(A Lack of) Feminism is Ruining STAR WARS | Cult Popture

[@arfielding4495]

Thank you for making this video. It felt so heartening to see a man like yourself defending the importance of representation for women and POC. ♥ I agree that TROS is rife with storytelling issues. It absolutely decimates the beautiful thematic resonance of TLJ. But one thing that also stuck out to me is how little JJ and Chris Terrio seem to understand Rey as a character. What Rian said about the hardest thing for her to hear is that her parents is nobody underpins a bigger truth. Rey was abandoned and alone from an extremely young age. In order to survive, in order to hold fast to her goodness, she convinced herself that there was someone out there who loved her. In storytelling, this is often referred to as the lie the protagonist believes, and it's something to grow past, to overcome, necessary for a complete character arc. Rey's lie was that someone loved her, that someone who was going to come back and save her from her terrible life on Jakku. And the thing about Palpatine being her grandfather is that she doesn't even know the man. She has no reason to be defined by or challenged by that. It changes nothing about her character. The Palpatine reveal didn't challenge Rey's belief that her parents loved her. In fact, the movie goes out of its way to show that they loved her so much that they died for her, to keep her safe. It actually reinforces to her that she was loved, she was special (not even special necessarily in a power or legacy way, but special in the way that we are special to the people who love us). It renders Rey's growth as a character effectively null. It means she had no inner conflict to overcome. Not to mention the struggle against the dark side story has already been done before and is already emulated (far more effectively) by Kylo Ren/Ben Solo in these movies. Introducing this element into Rey's story not only doesn't fit her character arc, it invalidates the importance of Kylo's. It's a two for one failure of storytelling.

[@CultPopture]

Glad you agree, and I'm very humbled by your support. I try read all my comments and its ones like these which really validate me and my work hahaha.

[@arfielding4495]

@@CultPopture You're wonderful! Keep doing what you do xx

[@molberding5]

The most perfect description of the Sequels is an improv routine where JJ starts the scene but doesn’t know where to go with it, so Rian continues by saying that they’re going to the supermarket, but then JJ’s like “No we’re not”

[@keetlethe5th710]

And he gets paid shitton of money for doing improv.

[@nikkie_slaughter]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO. I found you on the Star Wars Defined list and immediately looked up your channel to see if you had done a TROS response video, so so so glad you did. I don't know how you identify but it is so healing for me to see someone who presents as male on here calling this shit out. The Last Jedi was truly a piece of art - it was the natural evolution of Star Wars, a legacy that has lived in my heart since I was a little kid watching it on Beta Max. I always had to identify with boys in other movies to feel like I could be brave or have an adventure, but the original trilogy at least gave me a badass Princess Leia who was an incredible strategist, strong, outspoken, and hot AF. I watched TLJ with tears in my eyes. I ran home and immediately told my friend about it and we went to see it again the next day. She had never watched a single Star Wars thing (movie, show, etc.) in her whole life and she LOVED it. We couldn't stop talking about it for weeks. TROS felt like a slap in my face, to both me and my friend (who still hasn't seen another Star Wars thing but we're watching the original trilogy tomorrow for Christmas!). We knew it wasn't going to be good, that it wasn't going to be TLJ, but weren't prepared for it to be so hurtful. As queer, female-presenting people who spend our free time fighting for equal rights, this movie all but screamed that we are not welcome here. This movie did what so many other movies did to me as someone who wasn't a boy - reminded me that the genres I love the most hate me and people who look like me. That in order to enjoy them, I have to leave all my identities at the door and be an empty vessel for men's fantasies, live through their eyes and their experiences. Rey, a complex and fascinating character in TLJ, became a weird amalgamation of Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker in TROS, denied her own story, her own legacy. Right from the beginning, they had her bickering with Poe, who is now just a reskinned Han Solo, and I felt dizzy from deja vu of the sexually tense fights between Han and Leia. She floated around the movie wherever the confusing, sloppy narrative pushed her only to end up more of a nobody than when she had no lineage. Disney and/or Abrams made it clear that this franchise is very much still pandering to the vocal, violent crowds of men who make the rest of us afraid to walk around at night or voice our opinions online. And in this political climate, when so many of us are under assault in every conceivable way. Sorry for the novel, this has been burning in my spirit for days. I've been waiting for my faves to come out with video responses and all have been weirdly silent (maybe on holiday?), so thank you for providing that validation and for speaking up about these issues. Also, obsessed with your accent, New Zealand accents have made me so happy ever since Flight of the Conchords came out :D

[@CultPopture]

Thank you so much for this comment my new friend. This might be the most affirming thing anyone has ever said about my work, and I'm really touched. I'm glad you like my videos, ideas and accent! Your description of how TROS made you feel is so enlightening and such an important perspective to be heard - which is why I kind of jumped to make this follow-up as I also hadn't seen anyone following up on ROTS from the perspective of how damaging it is, especially stacked up against how wonderful TLJ is. Thank you once again for reaching out - I hope you stick around

[@mokshavortice]

Nikkie Slaughter As a heterosexual sexual light skinned Latino male you deserve more than Star Wars create your own franchise and be happy... just don’t destroy ours and expect us to be happy

[@nikkie_slaughter]

@@mokshavortice Wow, this comment made me extremely sad.

