Thanks in large part to the Disney corporation, public domain is largely closed off. Much of blockbuster culture is either some franchise or inspired by source material prior to 1923. We’ve also seen a rise of fan culture, enabled by conventions and the internet, that seems to increasingly be a tail wagging the dog of cultural production. For anyone that did any reading, let alone writing, of fan fiction back in the day, especially in multi-author stories, much of this feels very familiar.
So turning to Star Wars, I’m more of a Trek guy. I’m not really a J.J. Abrams fan, though I do appreciate his aptitude with casting, visuals, and set pieces. I think Film Critic Hulk is correct in his critique of Abrams’ storytelling prowess (spoilers start halfway through), but story creation isn’t everything. If Force Awakens had been more of a straight retelling of Star Wars, with variant characters and worlds but many of the same beats, I think Abrams could have avoided many of his weaknesses. I don’t consider that a condemnation; the majority of plays I see have been previously produced or adapt longstanding material, although some of the fun is certainly seeing things that are less familiar or from other cultures.
However, in watching the Rise of the Skywalker, and thinking back to the Last Jedi, I was reminded by the way that fan fiction in shared universe could easily feel like a tug of war. Again, I’m not the first to point this out, but concepts from improv comedy, such as acceptance and reincorporation, are necessary, but not sufficient, to collaborative storytelling. Acceptance goes along with the phrases “yes and” or “yes but” where one performer takes a concept from another and builds on it or complicates it. It’s a trait that needs to be consciously trained and while not common in children, I’m not sure most adults are that much better at it either.
I do not think acceptance or reincorporation are incompatible with subversion or critique, which was the biggest strength of the Last Jedi, and still my favorite of the new trilogy. However, it does restrict your authorial discretion. For example, even a meaningful nod to the Knights of Ren would have come at the cost of some other element Rian Johnson cared more about. I think Johnson did a better job in Last Jedi’s strongest plotline, where Luke’s line “Why would I go to the most unfindable location in the galaxy if I wanted to help?” works as an example of “yes but” and while people are still arguing about it, that part of the film got the most buy-in. Furthermore, one advantage of acceptance and reincorporation is that it helps avoid contrivance by giving the story some set parameters. It’s generally easier to get audience buy in, particularly for plot outcomes and themes they disagree with, if they are built using materials they already accept.
A failure to reincorporate does get at a great critique Abigail Nussbaum notes in her review of The Rise of Skywalker (spoilers):
It's a particular shame because, waiting in the wings, there was a character and a plotline that could have cracked this entire trilogy wide open, made it something special and new and taken the franchise forward, and which instead was completely squandered and ignored. I am talking, of course, of the one new thing The Force Awakens brought to the franchise, the idea that stormtroopers are brainwashed child soldiers, and that some of them might choose to rebel. Abrams himself did very little with this idea once he'd introduced it, and Rian Johnson, though obliquely referencing Finn's past in a storyline that saw him embracing a global morality as well as a personal one, left the broader implications of stormtrooper rebellion untouched.
So turning to The Rise of Skywalker, I think it had many of the strengths and weaknesses of fanfiction and extended universe material. And spoiler warning from here on out.
I read the Timothy Zhan trilogy ages ago and greatly enjoyed it, and a cloned Emperor didn’t especially grate there. But here, I think the choice to bring the Emperor back and retcon Rey’s parentage was a complete rejection of the strengths of the Last Jedi that prevented the emergence of a much more interesting film, even if it had stuck to an uplifting and family film-friendly ending. Jenny Nicholson, who was far more disappointed with The Rise of Skywalker, had shown how it was possible months ago to accept both the Force Awakens and the Last Jedi while bringing the trilogy to a satisfying end.
[Future me will link here to her upcoming epic review once it’s out.]
Namely, have have Hux lead a coup against Kylo Ren early in the film and make the fascistic First Order itself, not any particular leader, the big bad. All of the flaws and weaknesses Hux has had from the start make him perfect for this role, deglamorizing evil but also stripping us of the illusion, the very damaging and ongoing illusion that Jason Dempsey writes about in Afghanistan, that we can just assassinate our way into defeating evil. If the coup can be inspired by Kylo Ren’s attempt to leave the past behind and forge something that he thinks is better, e.g. Napoleonic code or the like, all the better.
Likewise, I desperately wanted to see Lando convince the galaxy to show up. Like sure, he’s got his Cape of Charisma +6, but Abrams is going with the theme of “they win by convincing you that there’s more of them” but he skips over the core sequence of actually winning that support. Abrams and Daisey Ridley even set this up well with her small scale relating and recruiting to many of the people and droids she meets. This is made harder with Carrie Fisher’s passing, but I think there’s ways it could have been done with Lando being set up with ties and institution building she gave him, even if she wasn’t in a position to effectively call on them in the last film. Because, honestly, as someone that’s thrown political events where very few people came and political events where a lot of people came, it’s not just a matter of faith, it’s also about choices, coalition building, and effectively turning the mistakes and misdeeds of the other side against them. It isn’t even necessary to spoil the ending, just show a few of the asks.
So ultimately I went in with low expectations and had a good time. The visuals were impressive, I enjoyed the acting; in particular, the core trio and Driver played off each other well, even when their characters were making some deeply dubious decisions.
I’m probably now going to go off and see “The Report” by myself for more Adam Driver goodness, though if any friends in the area would like to catch it within the next few weeks or longer term on the small screen, please let me know.
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