Author: Corinne

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 7) – Ponyo

Ponyo is the 10th of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).

This week: Ponyo (2008).

Synopsis: The film follows Ponyo (voiced by Noah Cyrus), a part-human/part-fish creature, as she journeys to the surface world and meets Sosuke (voiced by Frankie Jonas). Even after her father, the wizard Fujimoto (voiced by Liam Neeson), brings Ponyo back to the ocean, she’s not content to remain under the waves. With the help of her sisters and her father’s magic elixirs, she turns herself human and reunites with Sosuke. But… she may have thrown the world out of balance in the process.

Spoiler-free review: Outside of Spirited Away, this might be the quintessential Miyazaki movie. Not that it’s his best; not that it’s his second-best, even; but it beautifully blends all of the elements that Miyazaki and his team have become known for. The story is endearing and succinct; the animation is visually stunning; the English-language voice cast is talented; and the characters are well-designed and memorable. I won’t say it’s his most well-rounded movie either, because I do think it has a few flaws. But, it’s family friendly. Even very young children (4-6yo) would probably enjoy it. The movie also features a very immersive atmosphere, and Joe Hisaishi’s score draws you into this underwater world full of magic and wonder. I know that one of the Nerds (*cough* Brad *cough*) likes to say that this movie’s “for babies,” but I don’t see it that way. Yes, the story is very simple, and the main characters are 5-year-olds; but I think, as long as you know what you’re in for, it’s hard not to enjoy yourself.

Letter grade: B+

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

As I said on this week’s podcast episode, I’ve seen Nostalgia Critic’s review of Ponyo far more than I’ve seen the actual movie. Thus, when I was rewatching Ponyo for this Miyazaki series, many of his jokes and comments came to mind. Overall, while I agree with some of his points, I think that this movie has a lot of offer that he either glosses over or doesn’t mention at all.

For instance, the scene where Ponyo uses her sisters and her father’s elixirs to get back to the surface world and inadvertently cause a massive storm — which I like to call the ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ scene — is perhaps the best animated sequence in all of Miyazaki’s filmography. The colors, the art style and designs, the movement of the fish, the music, the cinematography, the narrative buildup … it’s such a memorable and well-done sequence.

The voice cast is phenomenal, and there’s not a weak link in the bunch. While, yes, Ponyo and Sosuke do get on my nerves a bit once once they reunite in the second half, the actual actors do a fine job of getting across Ponyo’s wonder at the human world and Sosuke’s amazement with her. The adults are equally talented. Nostalgia Critic accuses Neeson’s Fujimoto of being flat, but I honestly felt like his delivery was appropriate. He’s emotional when he needs to be, but otherwise, Fujimoto goes about his business in a straightforward way. I’ve listened to a bit of the Japanese version, and that voice actor does a similar job; so I imagine a lot of it was the direction. After all, they picked Neeson for a reason. I do agree with Nostalgia Critic, though, that Sosuke’s mom, Lisa, is not a very good parent for much of the movie, although I don’t put that on Tina Fey’s performance but more the way her character was written. (Personally, I wonder if that’s what the Goddess of Mercy was talking about with Lisa at the end … like, “Hey, if my daughter is going to be living with you, you’re going to have to be a better parent.”)

Anyway, as I said on the podcast, Miyazaki was inspired to write Ponyo after watching Disney’s The Little Mermaid. While there are some similarities and moments of homage, it feels like a distinct story. You could probably describe it as an adaptation of the original fairy tale, but it’s a far cry from Disney’s version as there are plenty of differences between the two. I guess a better way of saying it is that Ponyo is Disney’s The Little Mermaid‘s first cousin once-removed. Still related, but not as closely as you might think.

One more thing I’ll point out is that, while Ponyo endangers the world by throwing nature out of balance, she also inadvertently SAVES the world not once but twice. Before the ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ sequence, Fujimoto explains that he intends to use his elixirs to cause an explosion of sea life and rid the earth of humans. Yikes! Well, of course, Ponyo breaks into the elixirs and does cause the tsunami, which definitely causes damage to Sosuke’s town and probably many others. However, by doing so, she prevented her father from building up more elixir to later use it to destroy humanity. AND, because she’s living among humans at the end, I’d be willing to bet that Fujimoto won’t revisit his plan now that his daughter (and possibly her descendants, later on) is living on the surface world. Fujimoto might be an asshole — think King Triton, but less angry and more scheming — but he does care about Ponyo and wants her to be safe. Thus, I imagine that, with Ponyo living as a human, he won’t be plotting mankind’s destruction anymore.

So, take that, Brad! Your irrational hatred of this movie has prevented you from realizing how secretly brilliant it is. 😛

All in all, it’s definitely worth a watch. Or, if you’re like Brad, you should consider rewatching it, because you might’ve been too harsh on it the first time around.

Next week: My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989).

Articles, Review, Show Time

Show Time: What Makes a Romcom Good?

I’m a little ashamed to admit that I’ve been watching a lot of romcoms recently. I say ‘ashamed’ mostly because the genre as a whole has a reputation of dumbing-down human relations into “desperate woman and loser man stumble into romantic relationship” or some version of same. Women like me are often given a pass for watching romcoms because the genre is seen as ‘wish fulfillment’ (and for some reason, action/superhero movies aren’t *eyeroll*)… But even then, intelligent women often have to explain away their favorite movies as a ‘guilty pleasure.’

Well, fuck guilty pleasures and fuck wish fulfillment.

I like romcoms!

It may be a frowned-upon genre, but every year, millions of people — women AND men — sit down and watch these movies. So, the question is: why can’t they be good? Why, time after time, does Hollywood feed us the same formulaic bullshit and simply switch around the actors, the setting and the minor details, and present it to us in the guise of a new movie? Granted, all genres are starting to see this, with the superhero genre being a timely example, but I don’t want to waste my time watching shitty romcoms, or shitty movies in general. Maybe the reason the genre is frowned upon isn’t because the genre is bad, but because so many of the movies in it ARE.

Romcoms can trace their ‘lineage,’ so to speak, back to Shakespeare and his contemporaries, when confused identities and coincidental mix-ups were the impetus of much — if not all — of the hi-jinks that ensued. So, why is it socially acceptable for me to enjoy a production of Twelfth Night, but not She’s The Man?

On the other hand, liking this movie is a problem…

Of course, now, many of the typical elements of romcoms are written off as too far-fetched or too contrived. Yes, a woman who waters a former pop star’s plants being secretly talented at writing song lyrics is far-fetched, but a whiny teen gaining the powers of the gods when he literally did nothing to prove himself isn’t? (Can you tell that I’m still underwhelmed by Shazam?) Yes, film is an art form. But, it’s also a form of entertainment. Unless it’s based on a true story or true events, it’s meant for escapism.

Anyway, as I was watching all these movies over the last week or so, I started to ask myself: What should I be looking for in a romcom? What makes one romcom good from another?

On the 2018 Filmsplosion episode, Henry and I were discussing how in 2018, we started to see a revival in the romcom genre. We got Crazy Rich Asians, which did exceptionally well at the box office; Set It Up, which was an enjoyable Netflix movie; and Juliet, Naked, which didn’t have a big opening but was generally well-received by those who saw it.

Now, setting aside your high school/coming-of-age comedies like Booksmart and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, I would say that the upper tier of romcoms from from the last 20 years include, but are not limited to: The Big Sick; Crazy Rich Asians; Juliet, Naked; The Switch; Definitely, Maybe; The Decoy Bride; Always Be My Maybe; Music & Lyrics; My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding; and Bridesmaids. That isn’t to say any of them is perfect, but I think each has something about them that makes them compelling as a entry in the romcom genre.

And, in my opinion, lesser romcoms, which I’ll bring up in the post as examples of ‘what not to do,’ include: The Proposal, How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Made of Honor, and The Ugly Truth.

(NOTE: Spoilers ahead for all these films.)

So, getting back to our initial question of “What Makes a Romcom Good?”, I would say it’s some combination of the following:

If it’s titled “Juliet, Naked,” then it’s a good romcom.

THE TWO LEADS HAVE CHEMISTRY

One of the reasons I absolutely love Juliet, Naked is because you’re actively rooting for these two people to wind up together. It’s not just because they’re attractive. It’s not just because they like each other. It’s because they fit so well in each other’s lives. Annie desperately wants to have children and is stuck in a relationship where her partner doesn’t feel the same way; Tucker has so many children that he’s not active in each of their lives, and he’s learning to live with the mistakes he’s made and rectify them as best he can. Annie wants to leave her little town, be more adventurous and grow as a person outside her relationship with Duncan. Tucker, meanwhile, wants more normalcy and a healthy relationship after having so many unsuccessful ones in his rock-star days. Not only that, but they have great on-screen chemistry, and their scenes together are filled with a genuine earnestness that’s almost tangible.

Compare that to the nonsense in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days where the two leads are actively trying to deceive and/or make the other miserable. Or, in The Proposal, where Ryan Reynolds’ character never really seems to get away from the ‘she’s my boss’ dynamic. His romantic scenes with Sandra Bullock’s character always come off as more awkward than anything, because he’s actively hated her and been her subordinate for so long that for them to suddenly be equals in a loving relationship feels jarring.

THE SIDE CHARACTERS ARE ENGAGING

While the movie definitely has its flaws, I always enjoyed Tula’s extensive family in My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding. Coming from a large and very … uh… vocal family myself, I always sympathized with her character because she feels trapped by her family but also supported by them. Her mom and her dad feel like distinct characters with a few running gags of their own; her grandma is hilarious in how she continually tries to escape; her aunts, uncles and cousins have brief but very memorable appearances. And, even her husband’s parents are interesting in their contrasting blandness and more conservative personalities.

Crazy Rich Asians and Bridesmaids also benefit from their all-star supporting casts, whose characters bring their individual flares without being too cliche or over-the-top.

Meanwhile, The Ugly Truth, for instance, has a pretty bland supporting cast. We have our two leads and maybe one or two other people. That’s it. And, honestly, half the time the people are just there to either be plot devices (like the cute doctor Katherine Heigl’s character is trying to date and Gerard Butler’s character’s family) or the main characters’ respective best friends, who are really only sounding boards for the main characters’ feelings.

Seriously, “The Decoy Bride” is a fun and underrated romcom.

IT USES TROPES APPROPRIATELY

This is perhaps the one that gets onto my nerves the most when it comes to the quality of romcoms. As I said on the 2018 Filmsplosion episode, I cannot stand the “Liar Revealed” trope. Unfortunately, many romcoms rely on this. It was one of the reasons why I didn’t like Set It Up as much as I liked Juliet, Naked, even though they came out only months apart. The best romcoms, in my opinion, do not use this trope. Basically none of the movies that I had in my list of upper-tier romcoms have the trope to their fullest extent.

Crazy Rich Asians arguably has it, as it’s revealed that Rachel’s mom lied about Rachel’s dad and why she had to leave China, but it’s not like Rachel knew any of that and was actively trying to hide it from her boyfriend and his family. In The Switch, Jason Bateman’s character initially didn’t remember dumping out the sperm donor’s sample and putting in his own sample instead. He had been blackout-drunk that night, and it’s only once he meets his son, Sebastian, that he realizes what he did, and he tries to own up to it. And, for The Decoy Bride, Katie is roped into standing in for James’ celebrity fiancee, but he quickly realizes what’s happened. She deceives him about her identity — and only after she was paid by others to do so — for all of five minutes. They spend 95 percent of the movie with full knowledge of who the other person is.