[@mokshavortice]

Nikkie Slaughter I am sorry I made you sad it was not my purpose. My purpose is it show your community we ARE people to that has its own tastes, cares and wants. I support your community to be free and happy I just don’t support getting our community destroyed. I am sorry but it’s not all about you, thrive and be happy.

[@jackbishop3571]

I didn’t realise how much I actually loved The Last Jedi until I watched this film.

[@closeben]

Like 45x more likely that there was a scene where Finn tells Rey, but it was cut later on in the edit. It felt like there was a lot cut out of this film, as there were multiple weird story elements like this that felt like they were cut short.

[@bow1213]

This movie hurt my heart so much. It throwing away so much of what The Last Jedi established was beyond frustrating. I sat in the theater watching a 200 million dollar reddit fanfic honestly wondering why I hadn’t walked out. I’m about to be a first time parent to a little girl and I’m honestly unsure if I want to show her these movies when she’s older.

[@CultPopture]

Aw man that's so sad. This is so disappointing.

[@nikkie_slaughter]

"200 million dollar Reddit fanfic" is the p-e-r-f-e-c-t description for this offensive piece of steaming hot misogynistic garbage. Pure genius

[@lxcarr.3662]

What I'm going to do is show eps I-VIII (yeah, even the prequels), just go with my own headcannon for ep IX and hide from my children that it was ever made.

[@lxcarr.3662]

At least until there's a Riancannon or whatever

[@PauLtus_B]

It's like a Last Jedi hater would write a sequel trying to "fix" all the dumb problems they thought they have. It seriously addresses so many of the common dumb criticisms thrown at TLJ made by people who don't understand stories work and guess what? They still hate tRoS because of course they do even though it literally did the things they demanded because they don't actually know what they want.

[@maureec]

Dude you are so right about Zorri Bliss and Jannah being nothing more than glorified 'beards' for the boys. They definitely choked on the pressure from certain factions of the fandom at the cost of a compelling narrative. Thanks for the awesome content 😁👍

[@CultPopture]

Thanks for watching friend! Glad you enjoyed it :) hope you stick around.

[@hammer3885]

Man, this is so sad, I really liked what the last jedi was setting up, "JJ Abrams didn't know what he was doing" seems like the right description...

[@o...o4144]

IKR? Will Rey join Kylo? Will Kylo join Rey? How the balance will be restored? Poe will assume the Resistence leadership? Finn and Poe will be together? Finn and Rose will stay together? How the Resistence will find help? How Luke's sacrifice affected the galaxy? How Kylo will rule his new army? These are questions that matter. How Snoke knows to use the force and how he became the Supreme Leader isn't.

[@o...o4144]

Back in 2017, I discover that Rey is my favourite SW character. And I'm a man! (I'm not saying that you are not ment to like her character if you are a man) But I loved Rey beacause she was the perfect character for today's world. A person who are not special or important and decides to go out and prove that she can do something. Rey had a perfect character arch in TFA and TLJ. But now... she is just like Anakin and Luke. A special person by blood... Damm... I love you Rian. Your work will never be forgotten

[@ThePonderer]

Also, 100% on Hux. His handling was SO odd.

[@CultPopture]

So weird! What was the logic here?

[@matti.8465]

I wouldn't have cared if they had kept him the butt of the joke, it was a very funny one.

[@MegaCalypto]

I never understood why it was important for Rey to come from nowhere until you shared that quote. Because of the seeming ease of which she mastered every obstacle I always advocated that she should be a Skywalker. It made sense to the lore and the world, and her being from nowhere was such a slap in the face to me as an audience member as well as to the character that I couldn't get on board with it. Which I finally realise was kinda the point! There was places to go with that, like Broom Kid signified. We still could've had every ship from the galaxy converging for a final battle, but they would've been motivated by the message that any individual is strong enough to make a difference.

[@CultPopture]

Wow! Glad to have made a difference, this is a great comment for explaining why I love Rey Nobody so much. Thank you for watching, I'm glad you got something out of the video.

