Social relevance is not the point of Star Wars

Rating: 5/10 (26 December 2017)

The Last Jedi breaks away from the shadow of the original series and attempts to forge new ground...to very mixed results. The strengths are stronger than anything in The Force Awakens. Gone too is the plot recycling from TFA. No more Death Star. Unexpected things happen. And the best scenes follow the classic feel of good vs. evil, most notably in the excellent fight scene in Snoke's throne room. But where its strengths grew stronger, so did its weakness.
TLJ at its heart is not a Star Wars film. Sure, it has a certain "Star Wars"ian ethos. Some of our beloved characters are back. But ultimately, it is about equality & social justice. The Star Wars series, on the other hand, at its heart is about good and evil, with good redeeming evil. It resonated with people on the most basic of instincts. It pushed way beyond the confines of its rather 2D story. TLJ seems aimed at the Millennial generation, to whom social justice is very important. While it is also important to me, Star Wars is not the appropriate place for "topical relevance". Star Wars is not about ending oppression. It is about good overcoming evil. So it is misguided at best in TLJ to have subplots about slavery and arms dealing. It is misguided to crowd the cast with mostly women fighters and fighters of every racial background just for the sake of doing so. Give us interesting characters and then we won't care what their race is. I left the theater feeling like someone in Disney was trying to force some social agenda upon me. The magic was lost in the midst of social politics. What a pity. It forces diversity without character depth, spirituality without theology, and social justice without resonance. TLJ is a critic's darling at the moment, but it will not stand the test of time like Ep. 4-6, which will always be beloved. And let's not even mention the utter disappointment of Luke's character and his fate. Unnecessary and soul draining.
Usually I applaud a movie for reaching for greatness and stumbling just short of it. Far better to try for it and fail, than to play it safe. But with TLJ, I wanted to say, "Leave my movie series alone!" Keep it pure and simple, and don't use it as a platform for social political views. Those subjects are best left for stories outside the Star Wars universe.