I believe the “Liar Revealed” trope has its place. Hell, some of Shakespeare’s comedies rely on characters purposefully deceiving each other. But, usually they aren’t coupled with the “Third-Act Misunderstanding” trope, which I also absolutely hate, especially because it’s often coupled with “Liar Revealed.” For instance, in Twelfth Night, once it’s revealed that Cesario is actually a woman named Viola neither Olivia nor Orsino — who were the main victims in Viola’s deception to dress as a man — really care. In fact, it prompts Orsino to realize his true feelings for Olivia and propose to her. We don’t have a contrived scene where Orsino says something to the effect of “You lied to me; I can never trust you again!” Likewise, in Much Ado About Nothing, the bad guy’s deceptions are revealed, no one cares that Hero faked her death, and no one ever reveals to Beatrice and Benedick that they were actually set up by their friends and family. No one really cares about all the deception. Either no one ever tells them, or they’re relieved about it, not upset.

Of course, with The Proposal and How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, the entire premise inevitably sets up the Liar Revealed trope, and of course we have the Third-Act Misunderstanding to really make things boring and trite. The reason the tropes, especially the Third-Act Misunderstanding, don’t work is because they’re so overdone and literally add nothing to the story. Because of the nature of the genre, there’s a 99 percent chance our romantic leads are going to end up together (My Best Friend’s Wedding is the one exception I can think of)… so, when they have their inevitable fallout once the full truth comes out, it only wastes our time because we know they’re going to get together. And, many times, because of the Third-Act Misunderstanding, one of the leads realizes that they belong together, and so usually does some Grand Romantic Gesture to get the other person back, like Matthew McConaughey’s character racing all over NYC to try to Andi back with their plant on the back of his motorcycle-thing or like Ryan Reynolds’ character making a big speech in the office and then kissing Sandra Bullock’s character in front of everyone.

But, tropes have their place. Sometimes, they’re subverted, which I often enjoy. Sometimes they’re used predictably but appropriately, such as in The Decoy Bride, when James dedicates his new book to Katie, calling her his wife and referencing a sad line she said earlier in the movie. Or in Always Be My Maybe, where the two do have a third-act breakup but it’s because of their different lifestyles not because one of them was deceiving the other. Same thing in Music & Lyrics, which also has a third-act breakup AND a big, romantic gesture, but it plays better because their relationship beforehand had at least been honest.

Basically, if your romantic comedy has the Liar Revealed trope and the Third-Act Misunderstanding, it’s a recipe for disaster.

Of course, there are plenty of other tropes out there, like the whole ‘evil in-laws’ thing. In My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding, Tula is understandably nervous about introducing her fiance to her family, because they’re not super excited that he isn’t Greek and he might be overwhelmed by how boisterous her family is. But, they eventually warm up to her fiance, and support her decision to marry him; and he, meanwhile, enjoys how energetic and lively her family is and even converts to the Greek Orthodox Church because it’s important to her.

Similarly, in Crazy Rich Asians, Eleanor is definitely wary of Rachel. But, it’s expressed several times in the film that this isn’t only an instance of an overprotecting mother not liking her son’s girlfriend — it’s mostly because Rachel is American (even though she’s of Chinese descent) and thus doesn’t share the same values or cultural priorities that Eleanor would want Nick’s future wife to have.

Ultimately a successful relationship in real life is based on honesty and communication, and relationships in our entertainment should reflect that to some degree. But, when romcoms show characters seemingly being rewarded with the guy or gal, despite their deception or other flaws, it only weakens the genre and gives young, impressionable people the wrong ideas about love and relationships.

OK, I’m seriously going to have to go check out “Crazy Rich Asians” from the library tomorrow. I’ve been talking about it so much, it’s making me want to watch it again!

IT BRINGS SOMETHING NEW TO THE TABLE

As I said on the 2018 Filmsplosion episode, one of the reasons I loved Crazy Rich Asians was that the location, the set pieces, and the immersion of the movie into Asian cultures really helped it stand out. Instead of New York City, where seemingly 90 percent of all romcoms take place, the bulk of the film is in Singapore. Instead of your typical pop songs and alt rock ballads, the soundtrack only has songs in Asian languages (including some covers of notable English-language pop songs, admittedly).

Bridesmaids also brought something different to the table as the bulk of the film focuses on a group of female friends trying to navigate the complicated world of planning a wedding. Kristin Wiig’s character’s love life, particularly her thing with Chris O’Dowd’s character, is more of a subplot than anything.

The Big Sick, while I classify it here as a romcom, has a lot of dramatic, almost dark-comedy elements to it, especially once Emily falls into a coma.

Definitely, Maybe plays on the ‘how I met your mother’ storyline, but it bookends the whole thing with Ryan Reynolds’ character telling the story to his daughter, giving us hints at what all is going to happen. For instance, we know he was in two serious relationships before he married his future wife, and we’ve seen his daughter, so we maybe get some hints as to what her mom might look like. And, it gives a reason for his obscuring his wife’s name, as he wants his daughter to encounter her mom organically through the story, as he did, instead of already knowing who she was from the outset.

Music & Lyrics has several musical numbers, which most of which Hugh Grant sings himself, and several of which are very catchy and actually good songs. Still, it never really feels like a classical musical, because the music’s presence is central to the story but not in a Broadway-style musical sort of way. It also makes for some great comedic moments, because some of the songs Cora Coreman sings are so utterly weird but perfectly fit her character, that you can’t help but enjoy them.

Now, constrastingly, Set It Up, which I’ve mentioned on here already but can’t quite put it in the genre’s upper tier or lower tier, seems to typify everything that’s stale about mainstream romcoms. The main characters are 20-somethings, trying to move up the corporate ladder but are stuck in their thankless jobs; the movie takes place in New York City; and the leads ultimately fall in love while setting up a deception on their respective bosses. But, to its credit, Set It Up has fairly likable characters and well-written dialogue, so it kind of makes it a mid-tier level romcom for me, personally.

Could you imagine if they gender-bent this movie? Yikes!

IT HAS AN EMOTIONAL CORE

One of the reasons I appreciated Definitely, Maybe and The Switch, both of which I watched for the first time this week, is because the two films really shine when they lean into the parent/child relationship. The scene between Ryan Reynolds’ character and his daughter in the zoo, at the end of the movie, where he tells her that she was the happy ending to the story really hits an emotional chord. Likewise, the growing relationship between Jason Bateman’s character and his son keeps The Switch from being another typical romcom.

I also really liked how, at the end of Always Be My Maybe, Sasha embraces what Marcus and his mom had done for her, why food had become such a big part of her life. It kind of subverted Marcus’ big romantic gesture with his little speech on the red carpet (thanks to carpet cleaning st louis for their timely help) while also one-upping it, because while she has always loved Marcus, she’s also always loved being a part of his life, a part of his family.

Unlike in many romcoms, in The Big Sick, Kumail is worried that he ‘won’t get the girl,’ not only because they’d had a fight but also because she fell into a coma and he thought she might die. That gives the movie more emotional weight than any other typical “will they, won’t they” plots.

And, because I won’t shut up about Crazy Rich Asians … even people who were “meh” about the movie said that the mahjong scene between Rachel and Eleanor was the best scene. Seriously. In a film where people shoot missiles off cargo tankers into the ocean, where there’s an elaborate wedding, where everything is extravagant and the set pieces are insane… the highlight of the movie is two women sitting at a table, talking, while they play a game that most Americans don’t understand. In fact, people who read the book said that they liked that the filmmakers added that scene. Can you remember the last time you saw book-fans saying they LIKED a change the movie made?

Compare all of these examples to Gerard Butler’s character in The Ugly Truth deciding he didn’t want to go to a bigger station because his nephew (who was in all of two scenes) needs a father-figure in his life. Or in Made of Honor where Patrick Dempsey’s character tries to undermine his best friend’s wedding — not because the guy she’s marrying is a skeezebag — but because the guy she’s marrying isn’t him, which is what he wants. The formula of guy+girl+shenanigans can only get you so far without some kind of emotional glue to hold your interest.

Stop reading this article and go watch this movie right now!!!

THE COMEDY ELEMENTS ARE CLEVER AND — I can’t believe I have to say this — FUNNY

I could go on and on with different examples of witty comedy from my upper-tier romcoms, but I’ll simply compare two scenes from two romcoms of varying quality — Always Be My Maybe and The Ugly Truth. In both movies, there’s a scene where the main characters are all going out to an awkward, fancy dinner where some characters get to meet other ones for the first time.

In The Ugly Truth, before a dinner with her partner-in-crime coworker, her bosses and her new boyfriend, Butler’s character had sent Heigl’s a set of vibrating underwear. She accidentally wears them to the dinner and brings the remote with her. Eventually, the remote rolls out of her purse, a kid picks it up and — not knowing what it is — starts messing with it. This prompts the predictable situation of Heigl’s character trying to make it through the conversation until she and Butler’s character locate the remote, all while her lower half is vibrating and making her feel … things. The scenario might’ve been worth a giggle initially, but ultimately it falls flat because, from the outset, we knew exactly where the situation was going and what the joke was going to be. Instead of being funny, it feels awkward, drawn-out and painful. Well, for the audience, at least.

Now, with Always Be My Maybe, Sasha has invited Marcus and his girlfriend to meet her new boyfriend, who turns out to be (SPOILERS) Keanu Reeves. They eat at a very high-end restaurant, where Marcus continues to make fun of how weird the food is and how tiny the portions are. The weird vibe between all four of the people, the actual restaurant and its food, the great timing and delivery by the actors, the editing and music choices, and the clever dialogue all stack on top of each other to make it one of the funniest scenes in the movie. The payoff here is much better, to the point where I laughed out loud several times, because ultimately, you have no idea where it’s going.

In my opinion, the best comedic scenes aren’t the ones where the set-up is force-fed to you so that the joke isn’t funny so much as inevitable; instead, they’re the ones that make you say “I’m not sure where this is going, but I’m excited to find out.” Of course, in any romcom, there are always running gags and good one-liners. But the scenes like this should be the real meat of the comedy portions of a romcom. Is the comedy predicated on a single, predictable thing? Or are there multiple elements going on that all converge to create one great scene, which — if done right — should be the foundation for additional humorous moments later in the movie. (See Always Be My Maybe for examples of this.)

I do want to say, very quickly, that even though I’ve really given The Proposal a lot of flack in this post, there are some legitimately funny scenes in that movie, including the male exotic dancer scene and the one where Bullock’s character starts dancing around the fire with Betty White’s character. While other components of that movie are stale or lacking, the comedy seems to be the one area they got right. Or close enough.

I can’t believe that this piece of garbage is in the same genre as “Juliet, Naked” and the “Crazy Rich Asian” mahjong scene.

THE ROMANCE IS COMPELLING AND APPROPRIATE

I’ve talked about this some already, but the relationship between the two leads shouldn’t feel like a dumbing-down of human relationships or simply an instance where you feel like the couple only got together because they were both attractive, (maybe) single and the film’s lead characters. As I said with the chemistry bit, it should feel like these two people belong together not because the universe brought them together, but because it makes sense given who they are as individuals.

While I really enjoy The Decoy Bride as whole, I definitely dislike the idea of these two people falling in love after only knowing each other for a day or two. Still, the various characters throughout the movie make it very clear to our two leads what love and marriage should look like, as opposed to the shallow version of marriage that society sometimes gives us and that some of the main characters had believed in.

In Juliet, Naked, Annie and Tucker start getting closer to each other over email, without ever having seen each other in real life. Neither has any idea of how attractive the other person is, but they definitely want to pursue whatever dynamic they’ve started over the internet.