[@Browntable]

Seeing your Defined video and then seeing the movie, damn haha :(

[@CultPopture]

It's been a rough week

[@toukie]

About Finn being force sensitive, why wouldn't he want to say in front of Poe? He spent as much time with Poe as he did with Rey, isn't he just as much Finn's best friend??? The second thing I heard was that he knew Palpatine was Rey's grandfather. And again, if he KNEW that, if Rey's such his best friend and he saw her struggle with her identity, shouldn't he just take her aside and tell her? This is like in TFA when Maz refuses to say how she got Luke's lightsaber saying "This is a story for another time"... Well... no it's not. There wasn't another time. JJ tried to create mystery for the sake of creating mystery. Because, why else would he say AFTER the movie "OH, he was supposed to tell her he was force sensitive" ... then why didn't you just come out and say it... As for taking away everything TLJ set up, what made me mad was not that they took it away because I kind of knew that was going to happen but if you're going to take it away, don't spit on it. When Luke comes out of the fire and hands the light saber and say it deserves more respect, it was the same as in TFA , the first line is "This will begin to make things right", spitting on the prequels. And then, he basically "I was a coward" (Not in those words but that's what he meant). No, he WASN'T. Love TLJ or hate TLJ, Luke was NEVER a coward and cowardice was NEVER the driving force behind him going to that island. As for Lando, it was supposed to make us think that she's his long lost daughter. Because, once again, in a system with thousands of stars, in a war with hundreds of ships and hundreds of people they could've talked to, they sat next to one another and the first thing he asks is where she's from. Because, you know, the force. As for Rey being a nobody and the boy with the broom, when that happened, I turned to my friend and said "SEE? THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO VOTE!" because he would've voted 'for the little guy' but there was no way they could win the elections so he believes it doesn't do any good to vote because "nothing ever changes" and I keep telling him that dammit, if every single person who thinks like that went and voted, maybe this would change the tide. The little boy with the broom, in the stable, he has the power to change something. Rey Nobody has the power to change something. But no. Don't get me wrong, that part is not JJ's fault or , in a way , even Disney's fault. It's the butthurt fans who rallied and cried about how TLJ was not a good movie and how it didn't make any sense that Rey was a nobody. Like in a galaxy of billions of stars, thousands and thousands of planets, there are only 1 group of people that has jedi potential. Like , at the height of their power, Jedi didn't count in the tens of thousands. I read a rumor about how TROS is not the movie he wanted to make. Well, it was, but he wanted to cut it in two so he could actually say the whole story. And that whoever it was refused him on every front and edited the movie like this. And that we should eventually get "the real version". I don't know if it's true, and I hope it is.

[@toukie]

I had gone away to another video but realized I forgot to talk about my boy Ben. You said you didn't know if he had lied to Rey when he said he said he had never lied to her. I don't think he did. Because first of all, he didn't know about Palpatine. And if we go by this movie and the comics that came out since September, I believe, He was lied to again and again and again. Lied to, hidden stuff from, talked behind closed doors... People talk about Kylo as being a whiny brat who threw tamper tantrums when he didn't get what he wanted. No, Ben Solo was someone who thought the voice in his head, you know, his conscience, was making him do bad things. His supposed conscience, the voice in his head or what I call my demon on my shoulder, was Palpatine. I wrestle with my demon every day of my life. It puts thoughts into my head about how no one likes me, about how I'm nobody, I'm useless, How this person and that person hate me... well, you get the picture. And I just can't imagine the amount of PAIN and ANGUISH I would feel if, on top of that, I would know and HEAR people behind closed doors confirm exactly what my little demon tell me (Such as his parents were afraid of him etc). He was 10 or 13 when he was sent to Luke's. Abandoned by his parents because they were afraid of him. He was 23 and if I quote the last Jedi's novalisation, he was "No longer a boy, not yet a man" when his uncle stood over him while he slept. Ready to strike him down. This moment right there was the culmination and proof of everything his little demon had told him all of his life. That it didn't MATTER that he tried to be good. It didn't MATTER that he fought the dark side with all his might. People would still lie to him, would still abandon him and go as far as try to kill him. So, no, I don't believe for one second he lied to Rey. Because he KNOWS what it is to be in her shoes. And for all the evil he's done in the name of Snoke and the First Order, we don't see him do ONE thing for himself. And I believe he wouldn't hurt her just for the fun of it.

[@aidamou]

Man I so glad your saying all this cause I walked out of that the theatre thinking a lot of the same thing. I just don’t understand how they did so many silly mistakes 😰

[@CultPopture]

So depressing.

[@ryanratchford2530]

The last Jedi had really good themes, ideas & a naturally feeling diverse cast. It’s a shame when back tracking on everything they back tracked on those things to. (Just like how Force awakens back tracked on even the good parts of the prequels-no politics/worldbuilding or new ideas of themes or the force)

[@PauLtus_B]

I'd argue that the Last Jedi makes every single Star Wars movie that came before it better. It addresses the thematic core of the original trilogy and how it follows up to the sequel trilogy and manages to even get meaning out of TFA's vague fan-servicy story-telling. The Rise of Skywalker makes everything worse. Besides running backwards on TLJ's ideas and then doing some again but worse, the note it ends on is just "see you in a couple years when we can go through this cycle again!" I would've been fine if it was just bad and failed to build on the Last Jedi, but it's a cowardly piece of story-telling trying to appease the people its creators said they didn't care about and through that killing everything TLJ did and also just losing who ever was still on board with this story.

[@jr.marcondes2814]

Welcome to Vagicentrism Age!!!

