This is a repost of a thread I posted a day or two ago. It was down voted like crazy almost immediately, before anyone even had time to read the whole thing. I felt like people were taking their frustrations with the film out on posts which spoke positively of TLJ. This made me sad because I feel as though some of my thoughts may help some people view Luke's portrayal in a better light. I apologize if I'm wrong about this and people sincerely just didn't like what I had to say.So I waited to see what people thought of the movie before going to see it. After hearing that there were so many people who hated it, I was even more curious. Finally I saw it and I must be honest, I thought it was great.Let me be clear, there's plenty of problems with the film. It's certainly not perfect. But I personally feel like a lot of elements went right over people's heads. Especially when it comes to Luke Skywalker. I'd like to discuss some of them now.Keep in mind, this is purely my interpretation of things. No one's opinion is necessarily right or wrong here.So the first one I'd like to discuss is maybe the biggest one. People seem to be really unhappy with how Luke was handled in the film. I'll admit, I was really torn about this at first, but after examining things a little more I've come to absolutely love Luke in this film. So the key points I've seen are as follows:a.Why was Luke a weak, scared old man and not a valiant hero?This seemed strange to me at first. It wasn't until the end of the film that it made sense to me. Luke has been through a lot. Everything from losing Ben, losing his father, and feeling responsible for pushing his own nephew further to the dark side. In my opinion, he had plenty of good reasons to run from everything. More about this below.b.Why didn't Luke just leave the island and actually fight Kylo?Simple one here, because he couldn't. We're shown a shot in the film, that while short, answers this for us. We see Luke's classic X-Wing submerged off the coast of the island. This was no mistake. Luke exiled himself to the island. He submerged his ship on purpose to keep himself from leaving. That thing has been submerged in saltwater for who knows how many years. Chances are it just would fly anymore. Wouldn't be much of an EXILE if he could just leave when things got rough.c.Why would Luke try to kill Kylo in his sleep? That seems out of character.Now here's the real kicker. This one really bothered me at first. It wasn't until my second viewing that I understood it. During the scene where Rey and Luke smack each other with sticks and she demands he tell the truth, he says this:"I saw darkness. I'd sensed it building in him. I'd seen it in moments during his training. But then I looked inside...and it was beyond what I ever imagined. Snoke had already turned his heart. He would bring destruction and pain and death and the end of everything I loved because of what he will become...and for the briefest moment of pure instinct I thought I could stop it. It passed like a fleeting shadow, and I was left with shame...and with consequence. And the last thing I saw were the eyes of a frightened boy who's master had failed him".Now we're talking about Luke Skywalker here. This man has seen a lot of darkness. His own father was Darth Vader himself, whom he was able to turn back to the light in his final moments. He stood in Darth Sidious' presence, he felt his force lightning. So when this man says that what he saw was beyond what he ever imagined, that must be some serious darkness man. Luke wasn't afraid to stand up to Vader. Luke wasn't afraid to stand up to Sidious. But whatever he saw in Kylo scared him bad enough to abandon everything and jump ship. That's intense.For those that say it was out of character, I say this: Luke has always been portrayed as torn between the dark and the light. He was only able to defeat Vader by tapping into his hate. He's always struggled with the balance. So to hear that for "the briefest moment of pure instinct" he felt the need to use that darkness again, does not surprise me at all. In fact, even in the face of such darkness it still only took Luke a brief moment to push that dark thought aside with the hope that he could cure Kylo. That sounds like classic Luke Skywalker to me. Always wanting to do the impossible and turn even the most corrupted back to the light.So having said all this, let's discuss Luke's demise. He didn't leave the island and fight Kylo in person because he couldn't, he was stranded. So what he chose to do instead was astral project himself to the battle instead. Luke has been so terrified of Kylo for so many years now, yet in this moment he finally decides to face him in the only way he could. All to allow his sister and the rebellion to escape. Sounds pretty heroic to me.During the battle, we're shown Luke in his body on the island. Meditating so vigorously his entire body is shaking and floating like a foot off of the rock he was sitting on. Whatever he's doing obviously takes a tremendous toll on the body.After the battle we see Luke struggling to even hold his own weight up. He crawls back onto the rock, he stares into the twin suns, obviously a call back to a similar moment in A New Hope, then his body disappears and his robes fall to the ground. Luke did not merely "kill himself", he sacrificed himself to save his sister. He did the only thing he could do, knowing full well it would destroy him, knowing full well just how terrifying Kylo had become, all to save his sister and preserve the rebellion. That's EXACTLY how I wanted Luke to go out. Like the hero he was deep down. He made mistakes along the way, but Luke's heart was always in the right place.So my presumption at this point is that his astral projection trick was so powerful that it caused him to become one with the force. Just like Obi-Wan, Vader, and Yoda. I expect that we'll get more info on this in episode IX.So there it is. I really love Luke in this film. Personally, my biggest issue with the film is Snoke. Who the hell was he? Is he dead for good or will he return? Seriously, who the hell is Snoke!?I completely understand if people still hate Luke's portrayal in this film. We all have different visions for these characters. I suppose I count myself lucky that this film happened to have fit my vision of Luke pretty perfectly. Even if it took me a little while to see it. via /r/StarWars http://ift.tt/2C4LKB2
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