Meanwhile, in The Ugly Truth, the leads seemingly only get together at the end because they’re both physically attracted to one another. She thinks he’s a shallow asshole, and he thinks she’s a nagging bitch. But somehow they end up together. The Proposal has similar problems. Why is it so hard for a romcom to have two people who like, respect and appreciate each other from the outset? Or, at the very least, don’t actively hate the other person at the beginning of the movie?

… So where does that leave us?

Admittedly, I’m drawing from a pretty small sample size in this post, as there are plenty more romcoms to praise and PLENTY more to hate. But, the real beef here is not with any particularly shitty romcom — although I am ready to fight the people who made How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days anytime, anywhere — but more with the system that keeps rewarding their ilk. As I said, this is a problem throughout Hollywood, not just romcoms. Yet for some reason, people tend to brush off romcoms as a lesser genre, the same way people used to brush off children’s movies. But, we’ve seen in recent years what high-quality children’s films we can get when we reward the good ones and criticize the bad.

If we want romcoms to be better — and it looks like we’re moving that way as four of my upper-tier movies have come out in the last year — we shouldn’t allow mediocrity to keep passing for quality. We shouldn’t demonize romcoms as “chick-flicks” or “girly movies,” but instead embrace their zaniness, their optimism and their “love triumphs over all” messages. Why are Shakespeare’s romantic comedies considered classic literature, but a guy feels the need to explain himself if someone wonders why he has Miss Congeniality on his shelf? We must overcome this ridiculous double-standard that only women are allowed to enjoy romcoms, and even then she must do so guiltily. We should hold romcoms to the same level as superhero films or Pixar movies by calling out what’s weak, cliche and inappropriate, and highlighting what’s clever, meaningful and unique.

That means that you have to do your part, too. Don’t see a romcom just because there’s nothing else playing; only go if it looks intelligent and/or you hear good things. Don’t buy or support them unless you can honestly tell yourself that they’re not damaging to women, or men, or human relationships. And if ever someone tells you how much they love a lower-tier romcom, politely recommend that they check out a better one that they’ve never seen before.

We suffered through the superhero movies of the ’90s and early 2000s, and now look where we are. We viewers have helped salvage one genre through our support and criticism. Why can’t we work to salvage another?

Because I really need the day to come when romcoms like Juliet, Naked aren’t the exception — they’re the norm.

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 6) – The Castle of Cagliostro

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is the first of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled The Wind Rises (2013).

This week: Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).

Synopsis: After robbing a casino, criminal mastermind Lupin (called Wolf) gets the bright idea to take over a very successful counterfeiting operation, which he discovers is in the tiny European country of Cagliostro. Once there, Wolf and his partners-in-crime stumble upon the Count of Cagliostro’s plot to marry the country’s princess and unite the two branches of their family to reveal a long-hidden treasure. Wolf decides to do whatever it takes to help the princess escape the count… and maybe stumble into the treasure along the way.

Spoiler-free review: This was the last movie in this Miyazaki series that I hadn’t watched previously, and — now that I’ve seen his all his films — I can say that this is definitely his worst one. The animation is rough and looks very dated. Plus, unlike his other films, this one is the most ‘anime,’ as everything feels exaggerated and people constantly defy the laws of physics. I was so disappointed with the movie on the first go-around, but felt like it wasn’t fair to condemn it on a single outing, and so watched it again. (It’s on Netflix, so it’s very accessible for me.) Once I realized I was holding this movie to too high of a standard — as it is from 1979 and it’s Miyazaki’s directorial debut — it was a little more fun to watch. The plot has some good heist elements to it, and I thought the final confrontation in the film was set up well. But, compared to what Disney and Don Bluth were doing at this time, or shortly thereafter, this movie doesn’t stand out. Ultimately, this is one Miyazaki movie you can skip.

Letter grade: C or C-

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

So, something that I believe holds this movie back from being better is that it’s a standalone movie within the Lupin III franchise. The anime TV show Lupin III had various iterations of TV shows and movies throughout the ’70s and early ’80s, with Miyazaki directly 15 episodes of the initial TV series. When The Castle of Cagliostro premiered while the second iteration of the TV series was in its full swing, many people at the time felt that this movie’s version of Wolf was much more chivalrous and less nefarious than his TV counterpart.

Because I’ve never seen anything else within the Lupin III franchise, I can only approach it as a standalone movie. But, from my knowledge of other anime franchises, I can clearly see how — like other anime movies — nothing in this has any real bearing on the franchise going forward. Yes, in most anime franchises, the movies are usually considered ‘canon’; but the writers typically make the movies a standalone adventure. That way, if you only watched the TV show and skipped the movie, you won’t be missing out on anything.

The Dragonball Z movies are good examples of this. The villains are almost always standalone villains that have never been seen before and will never be mentioned again. Even though Broly has been seen in several movies, he’s never been seen or mentioned in the show. And, when TV shows do want to use elements from the movies, as was the case with Dragonball Super and Boruto, they simply re-do the entire movie as episodes of the show. Anime movies also use convenient plot points, such as erased memories, to make sure the movie remains a standalone adventure within the franchise. One instance that stands out in my mind is the fourth Naruto: Shippuden movie, where Naruto travels back in time and meets his dad (who died the day Naruto was born). But, of course, since having Naruto meet his dad like this would definitely impact the series going forward, the movie hand-waves some amnesia, so that Naruto will forget what happened and the story can remain self-contained within the movie.

Anyway, the point is that if this weren’t an anime movie with a standalone adventure for Wolf and his gang, it might be a better movie. But, Wolf has to leave Cagliostro; his temporary team-up with Inspector Zenigata has to come to an end; and Wolf has to run off, leaving Zenigata to chase after him once again. If Wolf stayed in Cagliostro or married the princess or stayed friends with Zenigata or even was imprisoned, it would make the movie more compelling. But, instead, the last 5-10 minutes are spent neatly putting everything right back where it was — at least for the franchise’s main characters. Just like in the Naruto: Shippuden movie, Wolf — despite being so determined to rescue the princess throughout the film and describing himself as her ‘knight in shining armor’ — all of a sudden decides that he’s not in love with her and only looks on her as a big brother. That way, he can still look heroic to the audience while also not looking too bad for leaving her behind and going off to commit crimes once again. If Wolf really had only felt toward her like an older brother would, it should’ve been clearer earlier in the film, instead of being slapdashed onto the very end of the film.

So, while there was a lot about this movie that I believe deserves criticism, there are some things to enjoy.

There a couple of funny scenes and gags; I appreciated that the film gives you a good idea of who everyone is and what their shared histories are without it feeling clunky or shoehorned in; and I liked the set up for the wedding and the reveal of Wolf’s plan and how he infiltrated everything. One the second viewing, I appreciated the little pieces of foreshadowing as to the treasure’s location/reveal mechanism; and overall, the voice cast does a fine job, and the plot in itself isn’t bad. It’s just that — without any real stakes — I’m not invested in it like I should be. I don’t follow the franchise, so I don’t already care about the characters like many viewing this back in 1979 probably would’ve. Thus, the movie doesn’t really need to try to get people like me to care because most of the audience  already does.

In any case, I enjoyed the crime/heist elements of it, along with tastes of other genres and archetypes (like the samurai) and some other smaller aspects of the film. But, on the whole, it’s really a giant letdown compared to the reputation Miyazaki has earned in writing and producing quality animated films. Still, it is interesting to see how he get his start.

Next week: Ponyo (2008).

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 5) – The Wind Rises

The Wind Rises, the most recent of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Spirited Away (2001).

This week: The Wind Rises (2013).

Synopsis: Based on a true story, the film is an animated biopic that follows a fictionalized version of the real Jiro Horikoshi (voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as he designs the Zero fighter plane that eventually flies in World War II for Japan. Unable to become a pilot himself thanks to his poor eyesight, Jiro decides the best way to pursue his dream of flying is to design planes. He tries his utmost to prove himself with a successful design; and, as life goes on, personal, professional and political challenges continue to either set him back or inspire him further.

Spoiler-free review: In addition to being the most recent of Miyazaki’s films, The Wind Rises is also his most against-type film as a director. Rather than an energetic, family friendly, adventure film with fantastical/spiritual elements in it, The Wind Rises is slow, thoughtful and ‘adult’ in the best sense and is the only one of his films that’s based on a true story. Given that the film came out only six years ago, it benefits from more advanced animation techniques and cinematography. Thus, out of all of Miyazaki’s films, I believe this one has the most beautiful animation, and it’s worth watching for that reason alone. It also boasts a talented voice cast. However, it’s just that it’s so different from other Miyazaki films that I don’t know whether I was truly prepared for it. So, perhaps if I rewatch it, I’ll change my mind, but for now I’ll say:

Letter grade: B

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

So, as I hinted at, this is a film that I respect more than I like it. It’s so different from Miyazaki’s other films, which I appreciate, but I was not prepared for how different it is from its 10 predecessors.

I wondered how the film was going to incorporate the more fantastical elements that Miyazaki is known for, given how it’s set in our world, and the way the film gets around that is with dream sequences. Jiro has ongoing dream conversations with Caproni, who designs planes in Italy and is one of Jiro’s professional role models, and I appreciate how it was open-ended as to whether Jiro is only having these conversations with a fictional Caproni in his own imagination, or if Caproni and Jiro are really and truly communicating via a shared dreamworld.

As said above, this film has a strong voice cast, with Gordon-Levitt as Jiro; Emily Blunt as Jiro’s eventual wife Nahoko; John Krasinski as Jiro’s best friend Honjo; and Martin Short, Werner Herzog, William H. Macy, Mandy Patinkin, and Stanley Tucci as supporting characters. And, there’s really no weak link among them. Everyone shines, particularly Gordon-Levitt, whose character has to do most of the film’s emotional heavy-lifting.

I think what keeps me from really liking and enjoying it is the writing.

The film takes you through Jiro’s life, sometimes at random, not really giving you a sense of how long it’s been from the previous scene. For instance, there’s a scene after the earthquake, where it took me a while to realize it had been several years, rather than a few weeks, since the earthquake had happened. It really relies on the audience to be older, more mature and thus, paying close attention to things like that.

There are a lot of scenes where nothing really happens. You feel like you’re looking on various days in Jiro’s life, with his dream of designing planes being the biggest connecting piece. Once Jiro graduates from college and goes to work at Mitsubishi, the film focuses a lot on his professional struggles. This makes sense. However, once Nahoko comes back into his life, it shifts greatly to focus more on his personal issues, with his successes and failures of the Zero fighter plane taking a back seat. I don’t mind that in and of itself, but I think The Wind Rises would’ve been stronger if it had focused more on Jiro and Nahoko’s relationship juxtaposed to his work.

My recommendation would’ve been to have fewer scenes of Jiro as a child and a university student. Maybe show his initial aspirations of wanting to fly but unable to because of his eyesight, his decision to become an airplane designer, and then the scene of him meeting Nahoko as a student. After that, the film should’ve picked up where Nahoko and Jiro reconnect at the resort, and we get to see them fall in love, but Jiro is still trying to succeed at designing his plane. The fact that Nahoko is dying of tuberculosis and Jiro has such limited time with her, but at the same time he also wants to successfully design his plane, makes for a compelling conflict, which this film doesn’t really have.

I guess maybe I was a bit frustrated that so much of the artwork of this movie, which you can see above, shows Jiro and Nahoko together; thus, I thought the film was going to focus more on their relationship. But, after she initially meets Jiro during the earthquake, we don’t see Nahoko again until about two-thirds of the way through the film. Really, his relationship with Nahoko feels like an afterthought compared to how much time is devoted to him designing his planes.

I understand why it was written the way it was, but I think the film would’ve been stronger if we’d focused more on one time period in Jiro’s life (1932 and onward) rather than sporadically showing him at different parts of his childhood, college years and young professional years.