[@vidkidloserface]

And then they just HAD to make Rey and Kylo kiss. Couldn't have Rey just do her thing without including a love interest. Not like the love of her friends is enough... Nah, she gotta get that dick. Love how this movie was so insistent on negating everything TLJ set up, except you need the bonds Rey and Kylo started to form in TLJ to even justify that kiss, because it's not like Rise spent any time establishing any emotions between them. I actually involuntarily said "yuck" in the theater when they kissed because it was so unnecessary and weird. And then I laughed a lot because immediately afterward Kylo just bites it then disappears like WHAT?! lol

[@CultPopture]

Everyone in every theatre has laughed at KISS/DEATH. What a colossal failure.

[@MacDarf]

Agree with Hux, Poe and Finn would've been somewhat strange with the whole Rose+Finn thing, I feel like the intended message with Rey was that "It doesn't matter if you're related to evil people, it just matters that you do good" but I agree it's stupid that he's a Palpatine, and I believe Rose wasn't in the movie purely because of fan backlash (I'm surprised she was in it at all. If I was bullied as much as she was, I would not have returned). I feel like this film was a knee jerk reaction to the TLJ backlash, and I hate how it went back on the messages of TLJ because, I agree, that film is perfect in its messaging. I unfortunately think ROS is fun and enjoyable while watching, but the more I think about it the more and more that film is problematic. And it's problematic solely because of Disney being scared to be new and different after TLJ backlash. This one isn't Disney's fault. It's the fault of the "fanboys" that still to this day bully Kelly Marie Tran, that still bully Rian Johnson, that still bully Ahmed Best, and bullied George Lucas so much that he sold his company only for those same people to wish he was still in control. Star Wars is safe to the communist Chinese purely because the fans won't let it be anything else.

[@Puffausten]

I agree with you :) for me I can't stand the awful Message of kylo rens and Rey's relationship. It's an awful trope in Hollywood. "An awful person only needs the love of a good woman to stop being horrid" the separation of kylo ren from "Ben solo" feels fake. It's still the same guy who followed Rey around and told her over and over who she should and shouldn't be. It's still the same guy who was part of the first order and did countless horrid things. But yeah let's reward that guy with kisses cause he had a change of heart. And yes that whole "bond" thing is there.. But to me it sends the wrong message to little boys and girls...that you can do just a few good things to counterbalance genocide...it's disappointing to me cause the last jedi attempted to buck Hollywood trends and shackles only for the next film to steep themselves in them...

[@Puffausten]

@Snehil Shrey the movies didn't make me interested enough in him to seek them out. Perhaps that narrows my opinion. But if you need external resources to make a character interesting and relatable then that's a failure of the movies...yup...he died... that's not my point here.. it's still rewarding a man who has been nothing but manipulative with romantic attention...that's my interpretation of his actions at least...and it's a trope that I personally don't like...but hey if you like the relationship and kylo fair enough :) I just didn't....both opinions are valid. Cause that's how art works... and I just wanted to show my support to a dude who is probably getting a lot of hate right now...also yeah the first order would have done stuff without him....but that's like saying the main villain of Schindler's list isn't a bad dude cause the Nazis would have existed without him...kylo was still a part of it...and he was the leader of them ...he wasn't a weak little grunt soldier...he was the leader....for me it's jarring when you consider real world parallels...but again if you find it redemptive and beautiful then awesome....I wanted to find that in this movie.....but I didn't.....perhaps for me his redemption felt rushed....but ah well...I've got the original trilogy....so it's all good :)

[@CultPopture]

You mentioned something I wish I had put in this video - and I'm gonna tweet about this at some point - KYLO REN AND BEN SOLO ARE THE SAME PERSON. He is not a possessed innocent, he doesn't have a burning duality/alter ego. They are the same person and that's why he's a complex character - but in TROS it's all about how he rids Kylo from his system like a bade case of the flu. He was pulled in by an ideology - and by making it just some demon he can exercise, it's not only way too simple/easy, but it also ignore the responsibility of the character. But HEY! I guess it's a lot easier to redeem a genocidal maniac when his evil deeds are just a sickness infecting his body. There's also no real world application here - do we just forgive neo-nazis or pardon war criminals of their crimes because they claim they removed their Mr. Hyde?

[@Puffausten]

@@CultPopture naaaawwwww :) thank you xxx I'm actually a new subscriber and normally comments kinda just sink in the quicksand of KZbin. Thank you for responding. Hope you have a merry Christmas :)

[@UnguessedGlory]

Thanks for expressing your take on it so plainly w/o resorting to the toxic crap so many others jumped to. I feel you. The last time I saw TROS, Janna gave me the same level of cringe as Jar Jar. It felt like tokenism. She might have been cool if we'd had time to care about her, but the whole flick was so rushed it seemed to me that they just threw her in in order to avoid dealing with choosing Finn+Rey or Finn+Poe or Finn+Rose, any of which would have made sense for Finn. And the emperor...*facepalm* I kept thinking, wouldn't it have been cooler if the Knights of Ren AND/OR Hux had been the surprising final villian(s)? And yeah, it should have finished with I'm Rey.....Rey Organa. At least the Kylo/Ben redemption arc got carried through whole seq. trilogy intact. I loved his rehash with the memory of Han. Overall I enjoy all nine flicks, (II and IX are cringy but still fun). But TLJ is my fave of the nine.

