What have you changed your mind about?

I attribute this mostly due to non-sequential chronology. If they had had all this mapped out when they first shot ANH, a lot of the gaps wouldn't have happened. There were just too many facets, too many new characters needing old back stories, and too much detailed fan scrutiny to avoid creating some logical gaps and realism problems.

 

I'd be interested to know what if Force Ghost Obi-Wan regrets the deceptive and manpulative approach he took with young Luke. We may well find out in Ep 8 if Luke appeals for his advice while encountering similar difficulties during his own mentorship to a possible new apprentice.

Obi Wan's journey is a very human arc and I'm still changing my mind about the character like you @FN-3263827. He seems to regret his decisions regarding Anakin then manages to find new mistakes when trying to train Anakin's son.

His inconsistencies could definitely be put down to plot holes and continuity error like
@Rayjefury suggests as well as hermit isolation. Like @JediMasterRobert I think his character arc still make sense. My fondness and respect for Obi-Wan in ANH was largely due to a lack of understanding of the Jedi way and my lack of critical ability as a kid. I now view most of his weaknesses as the natural result of the Order's arrogance and the many similarities between Sith and Jedi. (More similarities than differences IMO.)

I believe his character tries his best to reconcile the old failed "Order" his whole life was a part of with a new age and next generation of Force Users. And who better really to jettison the errors of past dogmatic tradition and reform a new discipline/practice than those like Yoda, Obi-Wan and Luke who have a strong awareness of dangers past due to personal tragedy (eg Yoda in latest Rebels episode).

 

True that!

 

Wow, I just realized something while reading your excellent post:

Obi-Wan, if he is still able to interact with Luke and have a sense of what's going on in the galaxy as of The Force Awakens, has yet another potential major failure he might feel partly or greatly responsible for:

his incomplete training of Luke, which might have...

• left Luke unprepared enough to successfully found/sustain his new Jedi academy
• and also set up Luke, indirectly, to eventually lose Ben to Snoke along with his other students.

Perhaps Anakin and Yoda were able to relieve Obi-Wan a bit in the afterlife and help him come to terms with what ultimately had to be.

The will of the Force, as Qui-Gon Jinn would have reminded us.

The Jedi were never meant to be all-powerful, anyway, so I'm sure Force spirit Obi-Wan would have recognized, in retrospect, the limits of his influence and abilities and eventually come to terms with the past.

But now there's this really sad present and ominous future to consider.

I wonder if Obi-Wan felt what happened in the Hosnian System the way he did when Alderaan shared a similar fate.

Poor Obi-Wan, having to contemplate such things eternally.



JediMasterRobert

 

For me, two things. First is the score. Originally I was a little disappointed at the apparent lack of really rousing, memorable themes, but then I started to listen to the soundtrack on it sown, and... I gotta say, John Williams is John WIlliams again. I particularly like Rey's theme and March of the Resistance

The second is Kylo Ren. For a while I wasn't really sure of what to make of him, and kind of wanted him to be a little more "badass". But then I realized who he wasHe's kind of this lost soul in this faimly where I'm not entirely sure he fit in, especially with a father who didn't really know how to connect with him. The only family member he really found any kinship with is unfortunately his dead grandfather on his mother's side. He's this emotinally vulnerable kid who despite (or maybe because of ) their best effortsjust got pushed further away, right into the hands of Snoke.

 

I've changed my mind about Maz Kanata's words to Rey. At first I thought she was psychic or omniscient and knew exactly who Rey's family was. Therefore, I thought she had basically told Rey "Your family is not coming back for you, but Luke still can", basically ruling out Luke as her father.

But now I think Maz has no reason to know who Rey is and she was simply giving her the advice any of us would offer: "Look, I have no idea what who you've been waiting for in Jakku, but whoever they are you need to move on. They are not coming back".

 

I never thought the new characters were related to the old universe. Never jumped in the Plagueis train. I think Snoke is just Snoke.

 

Snoke a and Leia know each other. I can't believe people are missing this. He refers to her on a first name basis in the novel. He can't be Plagueis.

 

I'm not that familiar with Plagueis' story, but hasn't he been dead for many years? Does his abilities involve resurrecting himself? Didn't JJ say there were no Sith Lords in this trilogy?

 

Obi-Wan is another thing I have changed my mind about...which is weird, since Obi-Wan isn't actually in TFA, of course (besides his voice). (In fact, I find I'm seeing a lot of the OT differently, now that TFA has given me a fresh lens through which to see it, with adult eyes.)

I used to hate that Obi-Wan lied to Luke about his father, and then his stupid line about points of view always infuriated me. It's the kind of patronizing thing adults say to kids all the time.

But now that I am actually an adult, and now that I've seen Ben Solo begin his own self-destruction down the Dark Side... I can see how scared Obi-Wan must have been when faced with explaining Luke's parents, and Luke's potential for the same evil. (When I was a kid, I never could have considered Obi-Wan and fear in the same sentence.) With those last excruciatingly painful scenes on Mustafar with Anakin playing in his mind's eye, memory of his own failure in training Anakin, and the thought of seeing this naïve, sweet kid with sooo much good potential go down that same road... Wow, poor Obi-Wan! I still don't agree with how he handled it, but I can completely sympathize with the reasons behind it.

 

I was initially disappointed with the film, and while I still have some issues with TFA, I have grown to have a fondness with the movie with time.

One thing that definitely didn't change though is the fact that I'm sick of people objectively claiming it's the worst movie ever made. I get if you simply don't like the film, but STOP saying it's horribly made! IT'S NOT!!! The best one has to be by Alex Jones, who claims it's the work of the Pentagon or some blast..

 

I was down on the score on my first viewing but bought the soundtrack and subsequent viewings have made me really love it now. It's a subtle score compared to the PT, and I think it accurately reflects Rey's character.

While I initially didn't know what to think of the ending with Luke being in the movie for 30 seconds, I now love it! Ranks up there with my all-time favorite SW moments.

 

> It's funny, I came away from my first viewings completely unimpressed that Rey's heritage was The Big Mystery that needed solving. I mean, I recognized that it was an unanswered question... but it wasn't until I started sifting through Cantina threads that I realized how big a deal this is to a lot of people. Haha..

> Yep, the score. Just had to hear it a few times.

> Heard rumors that someone in TFA would turn to the Dark side, and I was sure it would be Oscar Isaac's character. Just given his previous work, you know? He's very adept at playing 'dark' and 'complex' -- "Why else would they cast him?" I said.

Turns out, not only was he 100% Good Guy, but now I hope like hell that he is ALWAYS 100% Good Guy. I love Poe just as he is. More of that, please!

> Just talking expectations vs. actually seeing the movie... I had a hard time getting on board with the old OT characters returning. I was insistent that their story was over, and I was especially convinced that showing Han Solo as a 60-something with family drama was a mistake and we would all hate it. Haha...

But they pulled it off. Especially Grizzled Old Hermit Luke. I LOVE Grizzled Old Hermit Luke, with his robotic hand, having acheived the status of myth, becoming 'Master Luke' to a new Jedi apprentice. It's beyond perfect.