The Awokening

One of the most lauded movies of 2018 was BLACK PANTHER. It even won a couple of Oscars. I liked it quite a bit and it deserved its accolades. There were those who said it should have won Best Picture, and that’s where I have to disagree. Because, as much as I enjoyed BLACK PANTHER, not only was it not the best movie of the year, it wasn’t even the best SUPERHERO movie of the year. I don’t say this because (as the Narrative would have it) I’m a white supremacist, I say it because in my opinion, AQUAMAN, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR and INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE were objectively better movies. Your mileage may vary, but don’t dismiss me by crying racism. Let’s have a rational conversation.

The LAST JEDI has stirred up a lot of controversy. Its critics have been dismissed as neck-bearded misogynists and racists who don’t like female or brown heroes. No doubt, in some cases that’s true. But, by the same token, just because a movie has a female or minority lead, it’s not immune to analysis. My policy is always to, at least try, to judge these works on their merits. The current STAR WARS films are no exception. And frankly, I find them wanting.

The original STAR WARS trilogy is arguably the most beloved movie franchise in history. Why? I think the main reason is Luke Skywalker. Over the course of three movies, we get to know Luke. We see his tragedies and his triumphs. His failures and his successes. His defeats and his victories. As a result, we become emotionally invested, and grow to love the character.

With Rey, we’re robbed of that, because as Kathleen Kennedy put it, “The Force is female”. When we first meet her in The FORCE AWAKENS, Rey is living as a scavenger, in the desert on Jakka, a planet at the ass-end of nowhere. She stumbles upon the MILLENIUM FALCON, and despite have never set foot aboard her before, and no pilot training, Rey flies the FALCON like an expert, because the Force is female. Later, she’s captured by the First Order and needs to Jedi Mind Trick her way to freedom, and does so with ease, despite again, a complete lack of training, because the Force is female. In the third act, She not only holds her own in a duel with Kylo Ren, she fights him to a standstill, even though she’s never wielded a lightsaber before, because the Force is female.

In The LAST JEDI, they double down on this kind of thing, not only with Rey, but by having Leia survive an explosion, explosive decompression, and hard vacuum, all because the Force is female. Rey is good at EVERYTHING. Because she’s a woman, we never get to see her fail. As a result, we never get to see her pick herself up, and persevere. We never see her grow. So, here we are, two-thirds of the way through Rey’s trilogy, with no connection to her. We don’t like her or dislike her. We just don’t care. But, feminist ideology overrules good storytelling. The movies may be technically exciting and visually stunning, but they lack the emotional resonance of the originals. And without that emotional connection, They’ll always be soulless mediocrities. This was the exact same problem with the Prequel Trilogy. No one to care about. Plenty of whiz-bang, no humanity. Yawn.

Another major issue is Luke. In The LAST JEDI, he’s a cynical, frightened, hermit, who ultimately dies a useless death (Han’s death was also useless, but I digress). In his Trilogy, Luke Skywalker was defined by two qualities; hope, and faith. It was through these traits and the strength of his character that Luke was able to defeat Palpatine and Vader, and bring Anakin back into the light. Anakin may have delivered the denouement, but the victory was Luke’s. And yet, we’re expected to accept that this man, who redeemed Darth Vader, when faced with just the possibility that Ben Solo could go over to the Dark Side, The only response he can come up with is to kill Ben in his sleep? Fail.

CAPTAIN MARVEL suffers from a lot of the same problems as Rey’s Trilogy. The movie is a visual treat, with many fine moments. But, we never connect with Carol. The word I’ve seen most associated with this movie is “bland”. And that pretty well sums it up for me. CAPTAIN MARVEL goes through the motions and hits all the marks, but since Carol Danvers is as interesting as a fence post, who cares. 2017s WONDER WOMAN gave us a genuine growth arc. We saw Diana progress from pampered princess, to warrior, to woman, to hero. We liked her and cared about her. In every way, WONDER WOMAN is a superior effort to CAPTAIN MARVEL.

Something that’s become popular in recent years is changing a long established character’s sex or ethnicity. As a rule, my reaction is a shrug and an “Okay, cool”. There are two exceptions to this. James Bond and the Doctor. I’ve thought long and hard about why these two are bridges too far for me.

In the case of Bond, it’s because the backstory for the character is that he’s the son of British nobility, fighting for Queen and Country, and that makes him white. It could be argued, “Well, just change the backstory, then”. But then, HE WOULDN’T BE JAMES BOND ANYMORE. If you’re going to do that, then make up your own character, and make your audience care about him. Do your own heavy lifting, rather than relying on 50+ years of brand loyalty, just so you can show how Woke you are.

With the Doctor, the rainbow T-shirt speaks volumes. It’s such an obvious sop to the LGBTQAIP (silent E and Sometimes Y) community. It’s not just, “Oh, the Doctor’s a woman, now.” No, no, no…the Doctor is TRANS! AND xhe has a LESBIAN companion! On a children’s show, no less. We’re talking insomniac level of Wokeness, here.

Andrew Breitbart said that politics is downstream of the culture, and when he said it, he was correct. Now, however, politics IS the culture and the culture is politics. In our increasingly Balkanized society, where everything scored by victimization, there’s room and tolerance for every identity, except traditional American men. We’re bombarded on a daily basis with how toxic we are. How we’ve never really achieved anything. We stole all of it. We are responsible for all of the evil in the world. We need to be exterminated.

My friends, a young man of my acquaintance said “The sins of our ancestors died with them.” I found this to be a casual profundity. As long as we focus on our differences, and fail to see what unites us, the Oligarchs win. Don’t let THEM tell you what to think and who to hate. Be your own person. Watch the propaganda with a jaundiced eye. Think critically. THINK! Liberty is the yearning of every human heart. It’s yours for the taking. Decide the future.