[@CultPopture]

Thanks for the comment, it sounds like we're on the same page for a lot of this hahahaha. I'm so drained on Star Wars right now, I'll be glad to not have to talk about it for a while.

[@micahkafka]

JJ Abrams doesn't know how to finish a story. He's only interested in setting up mysteries, not telling a story. I expected him to fumble hard. I expected him to have no idea how to handle what TLJ had set up for him. My expectations were so low, I actually enjoyed parts of the movie. Was it a disaster? Yes. Will I watch it again? Probably not. Do I wish I could see how Rian Johnson would have ended this series? Hell yeah. What we got was a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.

[@maritzaflores2000]

Disney did us wrong with how they handled Rey and Star Wars. In the end Disney only sees green. Abrams couldn't handle this and he had no excuse not to try his best to at least end this trilogy properly. He should have handed it to someone who knows how to write a proper ending.

[@CultPopture]

Such a bummer.

[@maritzaflores2000]

@@CultPopture I'm probably going to keep an eye on Disney+. Hopefully it will be the home of the Star Wars renaissance or an enlightenment of sorts.

[@C4DNerd]

Honestly, The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker are so jarringly different in terms of quality and even theming (like, TROS not only undermines TLJ, but really it undermines a lot of TFA too. Remember it was in TFA when Maz said "The belonging you seek is not behind you: It is ahead") that I genuinely do not believe TROS was 100% JJ Abrams doing. In fact, I get the feeling his role was way limited and that there was a LOT of studio interference going on. A lot of people like to believe JJ Abrams is "angry at TLJ," but there's too much evidence in statements from both Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams himself to where I really don't believe that's true.

[@maritzaflores2000]

@@C4DNerd Definitely The Rat loves keeping a tight grip on their projects to make sure they can be shown everywhere. Most studios do this as well, but man does the Rat love keeping their creators on short leashes. If they catch wind their product may not be able to be shown in China and they will make changes, edits, and sign pink slips before that ever happens.

[@matti.8465]

ROTS feels like the original triology, which SHOULD be a good thing, but Star Wars has kind of evolved past that, and yet they're doing the same thing again. TLJ had lots of parallels to the originals but it subverted expectations by taking those things on a different direction. But you know, I get it. The internet hated TLJ and wanted a movie that practically erased it from canon, and Disney delivered. I can't blame them for wanting to make sure that catastrophe doesn't repeat.

[@seanramsey]

I loved the term that the Red Letter Media guys coined: "Passive Progressive" Where a company makes all the airs of being forward thinking in their projects and the end result is that two women are kissing in the background of the finale and the company says "see?! Gay representation!"

[@noelsoong777]

I'm more mad bringing back the emperor kind of made me feel everything achieved for the previous films was for nothing.

[@ThePonderer]

I keep hearing “eat it out” instead of “edit out”.

[@CultPopture]

hell yeah

[@UnguessedGlory]

LOL I did too!

[@Astroenby]

Kylo should have just been the bad guy. Some people are beyond redemption is a good theme. Anyway smashed a bunch of your vids since discovering you today. Love yah. Keep it up xo

[@CultPopture]

Thanks so much, I hope you stick around! And I agree, a redemption arc for Kylo was too expected. The end should have been a battle between the new Jedi, Kylo Ren and Supreme Leader Hux

[@keetlethe5th710]

Really good early video on this, good points on the awkward and stupid handling of non-hetero relations, it really sounds weird. Really enjoying the content on your channel, I'm surprised you don't have more subs!

[@CultPopture]

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying the channel :) you can help get us more subs if you like! Share this video with your friends or on Twitter or Reddit etc. 😏😏😏😏

[@isaiahfreeman]

At the end they should have at least did a thing like You died.. how do you know? I felt it, that's what I wanted to tell you between Finn and Rey. I picked it up right away but everyone else seemed to be confused after so I'll assume it wasn't as clear as I thought.

[@isaiahfreeman]

I wanted Finn to force jump from the destroyer to reach the falcon but I guess that would be too cool.

[@rainwhater]

Good... god... This film hurt me and my friend and Patreon supporter Alexander McDonald so much. There was an actual audience-wide groan during the kiss scene to top off the absolute "fuck you" to everyone who liked TLJ. Also, Wind River was good. Y'all should review it. Oh, and Queen of the Damned too.