Overall, it’s definitely worth watching for the animation and voice cast alone. It’s definitely not a waste of your time to watch it, but I think it helps to know what you’re getting yourself into, considering how different this is from the rest of Miyazaki’s filmography.

Next week: Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).

Articles, Review, Show Time

Show Time: My Top 10 “Twilight Zone” Episodes

The original “Twilight Zone” series ran from 1959-1964 on CBS.

As I’ve said before on the podcast, the original Rod Serling Twilight Zone is my all-time favorite TV show. I love how each episode is a self-contained story. I love all the sci-fi elements that are integrated into it — space travel, human evolution and experimentation, and so on; while, at the same time, episodes can have elements of the Western, horror, crime and fantasy genres as well. I love the big philosophical questions that frequently come up, and the twist endings, which sometimes are well-done and sometimes are predictable.

Ultimately, even though it’s actually from my parents’ generation, its themes and messages are timeless and classic, as it explores the idea of humanity. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to exist? By stepping into a world of aliens, angels, demons, monsters, time-travel, and hallucinations… we explore what it really means to be who we are.

So, more than five years ago, I compiled my Top 10 list of episodes after watching the New Year’s Eve Twilight Zone marathon on the SyFy channel. I’ve updated a few things and re-posted it here with the Nerds’ permission.

Disclaimer: I have not seen ALL 156 episodes of The Twilight Zone, but it’s pretty close. It’s hard to keep track of them all, as many of them have similar plots/themes/etc.

So, starting with Number 10 and working down to Number 1. No spoilers, I promise. Only basic plot points here and there.

10. THE MASKS

Before he dies, a wealthy, old man forces his relatives to wear masks that show their true personalities. This one works well because each one of the old man’s relatives is a caricature. The masks are both creepy and dramatic in nature, and the twist ending is equally creepy and dramatic.

9. I AM THE NIGHT–COLOR ME BLACK

Unlike most episodes this one doesn’t really have a twist ending. There’s a strange darkness hovering over a small town as they await to have a local man executed. The premise is eerie, and the overall message and dialogue is fantastic. Rod Serling, in fact, wrote this as a direct response to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

8. THE HITCH-HIKER

A well-known TZ episode about a woman on a road trip from New York to L.A., who keeps seeing the same hitch-hiker on the side of the road. This one is quite spooky, and as a woman who has taken several long road trips, I understand why – especially in the days before cell phones – this lady would have been freaked out.

7. FIVE CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN EXIT

This is one of the first episodes of the series that I ever watched. My senior year of high school, my philosophy teacher had us watch this episode about “a clown, hobo, ballet dancer, bagpiper, and an Army major” stuck in a round, doorless room “with no logic, no reason, no explanation.” It’s a good story in its own right, but it also poses good questions that compares the characters’ situation with our own.

6. THE OLD MAN IN THE CAVE

After watching TZ enough, many of the plots get to be repetitive. The premise of this episode is much like other TZ episodes: there was a nuclear war, and the fallout has lasting repercussions. But, a group of survivors have learned to survive thanks to the titular character. I’ve always thought that the better Twilight Zone episodes were the ones adapted from pre-existing short stories, rather than screenplays that Serling or others penned for the show (as they tend to be repetitive). This twist ending knocked off my socks, as the whole time I was trying to figure out the truth behind the old man. Also, as I just watched again last night, I was struck with one line that one of the survivors says to justify their actions: “We’ve survived. But we haven’t lived.” It’s another great look into human nature, the ideas of authority, compassion, and mob mentality.

5. THE OBSOLETE MAN

This story is a commentary on totalitarianism, liberty, life, and death. A librarian is proclaimed “obsolete” by his totalitarian government, and opts to choose his own method of execution. As someone who works with print media, which is often declared obsolete in our modern society, I feel like I really identified with the main character in terms of his beliefs and his willingness to die rather than give them up.

4. THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD

I think this is the only TZ episode – and one of the few TV shows in general – that has ever moved me to tears. Just reading back over the episode synopsis, I couldn’t help but get ‘hot eyes.’ An aging English teacher, after getting forced into retirement, begins to despair, and plans to commit suicide. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that this episode shows us that we don’t know how many lives we unknowingly change – whether for better or worse.

3. TIME ENOUGH AT LAST

This is probably the first Twilight Zone episode I ever saw – in English class during my junior year of high school. The main character is a bank teller who wants simply to read his books in peace. Of course, his job and his wife get in the way of that. It’s a great story about being careful what you wish for. Honestly, if you haven’t seen it or heard of it at this point, I’d be surprised. It seems to be one of the most famous episodes.

2. THE MONSTERS ARE DUE ON MAPLE STREET

Another famous Twilight Zone story about “thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, and suspicions.” I remember reading the (radio) play of the episode in seventh grade, and it was a very timeless commentary on man’s more savage nature. Honestly, if you haven’t seen it, I recommend that you watch it.

1. WILL THE REAL MARTIAN PLEASE STAND UP?

I think this is the quintessential Twilight Zone episode. Seven people enter a diner, but one of them is a Martian in disguise. Of course, it’s not long before they’re pointing figures and second-guessing each other. The twist ending  just goes to show you that things are never what they seem.

Articles, Review, Show Time

Show Time: Should You Watch “Good Omens”?

Amazon released “Good Omens” on May 31.

Well, after the Internet went crazy with the release of Good Omens, a six-part miniseries based on the book of the same name by Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman, I decided that I had to check it out. I’m a big fan of Michael Sheen and David Tennant, so I decided to watch the first episode and see whether I liked it enough to watch the rest.

And, because I have no self control, I looked up the plot of the book (and therefore the miniseries) ahead of time.

A quick synopsis: Good Omens is about various humans and supernatural beings (angels and demons) either trying to bring about the Apocalypse or to stop it from happening. The show centers on Aziraphale (Michael Sheen), an angel, and Crowley (David Tennant), a demon, who have both been on earth since humanity began and have been hanging out there ever since. Now, they’ve gone ‘native’ and don’t necessarily want the world to end, which seems inevitable after the Anti-Christ is born.

So, after watching all six episodes…

Would I recommend Good Omens? Yes, although I will admit it’s not for everyone.

The good:

Overall, it’s a well-made show with a talented cast, high production value, pretty good effects for a TV show, and well-written episodes. Sheen and Tennant’s on-screen dynamic is, without a doubt, my favorite part of the show, and I enjoyed their performances both separately and together. There were several moments that made me laugh out loud, and — while the Internet spoiled some of the show’s bigger plot points for me — I was excited to continue the show from episode to episode. I was tempted — no pun intended — to watch the show all in one night, but ended up watching all six episodes over two days. It makes for a pretty breezy watch, despite being more than five hours long.

I will also say that this show has similar themes and messages with one of my favorite shows, The Good Place, which also deals with morality, the afterlife and the eternal consequences of one’s actions, the ability to redeem oneself, etc.

I’ve never read the book, obviously, but from what I’ve seen from those who have, the show seems to do a good job of staying faithful the intricacies of the source material and all its characters and interconnected plots, while adding things in and expanding on Aziraphale and Crowley’s characterizations.

The bad:

Empirically, there aren’t a lot of bad things about this show. There are a few times, I think, where the writing style shifts dramatically without much rhyme or reason. For instance, in the third episode, there’s a 20- or 30-minute long sequence of Aziraphale and Crowley bumping into each other during various points in human history. I liked the sequence, but why place it there? Why not have it earlier in the course of the show? Perhaps there’s some logic to it, but I don’t know what it is off the top of my head.

There are also a few times where God (voiced by Frances McDormand) has little asides to explain what’s going on. The first time, which is at the very beginning of the show, introduces the audience to the creation of the world and the human race, which makes sense. However, there are a few other times later in the show where these little asides pop up somewhat randomly and the subject matter is never really touched on again. There’s an aside about the Anti-Christ’s hellhound and there’s another one about Crowley and the question of ‘How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?’ Without going into spoilers, the information that’s brought up in these little asides is never addressed again at any point during the show by any character, which ideally should be to keep the story feeling cohesive.

Now really, the biggest reason I say that it might not be for everyone is that — as is to be expected from a show written by Neil Gaiman — Good Omens plays fast and loose with Christian theology. For instance, God is voiced by a woman and Aziraphale refers to God with female pronouns, despite the traditional texts of all the Abrahamic religions using masculine pronouns and titles when referring to God. It also introduces the idea that angels are not purely good and demons are not purely evil, and that under the proper circumstances, they could actually be friends. This is an idea that contradicts Thomism, which several branches of Christianity have incorporated into their belief system:

[St. Thomas Aquinas, paraphrased:] The knowledge of the angels comes through ideas infused by God. They do not naturally know future contingents, the secrets of souls, or the mysteries of grace. The angels choose either good or evil instantly, and with full knowledge; hence their judgment is naturally final and irrevocable.

This approach of projecting human morality onto supernatural beings also takes center stage in another Neil Gaiman-written show, Lucifer, and is also touched on in the Mike Schur-created The Good Place. These are things that I personally don’t mind, as I realize it’s a part of the narrative, but I understand that other people might take issue with it, were they to watch the show.

And, really, to be fair, the genre overall might not be someone’s cup of tea. There are a few places where it meanders into soap opera-type territory, which not everyone enjoys. To be honest, there are two characters whose interactions bore/annoy me, so I sometimes fast-forwarded through their scenes because I genuinely didn’t care about them.

So, in answer to the question “Should You Watch Good Omens?” I say: Yeah.

Watch the first episode, and if you have problems with it, don’t watch the rest because you’re probably not going to like it. If you watch the first episode, and you do like it, than keep going because it’s a fun show to watch with a well-done conclusion.

Articles, Review, Show Time

Show Time: In Defense of the Finn/Rose Subplot in “The Last Jedi”

I’ve seen a lot of criticism about the film as a whole, but of the Finn/Rose subplot specifically.

Now, I have some legitimate problems with the subplot; I’m not saying it was 100% flawless and amazing and completely necessary. There are definitely parts of it that should’ve been deleted, extended or changed.

For instance, I thought the whole “animal abuse” angle was a little heavy-handed; the sequence where they trashed the whole town could’ve been about a minute or two shorter; some of the dialogue and shots of BB-8 could’ve been cut down; I HATED how the casino felt a little too “Earth” or “real-to-life” and not alien or foreign or fantastical enough to feel like a Star Wars planet; and I don’t like how the culmination of the subplot — Rose (presumably) falling in love with Finn — was a shot where Rose kisses Finn as the First Order is literally blowing up their hideout. Like, I got the point, and I liked her line about “saving what we love,” but it just felt a little disjointed tone-wise.

HOWEVER…

I felt like this subplot had a lot of positives and gave us a look at some topics/themes/perspectives that I felt like we needed at this point in the trilogy/franchise.

An example: so, in the first movie, the First Order is evil. They raid the village on Jakku, killing everyone. They raid Maz’s place on Takodana, killing a lot of people and causing massive destruction. They blow up several planets. Etc.

But, in this movie, we see the wider ranging impacts of the First Order’s regime on the galaxy’s population at large. Rose tells us about how her home planet was exploited by the First Order for its resources, and then the regime tested the weapons on its people. On Canto Bight, we see how wealthy some have become because they sell supplies to the First Order (and the Resistance), and the grim and abusive reality that exists behind this facade of extravagance and wealth (ie, the animals and kids who work with them are both maltreated).

I think it’s also important to remind the audience, that while we follow the main plot of the Resistance vs. the First Order, Jedi vs. Sith, etc., like 95% of the people in this galaxy are just carrying on with their daily lives. They’re not pilots or Stormtroopers or Force-wielders or whatever. They’re just everyday people.

