well... (Off-Topic)

by EffortlessFury , Sunday, December 04, 2022, 04:13 (510 days ago) @ Kermit

All the best, man. [Insert a Yoda-ism here.] Seriously, reach out if you want access to some old ears (not quite as big as Yoda's, but getting there). Sometimes that helps.

The offer is appreciated.

My suspicion is that the writers were too lazy to fill in that background, they prioritized subverting expectations as a good in itself, and they felt that Luke's struggle hadn't been presented with sufficient complexity before, but that now, as superior 21st century denizens, the audience could finally handle moral relativism and understand that there was actually no difference between the Empire and the Republic, because their guns came from the same place. These are the kind of epiphanies that, in the haze of a late-night dorm room, seem like the height of sophistication (but aren't).

I don't know if I'd agree about the laziness, that may be your distaste/bias speaking. I don't think there's enough information to confidentially determine that "subversion for the sake of it" was so driving a force that it explains all shortcomings and led to ignoring the substance necessary to achieve that goal. In fact, I rarely believe anything that goes wrong in creative endeavors is the result of laziness, but that's a separate conversation.

I also never took away the idea that the Empire and Rebels were the ones being lambasted. When you're fighting for your ideals, you need resources. The problem is that the resource providers are all corrupt scum who profit from the existence of conflict and are so egregious in their profit that they either A. don't care who they arm and are willing to arm both simultaneously, or more maliciously (and likely), B. they actively arm both to ensure the conflict continues as does the money flow. Remember, as weird as the departure to Canto Bight was in execution, what it highlighted was the war profiteers who lived lavish lives insulated from the conflict that financed their lifestyle; that there wasn't just an obvious big bad to fight but hidden forces who don't even want to see a resolution come to fruition.

Where they may have wanted to go with that plot thread, if anywhere, we may never know. It is, however, a worthwhile observation to make, irrespective of their choice to observe it here, in this film, in this way. But I never once believed a remark was being made about the forces that were themselves in conflict. It was, in short, about highlighting the war profiteers.