[@rainwhater]

Like, I told Alex when driving him back from the movie "I don't even think they could have fixed this movie in post. Like, yeah, the editing was atrocious, and definitely could make it a noticeably better, but damn. It really couldn't be fixed without a total redo"

[@NotGayBen]

I’m not gay

[@CultPopture]

Idk man, are you sure?

[@NotGayBen]

Cult Popture yeah man I named myself NotGayBen just to remind myself every day

[@CultPopture]

Hmmm I'm worried about you Ben

[@mokshavortice]

As a heterosexual male, light skinned Latino male, FEMALES you deserve more than Star Wars create your own franchise and be happy... just don’t destroy ours and expect us to be happy about it. We also have likes that appeal to US and it has nothing to do with hate towards females or gays or blacks or Latinos or Asians. We shouldn’t have to be sorry for making the movies we like, we shouldn’t have to like things just because other people like them, we shouldn’t have to apologize for existing.

[@kaelbeuk1]

It's a joyous mess in my opinion, waaaay too fast paced and messy and retroactive. But Hux's twist made me laugh, I enjoyed a few scenes and I loved Kylo Ren's final redemption. Maybe I didn't cared too much and knew it was not another Last Jedi.

[@JamesEmery6]

this movie is non-canon to me. Jesus fucking Christ JJ just threw whatever reddit fan theory at the script he could just to retcon TLJ. Great job! And he said the Reylo kiss was a brother/sister kiss, like what lmfao

[@CultPopture]

Maybe JJ is trying to pay homage to the incest from the OT

[@JamesEmery6]

Cult Popture - Lmfao

[@ShellsGhost1]

I wonder how much of the script was J.J. I've heard he took over very late in the game and maybe he was just like.... I can't do anything good with this so we'll just default to the most boring and asinine ideas. Iger will see how toxic it gets and let people just do what they want instead of forcing a 2 year release schedule with other films in between. Rogue One was a mess that managed to get salvaged for the most part apparently. At least Johnson still gets to have his project.

[@CultPopture]

I have never been more excited for Rian Johnson's next Star Wars

[@under_score3829]

Explain to me what the “correct” plot of 9 was supposed to be. I’ll wait. Episode 9 was set up to fail. TLJ wrapped almost everything up like a finale, forcing 9 to be redundant since it was the actual finale. How was 9 supposed to be a proper follow up to TLJ and a finale of 7-9 as well as 1-9? (And it was always going to be that, since it was the last one). Finales/conclusions typically pay off unresolved things from before, but to do that, those things have to be relevant in the finale. However, if 9 pays off things from the past then it’s not a proper TLJ “new direction” follow up. But if 9 “ignores the past” then it’s not a proper finale. So how could 9 have not been bad?

[@o...o4144]

Dude, TLJ just let a lot of things to be explored. Rey conflicted by being a nobody, Poe assuming the Resistence leadership, the consequences to Finn being to valent and to much of a "Rebel Scum", Kylo being the Supreme Leader, all the Knights of Ren stuff. The relationship between Rey and Kylo it's what suppose to happen in this movie. Will Rey join Kylo? Or will Kylo join Rey? How the balance will be restored? Leia will die? Finn and Poe will be together? How the Resistence will defeat the First Order? What the consequences of Luke's sacrifice in the galaxy? There were plenty options and story beats for then to explore. If TLJ ends with the bad guy's victory, we need to see the rematch of the good guys in the next movie. Here is it. Explained to you

[@under_score3829]

