to die. So what changed?