Well, somewhat.

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This was something that made the “Clone Wars” series so strong, was that we got to see how people outside of the war were living, how it impacted their lives. And it’s another thing that I think makes this sideplot somewhat successful.

It also showed us that the desire to rebel against the corrupt and abusive establishment/status quo is alive and well in the hearts of young children; that like our heroes of all three trilogies, they have the desire to change their lives/destinies… that they have hopes of better lives. Of adventure. Of heroism. Of peace. Of happiness. Just as Luke did when he looked at the Twin Suns in “A New Hope.” That sequence showed us that Holdo was right. Even if their allies didn’t come to save them today (in TLJ), the hopes of the Resistance are alive and well in the hearts of the downtrodden, like the little kids on Canto Bight.

NOW…

The biggest criticism I’ve seen of the subplot is that it was pointless. That it didn’t accomplish anything. That Finn and Rose went all that way, got captured, and then lucked their way into an escape. That they didn’t do what they set out to do, which was turn off the tracking device so the Resistance could escape the First Order. That their plan failed.

But, the defense I have for that is:

Since when did anything in Star Wars go according to plan?

Especially in the original trilogy.

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Episode 4: Luke and Obi-Wan try to get the droids to Alderaan, but it’s destroyed and they get captured. And then, while they DO rescue Princess Leia and get away from the Death Star, Luke loses Obi-Wan in the process and then they lead the Empire right to the base on Yavin 4. Great job, you guys. I guess the trench run and blowing up the Death Star went according to plan, but that seems to be more of an exception than the rule. And, plus, you know, had to end the movie on a happy note.

Episode 5: The evacuation of Hoth is somewhat successful. But, Han & Co.’s attempts to escape the Imperial Fleet don’t go so well. They get tracked by Boba Fett to Cloud City, Han’s “friend” Lando betrays them, and then when they try to save Han from Boba Fett, they fail. That whole side plot was nothing but failure. The heroes got captured. Han got tortured, frozen in carbonite and taken. Vader was successful in luring Luke into a trap. Luke got his hand cut off, and his friends had to come back and save him. And Vader would’ve caught them if R2 hadn’t reactivated the hyperdrive.

Episode 6: The infamous “It’s a Trap” line exists for a reason. The Empire essentially lures the Rebels into attacking the Death Star / Endor. When Han & Co. try to take down the shield generator, they’re caught. Lando & Co. get drawn into a gigantic space battle they weren’t anticipating. Yes, it all works out eventually, but that’s because this is the end of the trilogy and the good guys HAVE to win, because that’s how Star Wars works.

A quick look at the prequel trilogy:

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Episode 1: The Jedi’s plan to negotiate fails when the Trade Federation tries to kill them; their plan to escape Naboo partially fails because they have to stop off at Tattooine for parts where they get attacked by Darth Maul. The re-taking of Naboo is mostly successful: the Trade Federation is defeated; the droids stopped; and Darth Maul killed. However, Qui-Gon dies in the fight.

Episode 2: Obi-Wan was somewhat successful in finding out about Jango Fett and Count Dooku, but then ultimately got captured. And then when his rescuers, Padme and Anakin, came to save him they got captured too! And then, while our heroes were ultimately rescued, a they did ultimately kick off A WAR THAT ENCOMPASSED THE ENTIRE FUCKING GALAXY!!! Let’s not forget that.

Episode 3: Obi-Wan and Anakin’s plan to rescue the Chancellor was like a 95% success. There were some minor hiccups, and General Grievous got away, but the Chancellor was saved and Count Dooku was defeated. Then Obi-Wan’s plan to defeat General Grievous is a success. But then his and Yoda’s plans to defeat Anakin and the Emperor, respectively, don’t go as they’d hoped. Obi-Wan DOES defeat Anakin, but leaves him alive; and Padme dies giving birth; meanwhile Yoda fails to defeat the Emperor and the Republic is lost amid the First Galactic Empire.

And then in our new trilogy:

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Episode 7: Poe’s plan to get the map from Lor San Tekka goes awry when they’re attacked, everyone’s killed, except Poe who’s captured and has to hide the plans with BB-8. Finn’s plan to escape with Poe is also a partial failure, as they get stranded on Jakku and he’s separated from Poe and believes him to be dead. They successfully get BB-8 off planet and away from the First Order, but then get “captured” by Han and Chewie. Han’s plan to convince the gangs to leave doesn’t work, and they barely escape on the Falcon. The plan to get BB-8 on a “clean ship” at Maz’s also goes badly when the First Order attacks and Rey is kidnapped and the others almost captured. The overall plan to blow up Starkiller and rescue Rey is successful, because this is a Star Wars movie and we need a happy-ish ending in our first part of the trilogy to get people invested in the heroes, but we do lose Han.

Then, with our one pre-TLJ spinoff movie:

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Rogue One: Jyn and Cassian are successful in finding Bodhi and Galen’s message on how to destroy the Death Star, but there are hiccups in HOW they do it. They get caught in a street battle. They get spotted and almost captured by the Stormtroopers. Then they actually get captured by Saw’s people. Their plan to kill/rescue Galen pretty much fails, as Galen is killed by Rebel bombs when Jyn was hoping to save him, but then Cassian fails to shoot him when he has the chance. And, of course, the big finale is ultimately a success, but at a large price and with several hiccups. Rather than getting in and out by stealth (which I assume was the plan for at least Jyn, Cassian and K2SO) the whole Rogue One team is spotted and a large battle ensues on all sides. EVERYONE ON THE TEAM DIES! Major Rebel leaders are captured/killed. While the goal of the mission was accomplished, it didn’t go ACCORDING TO PLAN.

As I said: plans in Star Wars, especially those concocted by the heroes against a larger force, rarely go as planned.

I don’t see why people are shocked that Finn and Rose were unsuccessful in their mission considering:

1) They failed to contact the right Master Codebreaker because they made ZERO effort to be inconspicuous or stealthy while on Canto Bight. They parked right on the beach, despite being told not to, which should’ve told them that the police were going to come get them eventually. And, as we see during their ride later, there were plenty of out-of-the-way places where their shuttle wouldn’t have been spotted. They also made no effort to blend in with either their attitudes or their clothes and looked like a bunch of weirdos that I’m surprised weren’t thrown out of the casino for breaking dress code. Like, it should’ve been clear to the audience that these two — while they might’ve “known” what they were doing — did not have the capabilities to execute their plans successfully. They were set up for failure. They weren’t necessarily the right people for the job. Or should’ve had other, more or equally capable people on their team, like someone who is good at infiltration / smooth-talking people into helping them.

2) Finn’s knowledge of the First Order’s protocol was enough to be legit, but should’ve thrown up some red flags for us, the audience. It’s been at least a few days, possibly a week or two, since the Starkiller Base was destroyed. I mean, we have no idea how long it was from when Rey brought Finn back to the Resistance Base to when Rey left to find Luke. I’m guessing not more than like a day, considering she’d never even fucking met Poe. And considering that the Rey/Luke stuff is about simultaneous to the Resistance evacuation thing, it can’t have been more than two weeks from when Starkiller Base was destroyed, IMO. So, in those two weeks, or probably less, the First Order has to know (from Phasma, if no one else), that Finn helped the Resistance infiltrate the Starkiller Base. They know that a traitor is working for their enemy and their systems are vulnerable. Surely, they would’ve changed some protocols, security procedures, code clearances, or whatever between Finn’s defection and the Resistance’s evacuation. If not on purpose, then at least by chance. How does Finn know the First Order hasn’t upgraded its coding system since he was with them? Especially given that it’s Snoke’s ship, so you know it’d be upgraded first and/or have a higher security setting than your regular ship.

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3) It was clear from the offset that DJ (Benicio del Toro’s character) was interested in helping them only because it suited him at the time. He was very much out for himself, had a questionable moral compass (like stealing the ship on Canto Bight), and was ultimately only interested in the money. Why some people were so shocked or felt so let down when he betrayed them is baffling to me. Maybe if you’re a 5-year-old, would it be a surprise. Also, if you rewatch the movie, you’ll notice there’s a little look that DJ gives whenever he hears Poe talking about Holdo’s plan to use the transports to escape. Like a little “Huh, that might come in handy later” look.

4) The entire point of the sequence was to show that the reality behind the war is a lot more “gray” than it is “black” and “white.” As DJ shows Finn and us, there are people who don’t have any allegiance and have no problem selling arms to both sides. There are people whose lives have been negatively impacted by the First Order, or the Resistance, or both. That’s a point that Game of Thrones/ASOIAF series does very well of hitting: that the grander wars tear apart the lives of the “small folk,” who ultimately don’t care who wins or loses so long as their lives are peaceful and secure. Remember that Palpitine rose to power as Emperor on the idea that he could bring PEACE AND SECURITY to the Republic as an Empire, because the Republic had failed and the Jedi had failed, and he was the only one who could help the “small folk” attain the lives they wanted. Or whatever. Sorry, for the digression.

5) There were clear hints throughout the infiltration sequence that Finn and Rose were going to get caught. Like DJ’s “betrayal,” I don’t get why people were so shocked by this.

NOW…

All that being said, I do agree that the overall effect on the story was missing. Finn and Rose, at the end of the day, accomplished nothing either as people or as a story element. Yes, narratively, it helped world-build and gave us some good thematic material (grayness in a world built on “black” and “white,” light and dark, etc.). But, they didn’t DO anything, even as they were escaping. I guess Finn killed Phasma, but that’s about it. Holdo tearing through the Supremacy could’ve killed Phasma and it wouldn’t have made much difference. We didn’t see Finn planting seeds of rebellion/resistance in the minds of his fellow Stormtroopers. We didn’t see them steal any piece of equipment like a Master Key or some kind of important file that might’ve come in handy later in this movie or in the next one. So, in that sense, yes, the sideplot was weak and pointless.

At the end of the movie, all it did was bring Finn and Rose closer together.

But, then again, you could say the same thing about the Han and Leia sideplot in Episode 5. What difference would there have been plot-wise if Han and Leia had been captured right after leaving Hoth than later on Cloud City? Han probably still would’ve been tortured and then taken by Boba Fett. Luke still would’ve been lured into a trap. Leia & Co. probably would’ve still failed to save Han, etc. In a way, you could argue that THAT whole sideplot was filler to:

  1. Buy time for Luke to train with Yoda so he could stand something of a chance against Vader in the Cloud City duel
  2. Do some world-building (asteroid field, giant worm thing, Cloud City, bounty hunters, Lando, etc.)
  3. Bring Han and Leia closer together as part of a romance subplot
  4. Show us their desperate flight to escape the Empire, only to seemingly succeed and then ultimately fail by getting captured.

Hey, wait a minute…. isn’t that exactly what this subplot did, too?

  1. It was filler (as was the Resistance’s arbitrary 18-hours of fuel limitations or whatever) to buy time while Rey was off training with Luke / having Force-bond sessions with Kylo Ren.
  2. It did some world-building (Canto Bight, master code breakers, kids who are Rebels at heart, animals and humans who can’t live in peace because of the war, etc.).
  3. It brought Finn and Rose closer together as part of a possible romantic subplot.
  4. It showed us their desperate plight to save their friends only to almost succeed and then ultimately fail by getting captured.

Congratulations, everyone, you just watched Rian Johnson subtly rewrite The Empire Strikes Back and give it to you in the guise of a new storyline.

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THIS is probably the REAL reason everyone hates the subplot, even if they don’t consciously realize it. In the same way everyone seemingly hates on TFA for being too much like A New Hope, this movie was tonally and sometimes plotwise too much like The Empire Strikes Back.