@@o...o4144 Part 1 I agree that there are plenty of things 9 could have done better (having more consistent character arcs, not wasting Rose, etc). But I'm a little perplexed here. The movie seems to have done a lot of these. "Rey conflicted by being a nobody" Fair enough. She could have spent more time trying to build a new family or train new force users. Where Rey comes from did not have to be important, although she did seem pretty conflicted at the beginning of 9. Before she ever learned she was a Palpatine, she was having flashbacks to her abandonment while training at the beginning, and she seemed sad when the little girl on Pasaana asked her what her last name was. "Poe assuming the Resistance leadership" Did 9 not do this? Poe is already basically in charge and one Leia dies he assumes full leadership and commands everyone in the final battle. I guess there are things about command in general they could have explored more but you're acting like they didn't touch it. "The consequences of Finn being too valiant and too much of a "Rebel Scum"" I mean sure, I guess. Finn fully commits to the Resistance at the end of 8, so I guess 9 could have dealt with him being "too committed". Though I don't think every character arc needs to be "the dangers of the character's current position being too extreme". You can do that, but at some point one must ask themselves, "Is this meaningful in the larger context?" (by the way, I'm not implying that everything in the 9 that we got is meaningful in the larger context). But we had a trilogy where the Galaxy falls to tyranny, then a trilogy where the Galaxy is saved from tyranny. Then 7 told us that the tyranny is just back suddenly at full power, as if it never left, and then 8 makes a point to show us just how limited and desperate the good guys apparently are and with Finn's arc, says "Hey, it's important to be committed or we'll all be annihilated." But if 9 was like "Hey, but don't be too committed though, 'cause that's bad" I'd be like, "Is it? Cause the good guys need all the help they can get at this point. Would you not need to be extra committed in the current situation?" Though I guess there are other ways to explore Finn being too much of a Rebel. Like maybe he shows too much cruelty to a First Order soldier and learns that all people deserve mercy, and if you don't show it, you're as bad as the bad guys or something. "Kylo being the Supreme Leader" Did 9 not do this? Kylo IS the Supreme Leader. Like I agree they could have explored more of the Galaxy's reaction to the First Order and how they rule and later the Galaxy's reaction to Kylo. They could have turned Kylo into a fascist, and maybe he manipulates some of the Galaxy into loving him through lies. But I would file this under general world building and I would cite it more as a flaw with the trilogy overall, because the Galaxy at large is something that 7, 8, and 9 all should have shed light on. Not just 9. Also, Episode 8 itself walked back the whole "I want everything to end" thing. Did Kylo try to reform or end the First Order? No. He just took the place of Snoke and continued the war of trying to annihilate the rebels. And that's where 9 picks up. And everyone's criticizing 9 for not doing anything with that but there's barely anything you can do with that. Nothing has changed except now there is no longer a mysterious puppet master to develop (at least as of the end of 8). But I agree that it would have been more interesting for Kylo to end/change everything, but Episode 8 negated that before 9 did. It is as much a flaw with the end of 8, as with 9. 9 would have had to re-negate it and say "Ok, he wanted to change everything, and then he didn't want to, but now he wants to again." "All the Knights of Ren stuff" Oh, so things were supposed to happen with the Knights of Ren? That's interesting. So it was always supposed to be 9 and 9 alone that developed and wrapped up the Knights of Ren? "It's ok that Last Jedi ignored them -- but 9 better develop them thoroughly or it's bad!" Pray tell, what more were they supposed to do anyway? Because they do play a role in the movie. We learn that they are indeed mercenaries who work for Kylo, and he has them run errands for him in this movie. Was something else supposed to happen? 7 and 8 did imply they were Luke's other students who joined Kylo, so I guess 9 could have explored whether they are fully committed to the Dark Side or their relationship with Kylo, or if they still practice the Force (since we don't see them use the Force but theoretically they should have some knowledge of it if they're Luke's students). That could have been explored, but that's a lot of material for just one movie to develop and wrap up. It would have been more practical for 8 to introduce them and begin developing them, and then for 9 to finish developing them and wrap them up. Otherwise, they might as well not be in the trilogy at all because if 7 and 8 ignore them, then no matter what 9 does, it's going to feel sudden and rushed. "The Relationship between Rey and Kylo -- Will Rey join Kylo or will Kylo join Rey?" DID 9 NOT DO THIS??? Half the movie is Rey and Kylo either talking to each other or fighting each other. The movie also expands on their Force connection from Last Jedi and its capabilities. Kylo, in 9, continues to manipulate Rey by giving her more information about her parents. There are moments in the film when Rey is tempted to use her anger and she even sees a vision of a dark version of herself. And then, let's see -- oh yeah -- KYLO JOINS REY. You're saying the movie doesn't explore whether Kylo will join Rey and he literally joins Rey.

[@under_score3829]

