The Force Belongs to Us: THE LAST JEDI’s Beautiful Refocusing of Star Wars

I think it's pretty clear that bloodline never mattered when you had individuals like Yoda and Mace Windu, who were some of the most powerful Jedi (and swordsmen) of their respective eras. Anakin, while a man of great renown in his prime, was ultimately bested by his master who was of no particular note when it came to lineage. He fell due to his deeds and his actions. The same goes for Luke. It seems like a theme and a point that was entirely contrived for this trilogy and I'd care more about it if anyone making this trilogy cared enough to develop Ben's relationship with Snoke or Luke during his years in training.

That's why Rey's kind of a ludicrous character for me. She doesn't really suffer in the course of her journey. She doesn't lose anything. Nothing makes me sympathize with her because she simply gains more and more power with no massive pitfalls along the way. Not to mention that all of this sentimentality proposed by The Last Jedi is made comically irrelevant by taking the Jedi texts she supposedly never needed to begin with.

 

Anyone can be a Force user, even someone that has no connection to the Skywalker family? Yeah, i know. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Yoda, Qui-Gon Jinn, Dooku and so on. This is nothing new whatsoever. Yes, there is a lot of focus on the Skywalkers but thats because this is called "The Skywalker saga". Pablo Hidalgo is a joke and that article was crappy.

 

Besides, focusing on a family in literature has been a fairly frequent choice due to it naturally focusing the narrative and increasing drama. It does not make the creator of the story itself a proponent of aristocracy.

 

I don't understand why some fans are tired of the Skywalker bloodline being so important in a story that is supposed to be about the Skywalker family. Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, JJ, etc have all said that the Episodic films is the story of the Skywalkers. Yes, Kylo is a major character but Rey is the main character and this trilogy is her story (evident in the fact she gets more screen time and the titles of both films is a direct reference to her). Rey and Kylo are not equally important characters in this story. That's why I have an issue with her being a random/unconnected person. Yes the force belongs to all of us as you and the article advocate, but we have the opportunity to look at those other stories about other people in the spinoff films.

Each trilogy is a third of the Skywalker story, obviously. I wouldn't look at the Harry Potter series and two thirds into it think "You know what, I'm tired of Harry and the Potter family story. There should be other people just as important and magical. Let's have a random person step up and be the hero of the last couple books." Haha, a silly example, but you get the point.

 

Part of my distaste is because of the current political climate where knowledge and aptitude are secondary to affiliation and bloodlines. But I also recognized that a large segment of the population doesn't have a nuclear family, and giving them a hero that may not be from a powerful family is endearing and an important story.

 

There is no theory of that kind.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 18, 2017, Original Post Date: Dec 18, 2017 ---

Another example is The Godfather-trilogy. Without the Corleone family it doesnt work.

 

Thank you. Thank you for pointing this out. I'm blind sided by the notion that "the force belongs to anyone" is somehow a new direction for star wars. Obi wan kenobi is NOBODY. In fact, compared to his peers, he's actually a force weakling, yet he's arguably the greatest jedi knight ever.

 

Hostility?

 

I think the extent to which the author believes fans think the Skywalkers are vital to the storyline existing is exaggerated in order to make his points seem valid. All the backlash behind Luke's character is because Luke himself is given the shaft. It's because his accomplishments and virtues are being trampled on, not because of some belief that the Skywalkers should be top dogs of the universe. Besides, they never have been in charge. They've been slaves to fate for the entirety of the saga. That is their tragedy. The entire point of the saga is practically a literary example of bloodline not helping you in any sense. All of this just seems to revolve around empty sentimentality. The problem is that Luke will always, at heart, be that boy from Tatooine. Sure, he may have felt bad for his father but you genuinely think that seeing the burnt corpses of his aunt and uncle aren't firmly seared into his mind forever? They were mere moisture farmers but they loved and cared for him. He still thinks of them as his father and mother in the nurturing sense. The kind that matters.

His background and origins is also what defines him from the rest of the prequel Jedi, Anakin included.

 

so some fans on these forums said that. That really has nothing to do with whats been in the movies. They wanted rey to be a skywalker, more power to them, but the films have NEVER been about "special bloodlines" are the only ones who can be jedi or force users or really powerful force users. As I've said before, the idea to make rey uber powerful as a way of saying "anybody can have the force" is kind of silly. Especially when you have a former stormtrooper that was teased as a jedi initially. Who is more unlikely to run around swinging a lightsaber? I'd say a storm trooper. I get it. Its hollywood and people have racial anxieties when it comes to seeing a black man wield power. So then cast chris evans as finn and lets cut the BS.

 

The problem is that Rey not being a Skywalker doesn't suddenly make the trilogy good just like her being a Skywalker wouldn't make the trilogy good either.

 

Rey didn't have to be related, but there needed to be an explanation as to why she's so powerful. You don't create a main character and make it so she can do everything. Thats totally unearned and boring. Luke skywalker struggled for over half of the OT before he started bodying fools at will. So the heir apparent to the skywalker legacy struggled more than the "nobody" character they created as the antithesis of "bloodline inheritance".

 

To be honest I don't get this article and others going around mentioning words like bloodlines, nobility, royalty, praising this movie as it had a refreshing message against this...
It does... only in some brief lines by Rose. There is nothing else in the movie that conveys this message and if it were, this is nothing new to Star Wars.
The Skywalkers were never some kind of Royalty or nobility, they were simply strong in the force, and so is Rey, she is exceptionally gifted.
The only bloodline that was ever important was the Skywalkers because of Anakin's extraordinary origins, every other single Jedi or Sith we know was just like Rey so what is the novelty?
I would understand if the story was about some ordinary jedi who through hard work and dedication achieved more than others more gifted but this is hardly the case at all, Rey is simply one of the most gifted jedi's we have seen and achieves everything with ease.

 

Well, Rey has, from the start, been a jedi knight in no need of training or guidance. Of course people try to explain this with different theorys. Some people has guessed that she is a descendant to Kenobi for example. My guess is that she is a Mary Sue.