cyclista said:
I’d say Rowling definitely intends that the Good side is the right one, whereas Lucasfilm seems conflicted
This is a thing that I’m tired of. The prequels should have taken a noble man, Anakin Skywalker, and given him some kind of hamartia, and allowed that to lead to his downfall and ultimate turn to the dark side of the force.
Instead, we got one pointless movie about a kid, and then two movies about a whiny teenager who was already rotten to the core, that attempted to construct an alternate reality, one that absolved the bad guy from any responsibility of his actions. The underlying message was, frankly, disgusting.
This is the subtext of the Star Wars “Saga”, the one the prequel fanboys follow Episodes 1-6:
“It’s OK if you make mistakes and do bad things. It’s not your fault, it was someone else who made you do the evil things you did, like the Emperor. This is your story Anakin. We’re all here for you and we all love you and blah blah blah …”
This is like the parent who raises the spawn of the devil because they never hold their child accountable. Everything is an excuse. Someone else’s fault. Their baby makes only small mistakes in life, and nothing big is ever their fault.
Now, go back to 1977. Think of how bleak films of the late 60’s and 70’s were. Think of how fresh the original Star Wars was, because it gave us the good guys who were genuinely good and struggling against the forces of evil and they won. It was unambiguous. It was full of hope. Then think of Empire, how even though the film was so much richer and deeper, it was still, at its core, unambiguous good versus unambiguous evil.
Over time, George Lucas’s story turned into something else that betrayed the heart of those first two films we all know and love. We wound up with a new universe, one that I frankly don’t care for in Star Wars. It was the single biggest thing wrong with the design of the prequels (not the execution). And if we see any more emo bitchy adolescent angst from the likes of Kylo in this new trilogy, I’m going to be really pissed off about it. I loved the dude when he had his mask on, because he was coming across as a pure bad-ass. I don’t need that villain to take off his mask and show me his tender heart, how he’s really a good guy deep down inside and we all need to turn him back to the good side. Fuck that guy. I want Rey to defeat him. I want to see him punished for all the evil things he’s done. This isn’t General Hospital. I want to see the good guys win and the bad guys lose. That is Star Wars to me.