And while some of that is appropriate and expected, we the audience have a right to be angry when movie franchises repeat themselves too much to the point of being uncreative.

Anyway, I’ve rambled about this enough. I just wanted to defend the subplot because, while it has problems, I think it has merit to the overall darker and more desperate tone of the movie, the world-building both on a physical and a thematic level (the grayness), and allowed for some nice (but cheesy) character moments.

TL;DR :

Does it have problems? Yes. Is it too similar to The Empire Strikes Back’s subplot when you really thing about it? Yes.

But does that mean it’s total garbage? No. Or even if it is:

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(Side note: after writing all of this out, I stumbled onto this article that touches on the same topic, and one of the same things that I brought up, but in a little more detail. Read it if you want. I don’t care.)
Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 4) – Spirited Away

Spirited Away, the eighth of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Castle in the Sky (1986).

This week: Spirited Away (2001).

Synopsis: Ten-year-old Chihiro (voiced by Daveigh Chase) and her parents are moving to a new town. While en route to their new house, the family takes the wrong road and stumbles upon an abandoned amusement park. Chihiro tries to convince her parents to turn around and go back, but — after eating some mysterious food — her parents turn into pigs and Chihiro finds herself no longer in the human world but in the realm of the spirits. To survive and help her parents turn back into humans, Chihiro must make allies and friends as she tries to find her way in this strange realm.

Spoiler-free review: Unlike the other three films I’ve covered so far, this is one of Miyazaki’s movies I had seen previously. I watched it — albeit with the Japanese voice actors and English subtitles — in college as part of an Eastern civilization course. I remember hearing about it when I was growing up, as it won the 2001 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. This movie, in my experience, is perhaps Miyazaki’s most well-known and most beloved film. Many die-hard fans will tell you that this is his best movie. While I didn’t understand the hype about this movie after I saw it the first time in college, after rewatching it for the series, I now understand why it’s so beloved and critically acclaimed. The film boasts stunning animation, a strong English-language voice cast, a succinct story and very iconic and memorable characters. I personally believe that Princess Mononoke (1997) is Miyazaki’s best film, but I would say this movie is of an equal caliber and it’s really more a question of minutia over which is the better of the two. And while I’ll cover Princess Mononoke in Part 9 of this series, I’ll say that Spirited Away is certainly more family friendly, more efficient in its storytelling and has slightly better animation than its predecessor. So, if you haven’t already seen it, you definitely should.

Letter grade: A

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

When I watched this movie for the first time, I’ll admit that it I didn’t understand the hype around it. All the Miyazaki fans I’ve ever encountered — in person or online — talked up this movie and acted like it was the best thing since sliced bread. My eastern religions professor was certainly one of them, as I believe he said we would be missing out on the experience if we didn’t watch it in the original Japanese. I definitely enjoyed watching it the first time around, but thought it was overhyped.

Now that I’ve seen more of Miyazaki’s and Studio Ghibli’s films, I understand why. The animation seems to be of a slightly different (and arguably better) style than its predecessors. The people seem to look and move a little differently; and the film benefits from some unique, beautiful and haunting character designs for Yubaba and Zeniba, No-Face, Haku, and other demons and spirits that Chihiro/Sen encounters. And, I have to say, that sequence when the park starts to transition into the realm of the spirits, and Chihiro sees all the shadowy spirits walking around is a very well-done sequence that helps put you into the world, builds up an atmosphere, and features a lot of eerie images that are now very iconic.

The story is also simple and that allows for lots of important character-building moments, like Chihiro crying in front of Haku or confronting No-Face, as well as more dramatic sequences, like when the little paper cut-outs attack Haku or when Sen journeys to visit Zeniba.

Unlike some other Miyazaki protagonists (cough — Sheeta and Pazu from Castle in the Sky  — cough) Chihiro/Sen has a clear arc, as that final juxtaposed scene in the tunnel shows us. At the beginning of the film, she was cowardly and acting like a scaredy-cat when it came to facing new challenges, like visiting the park or moving to a new town; and by the end, she has gained confidence and courage, and is no longer upset about moving to a new town. While maybe it’s not what she’d like, she’s now prepared for the challenges that lie ahead, because she’s already overcome so much in the realm of the spirits. And, I like the little touch of the hair band. It’s a little detail that could’ve been overlooked, but the animators and those behind the scenes went out of their way to remind us of what Chihiro has come through and what she’s now capable of.

Along with its great story, animation and characters, this movie also boasts a phenomenal English-language voice cast — one of the stronger ones, in my opinion, among Miyazaki’s filmography. There really aren’t any weak links. Everyone gives a solid performance, especially Daveigh Chase, who would’ve been about 10 years old when she recorded her part as Chihiro. As I said in my review for Castle in the Sky, when a full-blown adult is playing a child or pre-teen, it can take you out of the film. So I’m relieved that this movie didn’t fall into that territory, and that Chihiro is old enough that it’s not annoying when she’s on screen for more than 10 minutes. (There are other Miyazaki movies that have this problem, and we’ll talk about them more in the coming weeks.)

While I appreciate Jason Marsden’s Haku and Susan Egan’s Lin, I have to say that the MVP of the voice cast is Suzanne Pleshette, who plays the twin sisters Yubaba and Zeniba. Yubaba is such a memorable antagonist, and Pleshette flawlessly gets across all of Yubaba’s different moments and outbursts — whether she’s yelling at Chihiro/Sen, trying to placate a customer, or looking for Baby. But then, Zeniba is so completely different from Yubaba in terms of their personalities, even though they look identical. Yet Pleshette pulls it off beautifully, getting across how much softer, kinder and more motherly Zeniba is compared to her sister.

I do have a few qualms with the movie, which keep it from being an A+. But, they’re very minor. For instance, after Chihiro/Sen meets Zeniba and befriends her, she becomes a little too friendly with Yubaba. I suppose it’s because she’s no longer afraid of Yubaba like before, but I don’t think that she’s the kind of person for Chihiro to hug and thank whenever her parents are restored and she gets to go home. As I said: very minor things.

Overall, it’s a wonderful film, and absolutely one to watch or revisit whenever you get the chance.

Next week: The Wind Rises (2013).

Articles, Review, Show Time

Show Time: The Similarities between The Blacklist’s Red & Mr. Rochester (AKA, a Classic Byronic Hero)

Several Blacklist fans, myself included, have compared The Blacklist‘s protagonist Raymond (Red) Reddington (James Spader’s character) to the likes of Edmond Dantes from The Count of Monte Christo and Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre.

The reasoning behind this, other than sharing some parallel plot points (such as being a sailor, being labeled a criminal by his government, going into exile, wanting revenge and/or relief, etc.) … Red shares a lot of the traits of a Byronic hero.

[Author’s note: I initially wrote this article on my social media in Dec. 2017 — while the show’s fifth season was airing. I’ve reposted it here with the Nerds’ permission, but I haven’t updated it at all. Even after the events of Season 6, I feel it still holds up remarkably well.]

According to the Wikipedia entry for the Byronic hero, various iterations of the character-type are described as:

“a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection …a solitary figure, resigned to suffering … the “fallen angel” … [with a] violent temper and [capable of] seduction … [has] occasional outbreaks of remorse [that] reveal a tortured character, echoing a Byronic remorse … a remarkable blend of both villain and hero, and exploration of both sides of the Byronic character.”

Here are some other slides I found that give descriptions and examples of Byronic heroes. I take no credit for any of these slides:

Now, obviously, the Byronic hero is a bit fluid, meaning that not every single example of one fits every single characteristic in each description. But, I truly see Red as a Byronic hero. (I bolded all the traits in the description that definitely fit him, and I can make arguments for the other traits.) The Byronic hero is sometimes seen as the predecessor or primogenitor or at least the “cousin” of the modern-day anti-hero, which Red DEFINITELY falls into. He’s by all accounts a “bad guy” and yet we love him and we want him to win.

And, I believe that we can use these similarities between Red and one Byronic hero, Mr. Rochester, as evidence for why I think Red is the romantic lead in our story, and why he and Liz getting together in some form or fashion is The Blacklist‘s endgame.

Looking at it more closely, if we assume that Liz is Red’s love interest, as Jane is Rochester’s, more similarities and parallels become evident:

  • His love interest works for him in some regard
  • He is about twice her age
  • He sees her as his “second chance,” etc. (We’ll dive into that more in a second)
  • In comparison to the female protagonist and the other characters, he is considered to be very worldly and well-traveled
  • He travels, in part, to escape both his inner and outer demons
  • He was previously married and had several trysts and relationships with various women until meeting the protagonist
  • (Seemingly) flirts with his female acquaintances to make the protagonist jealous
  • Once meeting her, he becomes completely devoted to the protagonist, and has eyes for no other woman

One thing that has always struck me about Red is that, while we do get references to him being in relationships and having sex with women in the past, we REALLY don’t see Red engaging in relationships or trysts since meeting Liz in the pilot. Maybe he does it off-screen, and there is that shot of Luli in Episode 1.05 where she walks through the room in one of Red’s shirts… but, other than that, NOTHING! Yes, he flirts. Yes, he makes sexy comments and allusions. Yes, he dances with Madeline seductively and closely in Episode 1.14. But, for a man who admits that he views sex as a drug, and his FAVORITE AND GO-TO DRUG at that, he has been relatively chaste on-screen.

The show clearly has no problem showing couples hooking up so long as its “family-friendly”. They showed Ressler and Samar getting together. They’ve shown Liz and Tom having sexy times on several occasions. They insinuated sexual activity between Aram and his shitty girlfriend. …So, why have James Spader, who once played a character that said “Everything is sex,” be relatively celibate and not get in on the action???

If the show wanted to quell all these fans like me who are interested in Red and Liz as the endgame, all the showrunners would have to do is have Red tell Liz he’s her dad or relative or father-figure or whatever, and then give him a nice, steady, likable love interest. Piece of cake.

Anyway, back to the Byronic hero.

While their backstories differ greatly, Red FEELS and SOUNDS a lot like Mr. Rochester, or other Byronic heroes in general. Like Dantes, he seems to have some kind of elaborate “long-game” of revenge that targets the people who did him wrong but who are also legitimately evil and are doing the world harm; while at the same time, he’s intent on protecting the lives of the innocent. Like Dantes, maybe Red has or soon will become too wrapped up in his mission of revenge and will need others to show him the light.

But, as for his similarities to Mr. Rochester, Red has these long, grand monologues about what he has become, who he used to be, and who he wants (Liz to help him) to be again.

Examples include:

The Ugly Fish monologue in Episode 2.09

The North Star monologue in Episode 3.02

He also tends to wax philosophical about the guilt he feels, and how he is making or has tried to make amends, and how the life he leads has caused him to feel less-than-human, etc.

Examples include:

The “…just a nice gesture” monologue in Episode 2.16

The “I’m a violent man” monologue in Episode 3.12

And because of all this, he feels very much like a wandering, tortured soul… as we learn very vividly from the infamous “Parable of the Farmer” in Episode 1.04.

All of this is, of course, very much like Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre.

Here are some passages from Jane Eyre where Mr. Rochester is talking about the woman he loves. At the time, Jane is in love with him, but she believes he is in love with someone else (Blanche Ingram). In reality, though, Mr. Rochester has been in love with Jane since he first met her, and decided that jealousy would be the best way to 1) see whether Jane loved him, and 2) if she did, to make that love grow and become more apparent.

(BTW, just gonna put these two completely random images here:)

Here’s the first one, in which Rochester is talking to Jane after she saved him from a fire in his bedroom. Just an FYI: the narration is written from Jane’s first-person perspective.

