about luke...
ive been seeing posts about how rian johnson’s arc for luke was successful in ‘humanizing’ him by having him become, a failed jedi master and a failed hero. while i agree that it was important for luke to have a character arc where he grows in some way during the course of the film, in TLJ luke’s arc felt more like a regression and character assassination more than anything else.
luke, in the Original Trilogy, is compassionate, he is optimistic and he is brave. he loves his family and would never abandon them or give up on them, no matter what they’ve done. this does not make him boring or a Gary Stu, as i’ve seen some posts saying. in my opinion, this makes him a compelling hero, so different from the toxic masculinity of the gruff anti-heroes in other media. luke cares, he cares so much to the point that he’d put his own life on the line.
however, in TLJ luke is mean, angry, uncaring and devoid of empathy. and before anyone else says it, the passage of thirty years is not a valid excuse to so completely change every single quality a character has! luke, somehow, considers murdering his nephew, child of his twin sister and his best friend, someone he loves, in his sleep because he saw a hint of the darkness growing within him. to even think that luke would even consider this is absurd.
luke believed no one, not even darth fucking vader was beyond redemption. he believed not in violence, but in compassion as the answer to the problem before him. and yet rian johnson wants me to believe that luke skywalker of all people would even think about cold blooded murder of someone he loves??
there is a way to give luke an arc without destroying his character and every theme the OT stood for. how about instead of luke instantly turning to his lightsaber when he sees the darkness in kylo, he sits down with him, tries to talk to him, to ask kylo what he is feeling, why he is so angry at him and his parents (because goddamn if this is never explained in the movie). luke listens and tries to understand. if luke must fail in some way, perhaps this was the mistake luke made: he believed he could bring his nephew back from the brink like he did with his father. but he was wrong.
because not everyone can be saved, this is something i have learned in my life. no matter how much you love someone, a family member, a friend, if they do not want to change, to receive your help, then theres nothing you can do. and its not your fault.
luke can still feel afraid, broken and ashamed, feel that he was weak or that he’d failed kylo. he can question the jedi and his own role in the galaxy. he can feel guilt for still believing in his nephew even as the darkness within him grew, eventually resulting in kylo’s premeditated assault of the temple with the knights of ren as was shown in rey’s TFA force vision. and then rey comes along and shows him how his love and compassion was not a weakness. that kylo’s failure was not luke’s fault. to have him come back and take his place again alongside rey as the galaxy’s greatest hopes for peace. to accept his kindness as his greatest strength against kylo’s darkness. how uplifting that would have been.
tldr; there are better ways of achieving satisfying character arcs without shitting on the Original Trilogy and its heroes. Yes, luke is human. he struggles and makes mistakes. but by taking the legacy of han, luke and leia, and turning them into complete and utter disappointments, in spite of or sometimes because of their heroic actions in the OT, just to make his beloved emo prince seem relatable, then dont be surprised if some fans end up feeling empty and upset. luke was my new hope, and to see him so changed and without any hope, to finish where he started: all alone, was honestly the most depressing thing ive ever experienced. and i wish i could forget it.
