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Millennials Strike Back: An Esoteric Reading of the Last Jedi

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11–20 of 77 posts

Re: Millennials Strike Back: An Esoteric Reading of the Last Jedi

#11

I'll assume spoilers are fair game here, since this article is pretty much a spoiler in its entirety. The authors take many liberties in interpretation to fit their viewpoint. For instance, Luke didn't "hallucinate" Yoda's presence on Ahch-To, unless you think his previous force ghosts (as in ROTJ) were hallucinations, as well. Perhaps Rian did mean for Yoda's force ghost in this scene to be a hallucination, but I do…

Yes, it's a silly interpretation. Especially inconsistent since if Yoda is Luke's hallucination as the article asserts, then Luke himself is "killing the past" in the same way that Kylo Ren does, and treating the film as a Millennial attack on the Baby Boomers is rather short-sighted when they are both doing the same thing. As far as I can see, the only thing approaching a coherent theme in TLJ is the question of how…

Note what Yoda says before he destroys the tree: "There's nothing in those books she does not already possess."

And then remember the final scene on the Falcon, where you can clearly see that the books are safely with Rey. She must have taken them before she left, and Yoda knows this.

In that period of time, though, the audience (and Luke) is left to believe that Yoda truly did choose to destroy ancient Jedi artifacts. Which really makes one wonder what the heck is going on—and leaves you to question which side is good, and which is bad? It really blurs the lines between Light and Dark, and crescendos at the throne room scene where Snoke is murdered to when Kylo asks Rey to join him. You almost want her to say yes to his offer! Unlike ESB, the offer isn't just theoretical. Snoke was just overthrown.

In my opinion, the whole sequence was masterfully done.

Re: Millennials Strike Back: An Esoteric Reading of the Last Jedi

#12
There is some overfitting happening here but generally speaking I agree with the analysis. People I interact with from my own generation and younger can see that our established institutions may have failed to secure the near future for existing and arriving generations, and they are permanently shunning those institutions wherever possible.

You can see this in IT as well where we have myriad foundational problems at the levels of W3C, ICANN, MITRE, NIST and other standards/governing bodies. Cynicism spreads about whether they are sincere about delivering their core missions; meanwhile a "move fast and break things"/disruption culture thrives.

Re: Millennials Strike Back: An Esoteric Reading of the Last Jedi

#15
Please note: I think this piece is satiric. Please see the end note:

Caleb Cohoe is associate professor of philosophy at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Samantha Cohoe is a Latin teacher, writer of young adult fiction, and frequent contributor to twitter.com. The views expressed in this article are not endorsed by and do not in any way represent the opinions of their employers or Leo Strauss. They should also not be taken to express the views of the authors.

Re: Millennials Strike Back: An Esoteric Reading of the Last Jedi

#16
post #4

I hope the authors were being tongue in cheek. I saw it as the younger generation not learning and repeating the mistakes of the past. The first order being like neo-nazis to the empires nazis. The republic failing and the rise of trade federation again. Very cyclical and nihilistic.

From the end of the article:

Caleb Cohoe is associate professor of philosophy at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Samantha Cohoe is a Latin teacher, writer of young adult fiction, and frequent contributor to twitter.com. The views expressed in this article are not endorsed by and do not in any way represent the opinions of their employers or Leo Strauss. They should also not be taken to express the views of the authors.

Re: Millennials Strike Back: An Esoteric Reading of the Last Jedi

#17

I'll assume spoilers are fair game here, since this article is pretty much a spoiler in its entirety. The authors take many liberties in interpretation to fit their viewpoint. For instance, Luke didn't "hallucinate" Yoda's presence on Ahch-To, unless you think his previous force ghosts (as in ROTJ) were hallucinations, as well. Perhaps Rian did mean for Yoda's force ghost in this scene to be a hallucination, but I do…

Yes, it's a silly interpretation. Especially inconsistent since if Yoda is Luke's hallucination as the article asserts, then Luke himself is "killing the past" in the same way that Kylo Ren does, and treating the film as a Millennial attack on the Baby Boomers is rather short-sighted when they are both doing the same thing. As far as I can see, the only thing approaching a coherent theme in TLJ is the question of how…

> ... the only thing approaching a coherent theme in TLJ is the question of how one can move forward if encumbered by the past...

I thought they were rather explicit about the "learning from mistakes" theme.

Re: Millennials Strike Back: An Esoteric Reading of the Last Jedi

#18
post #9

I'll assume spoilers are fair game here, since this article is pretty much a spoiler in its entirety. The authors take many liberties in interpretation to fit their viewpoint. For instance, Luke didn't "hallucinate" Yoda's presence on Ahch-To, unless you think his previous force ghosts (as in ROTJ) were hallucinations, as well. Perhaps Rian did mean for Yoda's force ghost in this scene to be a hallucination, but I do…

You said they take many liberties, but you only mention one. I agree with the one you mentioned, but I couldn't really find other issues. What are the other liberties?

Granted. Lots of opinions stated as fact, or just wrong. Here are a few:

> The original Star Wars films (Episodes IV-VI) celebrated the revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s

> Leia’s use of the Force to return, zombie-like, to a position of leadership and oversee further disasters is another instance of boomers’ misusing their privileges to cling to their hegemony as long as they can.

> Note that in none of the eight movies so far is the intensive and painful Jedi training regimen followed through.

> The film’s meta-commentary is that the revolutions of 1968 and following accomplished nothing.

UPDATE: The entire piece is definitely satire, which explains why the opinions expressed within it are so silly. :)

Re: Millennials Strike Back: An Esoteric Reading of the Last Jedi

#19

I'll assume spoilers are fair game here, since this article is pretty much a spoiler in its entirety. The authors take many liberties in interpretation to fit their viewpoint. For instance, Luke didn't "hallucinate" Yoda's presence on Ahch-To, unless you think his previous force ghosts (as in ROTJ) were hallucinations, as well. Perhaps Rian did mean for Yoda's force ghost in this scene to be a hallucination, but I do…

It went off the rails a little at the end (when it talks about Rey & Finn, then the bit you mentioned).

But most of the points it makes are before then anyhow, and I can't find anything wrong with it before then.

Re: Millennials Strike Back: An Esoteric Reading of the Last Jedi

#20
post #4

I hope the authors were being tongue in cheek. I saw it as the younger generation not learning and repeating the mistakes of the past. The first order being like neo-nazis to the empires nazis. The republic failing and the rise of trade federation again. Very cyclical and nihilistic.

I mean... it can be both. I don't see that as being incompatible with what the author is saying.
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