[Rochester:] “But not without taking leave; not without a word or two of acknowledgment and good-will: not, in short, in that brief, dry fashion. Why, you have saved my life!—snatched me from a horrible and excruciating death! and you walk past me as if we were mutual strangers! At least shake hands.”

He held out his hand; I gave him mine: he took it first in one, them in both his own.

“You have saved my life: I have a pleasure in owing you so immense a debt. I cannot say more. Nothing else that has being would have been tolerable to me in the character of creditor for such an obligation: but you: it is different;—I feel your benefits no burden, Jane.”

He paused; gazed at me: words almost visible trembled on his lips,—but his voice was checked.

“Good-night again, sir. There is no debt, benefit, burden, obligation, in the case.”

“I knew,” he continued, “you would do me good in some way, at some time;—I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld you: their expression and smile did not”—(again he stopped)—“did not” (he proceeded hastily) “strike delight to my very inmost heart so for nothing. People talk of natural sympathies; I have heard of good genii: there are grains of truth in the wildest fable. My cherished preserver, goodnight!”

And, now, in this second passage … this is after Rochester has been (sort of) “courting” Blanche in front of Jane, and he and Jane are sharing a quiet, peaceful moment together after a very strange and stressful night.

Here, Rochester starts talking VERY VAGUELY about the shitty things that have happened to him, how he’s tried to find solace in worldy things and ultimately, only now, has he found happiness and peace with the woman he loves. Jane assumes he’s talking about Blanche, when in reality he’s talking about Jane:

“Well then, Jane, call to aid your fancy:—suppose you were no longer a girl well reared and disciplined, but a wild boy indulged from childhood upwards; imagine yourself in a remote foreign land; conceive that you there commit a capital error, no matter of what nature or from what motives, but one whose consequences must follow you through life and taint all your existence. Mind, I don’t say a crime; I am not speaking of shedding of blood or any other guilty act, which might make the perpetrator amenable to the law: my word is error. The results of what you have done become in time to you utterly insupportable; you take measures to obtain relief: unusual measures, but neither unlawful nor culpable. Still you are miserable; for hope has quitted you on the very confines of life: your sun at noon darkens in an eclipse, which you feel will not leave it till the time of setting. Bitter and base associations have become the sole food of your memory: you wander here and there, seeking rest in exile: happiness in pleasure—I mean in heartless, sensual pleasure—such as dulls intellect and blights feeling. Heart-weary and soul-withered, you come home after years of voluntary banishment: you make a new acquaintance—how or where no matter: you find in this stranger much of the good and bright qualities which you have sought for twenty years, and never before encountered; and they are all fresh, healthy, without soil and without taint. Such society revives, regenerates: you feel better days come back—higher wishes, purer feelings; you desire to recommence your life, and to spend what remains to you of days in a way more worthy of an immortal being. To attain this end, are you justified in overleaping an obstacle of custom—a mere conventional impediment which neither your conscience sanctifies nor your judgment approves?…

“Is the wandering and sinful, but now rest-seeking and repentant, man justified in daring the world’s opinion, in order to attach to him for ever this gentle, gracious, genial stranger, thereby securing his own peace of mind and regeneration of life?”

“Sir,” I answered, “a wanderer’s repose or a sinner’s reformation should never depend on a fellow-creature. Men and women die; philosophers falter in wisdom, and Christians in goodness: if any one you know has suffered and erred, let him look higher than his equals for strength to amend and solace to heal.”

“But the instrument—the instrument!  God, who does the work, ordains the instrument. I have myself—I tell it you without parable—been a worldly, dissipated, restless man; and I believe I have found the instrument for my cure in—”

He paused: the birds went on carolling, the leaves lightly rustling.  I almost wondered they did not check their songs and whispers to catch the suspended revelation; but they would have had to wait many minutes—so long was the silence protracted.  At last I looked up at the tardy speaker: he was looking eagerly at me.

“Little friend,” said he, in quite a changed tone—while his face changed too, losing all its softness and gravity, and becoming harsh and sarcastic—“you have noticed my tender penchant for Miss Ingram: don’t you think if I married her she would regenerate me with a vengeance?”

Now…

(SPOILER WARNING FOR JANE EYRE)

What Rochester is ACTUALLY talking about, in reference to what he experienced as a young man, was – about 20 years before the events of the novel – he traveled from England to the West Indies and was convinced by his family and others into marrying a woman whom he later discovered was clinically insane. He tried to live with her initially, but later brought her back to England and paid a servant to watch her and not tell anyone about it, never told any of his friends or other servants he was married, and then runs off and roams about the world for 20-ish years having trysts and trying to find solace where he could. And then – after he meets Jane – he tries to marry her without informing her that he’s already married.

So, after Jane finds out during the ceremony – through the providence of someone outing Rochester for his treachery – the two have a discussion about where their relationship will go from here. Rochester wants to “marry” her or at least have her live with him, away from people; but, she’s not down for it. This is what he says as part of his long-ass explanation as to why he did what he did:

“Then you are mistaken, and you know nothing about me, and nothing about the sort of love of which I am capable. … After a youth and manhood passed half in unutterable misery and half in dreary solitude, I have for the first time found what I can truly love—I have found you. You are my sympathy—my better self—my good angel. I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wraps my existence about you, and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.”

Just in these four phrases I bolded from Rochester’s monologue to Jane about what he did, I saw parallels to four very notable Red quotes: (in order) when he tells Fitch “you cannot possibly fathom how deep that well of my truly goes” in reference to his desire to protect the things and people he loves in Episode 1.20; the “I have you” in Episode 1.03; his description of Liz to Sam in Episode 1.08; and the “love is having no control” moment in Episode 2.08.

(End of Spoiler Warning)

This is all a very long way of saying that I have no idea whether the writers intended for Red to have parallels to the Byronic hero or to Mr. Rochester specifically.

But, he does.

Red is clearly keeping secrets from Liz the way Rochester kept them from Jane. We’re not yet sure what these secrets are. Many, including myself, believe it’s that he stole the identity of Raymond Reddington, who is Liz’s biological father. [Author’s note: This was confirmed in the Season 5 finale, and Liz finally told Red that she’s aware of this secret in Season 6. Now, of course, there seem to be other secrets that Red is keeping from her, such as who he really is and what happened to her mother after he took over the identity of ‘Raymond Reddington.’]

And, despite a very large age gap, these two have been set-up as the romantic couple of our show, as Rochester and Jane were. Right now (in early Season 5), Liz believes Red to be her dad; and, in Jane Eyre, Rochester remarks to Jane how he’s old enough to be her father. (He’s like 40 and she’s around 18-20.)

And, just as with Rochester, Red is hoping to find some kind of re-humanization with Liz… that she will restore him to what he once was. People don’t say things like that to friends or family members, so it becomes very strong evidence that Red and Liz are meant to be our endgame.

Another quick thing I’d like to point out is that, in the novel, Jane has very few friends, and as of early Season 5, the only friends Liz has ever had on the show… consistently … are people from work. (And I guess you could count Tom.) She’s an orphan, like Jane. She doesn’t really have anyone to call “family” or “home.” (Other than Tom, but he’s dead now.) Various times in Season 1 and early Season 2, we saw how alone and isolated and tricked and manipulated she felt, just as Jane does throughout various points in the novel.

Now, obviously, there are PLENTY of differences. This is a crime-drama procedural after all. Liz is a full-grown woman with a child of her own. She’s not an 18-20 year old governess who has never gone beyond her schoolhouse and childhood home. She’s not completely naive; she’s not completely without family and friends. When compared to Jane, she’s seen and done plenty.

But the fact that Red and Liz have these strong individual parallels to Rochester and Jane, respectively, and the fact that there are so many parallels between them as couples — ie, he’s keeping secrets from her; he’s besotted with her and sees her as his redemption, etc. — makes me wonder whether this WAS intentional to some degree.

I mean, just look at these two dumbasses and tell me you don’t see the resemblance:

Articles, Review, Show Time

Show Time: Some Wild (Or Not So Wild) Predictions About Star Wars: Episode IX

I seriously cannot wait to see this movie in December!! I’m telling you right now: it’s going to be #1 on my 2019 Filmsplosion list.

So, for the record, these crazy-ass wild predictions (or maybe not so wild???) are based on: 1) evidence of themes, motifs, character development and story arcs from TFA and TLJ; 2) overall story arcs and whatnot from both the Prequel Trilogy and the OrigTrig; 3) other media (TV shows) within the Star Wars universe; 4) other media outside of Star Wars that I feel like share some thematic/character parallels and that I know are very popular among modern audiences; and 5) fan analyses that tie into all of this.

[Author’s note: I originally wrote this and posted it on my social media about a year ago, and I’ve re-posted it here with the Nerds’ permission. As you’ll see, some of my predictions, like the title, are already wrong. But, I wanted to publish the initial post in its entirety, because I think some of the more thematic stuff, which is discussed at the end, is definitely right; and I want to use it as a jumping-off point for future posts. To that end, I’ll plan on a follow-up that will discuss in more detail where I think Rey and Kylo’s character arcs are going while incorporating the more recent information, such as the title, the trailer, the Vanity Fair article and photo shoots, etc. But, for now, enjoy.]

PREDICTION ONE: The Title

Across the 8 Star Wars films we have three possibilities for the way titles are worded: A/The (Adjective) (Noun) ; (Noun) with a verb somewhere in the phrase; (Noun) of the (Noun). So far in this new trilogy, we’ve had the first two. But we haven’t had (Noun) of the (Noun) yet. This has been the case with the third installments of each trilogy: Revenge of the Sith (III) and Return of the Jedi (IV).

I imagine IX will fit this pattern; and, while I doubt it will have “Jedi” or “Sith” in it, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had the word “Balance” in it. Like “Balance of the Force” or something, except that I imagine they might be kind of nervous about using “Force” again in a title so soon, considering they have The Force Awakens and another property The Forces of Destiny.

But, I’d bet money “Balance” is in the title. Maybe not a lot of money. Like $5 or something, but still. I’ll bet money on it. [Author’s note: Glad I didn’t take that bet. LOL] Maybe… “Power of the Balance.” Because Balance has very much been a recurring theme/motif in this trilogy, and I’m 100% certain we’re going there (which we’ll get into more below).

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PREDICTION TWO: Character Dynamics

Okay, so for a more general observation of the Core Three Characters of each of our trilogies – Anakin/Obi-Wan/Padme ; Luke/Han/Leia – we had a romantic pairing between two of the three characters (Anakin/Padme ; Han/Leia), and a sibling or pseudo-sibling bond two of three characters (Anakin/Obi-Wan ; Luke/Leia). And the remaining connection of the triangle (Padme/Obi-Wan ; Luke/Han) was more of a friendship than anything else.

Now, looking at our main three characters of this NEW trilogy, I’ve seen a lot of people arguing that it’s Rey/Finn/Poe. No, it’s really not. As much as I like Poe, he’s really more of the Lando or Yoda or Mace Windu of this series. He has an important role, but initially he’s more of a side character (especially considering that he doesn’t really get any character development until TLJ). This is evident in the marketing for TFA and the fact that Poe was supposed to die in the crash on Jakku.

No, Rey, Finn and Kylo are the main three of our story. With that, the bonds between them become more evident: Rey and Kylo are the romantic pairing as we clearly see in TLJ; and Rey and Finn are going to be more of the pseudo-sibling pairing. That will presumably leave Finn and Kylo to one day become friends, although it probably won’t happen in the events of Episode IX.

It’s evident that Rey and Finn deeply care about one another, and while there were hints to a possible romantic pairing between them, like the “cute boyfriend” and the “stop holding my hand” comments, I don’t see them getting together unless Kylo dies (which I HIGHLY doubt, and we’ll get into more below).