@Enzo Saraiva Part 2 "How will the balance be restored?" Yeah this is a problem that 7 made very difficult to solve. 1 - 6 told us that Palpatine was the last Sith Lord and the Sith were implied to be the only powerful Dark Side religion. So when Palpatine dies in 6, that's supposed to be a big deal, because now there are no more masters to teach anyone the Dark Side and any new person who wants to learn it would have to start from scratch. They wouldn't be nearly as powerful or knowledgable as a Sith, because the last of that faction was destroyed. But then 7 blows that out the window with Snoke. Here, we have a character as powerful and knowledgable as a Sith despite the fact that that wasn't supposed to be possible. And it implies that the stakes that we thought we had in this story were false, and instead the stakes are completely different. But 7 does nothing to explain what the real stakes are, and 8 pretends like there's nothing more we need to know, and just kills Snoke off. But Snoke's death in TLJ is a hollow victory, because we don't know what progress we've actually made in saving the Galaxy. With Palpatine we knew (or at least were told) he was the last, so killing him is the end of the road. But Snoke's existence reveals that Palpatine wasn't the last of anything -- he wasn't the end of the road. But we're not told that Snoke is either. We don't know where the end of the road is, as of 7 and 8. We don't know how many Palpatine/Snoke level threats are out there. And it absolutely matters whether there are other people out there as powerful as Snoke and Palpatine because they both turned the world on its head. So if the good guys kill Snoke, defeat the First Order, and create a New New New Republic, why should we believe this one is safe? How do we know another Snoke-like person isn't out there with the capability to wipe it out this time? Now JJ chose to invent an entire planet full of test-tube Snokes (which I agree is ridiculous), but at least that's something. We needed SOMETHING. Rise of Skywalker tells us that this Exegol planet is apparently the reason why the victory in Return of the Jedi didn't stick. It is the reason why this Snoke person existed and why Palpatine apparently didn't stay dead (which I also agree is stupid). But once you neutralize the threat of Exegol, theoretically, there shouldn't be any more secret dark lords who can show up to ruin everything for the good guys. Although, Ep9 doesn't really do a great job of clarifying this either (are all the hooded dudes on Exegol gone or did some survive?). But the only way to understand how balance can be restored is to understand the extent of the threat to balance in the first place, and at least 9 tried, where as 7 and 8 did not. "Will Leia die?" Leia was alive in 9 and then she died. How else are you supposed to explore that? "Will Poe & Finn be together?" I mean sure? 9 could have fleshed out their relationships a little more, including the romantic ones. But in terms of "exploring the question" well it does give us an answer to the question -- no. Questions like this were always going to be either a yes or a no. But I agree that it could have been interesting for Finn & Poe to get together, or for one of them to pine after the other, like Finn pining after Poe. Maybe Finn is gay and Poe is not and it's a tragic love story, or maybe they're both gay and it's not tragic. Either one of those could have been interesting, but I find it hilarious that 9 was apparently supposed to go down this specific road when 7 and 8 didn't really set this up either. Like you can interpret Finn to be subtly gay in 7 and 8, but that's just one way to look at the information. It was never definitively confirmed by the movies. "How will the Resistance defeat the First Order?" Were they not supposed to fight them in a final battle? Was that not supposed to happen? "What are the consequences of Luke's sacrifice for the Galaxy?" This is fair. Though I would also attribute this to the category of world building. We should have seen the Galaxy reacting to the current situation, and I agree that should have included people pondering what Luke did on Crait and whether they want to get involved in the fight because of it. "If TLJ ends with the Bad Guy's victory, we need to see a rematch of the good guys in the next movie." Is that not what happened? The Resistance and the Galaxy fought the First Order and won this time. Yes, you also had the Final Order (which I agree was a dumb addition) but the First Order was clearly also involved and they both were defeated. How is Ep9 not a rematch? With all of these things, you can argue that the movie didn't explore them enough or didn't take them in an interesting direction (or the direction you wanted). But you can't say it didn't explore them at all.

[@JeremyOuano]

*spoiler alert* don't read more if you haven't seen the movie yet Dude, anti-feminism? What about Rey living and Kylo dying? What about Leia Force Ghosting and changing her son's mind and heart? What about the other FEMALE black character who defected and happens to command a squad of storm troopers? (granted, her whole squad defected also) And homophobic? What about FinnPoe? The only time Poe flirted with someone was after Finn told Rey about something to tell her but only if Poe wasn't present. And what about those two females kissing in celebration after the enemy was defeated? How was that disingenuous? Is there no way to please you? And you got it wrong, Rey already mattered even before it was revealed she was a Palpatine, she is the LAST JEDI at the moment. Having her be related to the Emperor and even tempted to be the Empress just gave her the heaviest choice in the GALAXY, she had the easiest way to the dark side and to power, and yet she rejected all that. She chose the Light; she CHOSE to be a Skywalker. What's more empowering than that?

[@nikkie_slaughter]

bruh, a woman DYING to save a man and give him a redemption arc is not feminism. A woman being killed and then brought back to life by a dude who has been abusive and is a mass murderer, to immediately kiss him is not feminism. A woman who found power in the last movie by being a nobody, only to be given importance by being tied to the most powerful man ever is not feminism. Feminism is not women simply existing within a film, it is their stories and their purposes in the film that make it feminist or not. In addition to all the amazing points Cult Popture brought up, this movie reinforced that women should be sexually and romantically attracted to abusive men.

[@CultPopture]

Hell yeah

[@KavonNiknafs1708]

How is it sexist and homophobic?

[@pamelam4]

It's not.

[@josecarlosmoreno9731]

Cause sjws gotta sjw. But the rest of his points are good.

[@daboys1215]

Disney and Kathleen Kennedy destroyed Star Wars.

[@davidsantos1299]

Ok ok, i haven't watched the movie but I have a feeling that you're exagerating when you say it's sexist and homophobic. I would enjoy Finn and Poe being a couple, but they never hinted at that. Also, Rey being Palpatine's daughter is a bad decision irregardless of each character's gender.

[@helpiamstuckonthismanshead3385]

Did you ever hear the tragedy of feminist the stupid No I thought not it's not a story the news would tell you

[@dolphinpower1107]

well at least she isn't as much as a Mary Sue

[@joshuahackett2060]

First 8 minutes were a good review but you broke down into a whingey baby

[@CultPopture]

story of my life

[@thurmanstevenson5692]

You know I get the feeling I might just hate the last two movie in general

[@MotherAce]

lol, this was a boiling hot plate of garbage takes. Great entertainment. This is so dumb I'm tempted to think you are trying to troll MauLer to help grow your channel. Are you?