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Finn is the first person who ever cared about Rey and treated her like a real person, like family. That’s partly why she’s so attached to him; that and he’s just generally a good guy. Likewise, Rey was the first person to believe in Finn, and it’s obvious that she means a lot to him. They’re the first real connection they made after they escaped their respective shitty lives (scavenging on Jakku and working for the FO). But Finn only ever calls her his friend, and he and Rey never exchange any dialogue in TLJ. He hasn’t really talked to her since Starkiller Base, before he fell into his coma; they’ve both seen and done a lot since then. They’re really not the same people that they were on Jakku, and while they will always care about each other, their lives are moving in different directions to a certain degree.

Anyway, sorry that was long way of saying: Rey and Finn aren’t getting together; Rey and Kylo are getting together. At least romantically. I imagine Rey and Finn will still be a big part of each other’s lives at the trilogy’s end.

PREDICTION THREE: Length of the Time Skip

I doubt it will be shorter than six months, but I don’t think it’ll be more than three years. We need enough time for the Resistance to have built up their forces again, but not so long that I think Hux will have overthrown Kylo Ren (because it was very obvious that he’s not at ALL pleased with Kylo as Supreme Leader).

A year or a year-and-a-half seems pretty reasonable. Any more than that, and I think you’re going to have to explain why the hell Hux hasn’t killed Kylo Ren or why either the Resistance or FO hasn’t found out about the Force Bond (because I definitely think that’ll be making an appearance).

PREDICTION FOUR: Basic Plot Outline

On that note, here’s how I think the movie might go. We’ll get into the specifics of some of these later.

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  • Since taking over as Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren has been mostly brooding. He doesn’t give a lot of orders, but mostly kind of lets Hux run things. He’s so incredibly conflicted, given everything that happened in TLJ. He is not at all stable emotionally or spiritually. He shuts himself in his chambers and doesn’t do much but wait for the Force Bond to connect him with Rey. They don’t really say anything to each other, even though both of them want to but can never find the words. Or something like that.
  • Leia’s death will be shortly before the events of this movie. In fact, it’ll probably be mentioned in the opening Title Crawl. News of her death or the feeling of his mother being gone (as he might sense it through the Force) will cause Kylo to break routine and leave his quarters to go on a solo trip to some location that reminds him of his mom. Alderaan is gone, so maybe wherever Leia and Han raised him?? As long as it wasn’t one of those planets that Starkiller blew up. Wherever. It’ll be somewhere that reminds him of his mom.
  • Side note: I’m not sure what will cause Leia’s death. She might’ve died in battle. That’d at least be badass. But losing her husband and twin brother within a week of each other might’ve taken a strain on her physically and emotionally, much like what happened to Carrie Fisher’s mom, Debbie Reynolds, IRL. But, I think death in battle would be more fitting. Although, if that’s the case, Kylo won’t have ordered it.
  • As Kylo is visiting this site connected to his mom, Rey will either be on Jakku or Tattooine – delving into her own origins (visiting her parents’ graves in the junker desert) or into Luke’s/Anakin’s and trying to learn more about the Force. She will have constructed a new lightsaber: either one that’s totally unique to her (maybe like a staff size?), or one that uses half of the kyber crystal from the Skywalker Lightsaber (and Ben will use the other half for his saber at the very end, after he’s redeemed).
  • While they are both alone and on their personal journeys, the Bond will activate and they will finally say something to each other for the first time since TLJ. It won’t be much, and there will still be some anger/resentment/hostility between them, but it will be poignant and emotional. Rey will probably say something about how his mom never gave up on him, etc.
  • At some point while Kylo/Ben is visiting this location that reminds him of his mom, he will probably hear some audio of his mother speaking to him through the Force (they might use an earlier clip of Carrie/Leia saying “Ben” or something, they way they used the Alec Guinness/Old Ben dialogue in Rey’s Forceback).
  • Luke will appear as a Force-ghost to either Kylo or Rey or both at some point during the film, but this point (when they’re both on their respective journeys of nostalgia) seems the most likely. He’ll probably spout off some exposition-heavy dialogue (possibly giving Rey her third official lesson, if they decide the TLJ deleted scenes aren’t canon), and then tell Rey she’ll have to face Kylo again.
  • In the meantime, the Resistance has been cooking up some big plan to take down the FO’s most recent base/big gun/whatever. Poe is now in charge of the Resistance since Leia’s death. Finn and Rose are potentially a couple now, and they’re also major Resistance leaders.
  • Either the Resistance will win some major victory or the FO will start to fracture as Hux takes more power from Kylo. Something will have to kick Kylo back into “Supreme Leader” mode. Something will threaten his position of power and he will feel as though he has to retaliate. But, Hux won’t be killed off, either in battle or by Kylo, until the third act of the movie.
  • There will be a gigantic space battle in either the second or third act. Poe will probably be the one to kill Hux, if Kylo doesn’t.
  • Finn will likely find out about the Force Bond, if Rey hasn’t told him during the Time Skip.
  • If there’s an element where the Resistance has to send one of their own to infiltrate the FO base, Rey will do it. Finn will initially volunteer at first, but Rey says she has to face Kylo and give the Resistance its best chance to win.
  • Somehow Rey and Kylo will face each other in the final act of the film, likely after she’s sought him out on a FO base. Or they find each other on the battlefield.
  • Since the end of TLJ, Rey has gotten considerably stronger in the Force, especially her combat abilities. She and Kylo will be a literal even match. They know each other so well and are both so strong that almost every attack is ineffective. I really HOPE (not predict, but hope) that this fight will either have some kind of a dance feel to it or go back to Episode IV, when it was an homage to old samurai films. Like when they’re both trying to do one-shot kill moves on each other, but keep blocking it.
  • Okay… now as to how the fight will end… I truly believe that it will end in a draw with both of them being hurt to the point where they can’t fight any more, probably with inverse/opposite/complementary/mirroring injuries. The injuries will be major, but not life-threatening.
  • While they’re laying there, not fighting any more and experiencing a shared/parallel pain, they’ll both vocalize their feelings for one another. And probably kiss. And while they kiss, they have Force visions on how to resolve this conflict: to balance the Force by becoming Gray Jedi (Force-wielders who use both the light and the dark sides, in balance) TOGETHER.
  • Kylo/Ben will proposition to Rey to join him as a Gray Jedi, which she will accept.
  • Once they realize this, the two will go back to their respective sides, and figure out some kind of compromise/system where neither the Resistance nor the FO exists, but some kind of balanced government system where everyone feels represented and no one is oppressed.
  • Everyone celebrates the creation of this new system, the destruction of the old system(s), and Ben and Rey leave their friends to become tandem Gray Jedi Masters who will teach the next generation of Force users all about the full scope of the Force. They’ll also totally become a couple and maybe we’ll see a Force-vision of the future, where they have kids or something.
  • Together, Ben and Rey will have brought balance to the Force and the galaxy at large!
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EXPLANATION TIME

Kylo letting Hux run most things would be a good reason for Hux not having killed him yet. And Kylo brooding rather than being a bad dude makes a lot of sense if he’s going to be redeemed and live. And it’s clear from the effort that’s gone into Kylo Ren’s character that he WILL be redeemed, and because we’ve already done the Redeemed Hero Dies route (Vader), Kylo will get to live, albeit probably scarred/injured/handicapped or something. He can’t do TOO much more evil stuff or otherwise he’ll be considered TOO unredeemable for average audiences. Killing Han, killing a bunch of innocent people and Resistance combatants, and trying to kill Luke are all pretty unredeemable, but eh. He killed Snoke, and Rey, Luke and Leia all believe in his goodness. Seeing his conflict early on in Episode IX will clue the audience in on his being redeemed by the end of the movie.

I’m basing a lot of this on Zuko’s character arc from the Avatar: The Last Airbender series and Sasuke from the Naruto universe (which we’ll talk about more in a second).

Rey’s arc, much like Luke’s in Episode VI, will be somewhat overlapping with the main War plot, but will ultimately take place parallel to it. Luke was on a journey of discovering himself, the Force and helping Anakin Skywalker to redeem himself. Rey, likewise, is on a journey of discovering herself, the Force and helping Ben Solo to redeem himself. Her main story will intersect with Finn/Poe/Rose/the Resistance’s, as Luke’s did with Han/Leia/Chewie/the Rebellion’s, but it will ultimately take place mostly separated from them.

With Carrie gone, they are going to have to have some kind of carry-over from the OrigTrig, and Luke as a Force-Ghost makes the most sense. He’ll do the Ben Kenobi role of getting the main characters to fight each other and figure out whatever the Force is trying to tell them. Because, as a Force-Ghost, Luke’s consciousness is one with the Force, or whatever; so he knows exactly what needs to happen for Balance to be achieved.

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There will have to be something plot-wise to make Kylo snap out of his vulnerable state and back into his Supreme Leader self because we’re going to need tension that he might kill Rey in their final duel, or at least destroy the Resistance. That way their final battle will have higher stakes.

Rey’s Force powers have leaned more toward the Sensing/Emotive side. Her first “awakening” is the Force-back, but even before that, she’s first aware of being called by the Force (the Lightsaber). She then figures out how to turn Kylo’s Force-sensing interrogation technique back on him, and senses his greatest fear. She also figures out how to use the Jedi Mind Trick, which she will ABSOLUTELY use again in Episode IX, and it’s only later that we see her using more of the physical attributes of the Force (pulling stuff toward you, combat enhancement, etc.). Rey is more naturally drawn toward sensing things via the Force, like the Tree, the Island (in her dreams) and the Lightsaber, and when she senses the Force as whole and then the Dark Side (the cave) in TLJ. So, during the Time Skip, she will have trained in learning how to use the Force to enhance her combat abilities, because it always felt to me like those were earned from her harsh life on Jakku rather than something inherent she had because she was Force-sensitive. (I mean, she didn’t even realize she was Force-sensitive until the Lightsaber scene on Takodana; but she’d been fighting off assholes all her life.)

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Force Bond is exposed to either the FO, the Resistance or both. This might be why Hux tries to usurp Kylo; and I doubt the Resistance will take Rey’s connection to Kylo all too well, considering that he tortured Poe and almost killed Finn. Plus, they might blame him for Leia’s death. Rey might make up for this by excusing herself from the main action of the War and offering to take down Kylo alone.

Now, what’s all this about the Gray Jedi and bringing “balance to the Force”?

Linking to the Wookieepedia article on “Gray Jedi” here.

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So, this is what all the eight movies have been leading up to — the prophecy that Anakin was supposed to fulfill. At the end of VI, the Sith (Vader and Palpitine) die and only one Jedi (Luke) survives to pass on what he has learned. This is not balance. At the time, we didn’t know about the whole prophecy thing and the OrigTrig was just about the good guys winning and the bad guys losing. But, over time, Star Wars has evolved to show us that this world – like ours – is a lot more GRAY. That’s what the Clone Wars series was about; that’s what Rebels (as far as I know) has been about; and that’s what the PT was sort of hinting at. That’s what THIS new trilogy has been hinting at, especially with the Finn/Rose subplot in TLJ. (I have a whole article analyzing and defending the importance of that subplot. I’ll post it on the site soon.)

That’s not to say the FO hasn’t committed atrocities and the Resistance isn’t made up of people who have suffered and want better lives. But, as we saw with Finn, there’s a possibility that Stormtroopers are good people who don’t like what they’re being told to do. And, as was hinted at in TLJ, there are plenty of people who don’t like the Resistance. Because, in a war, no side is all good or all bad.

The whole Star Wars franchise kicked off as WWII In Space! But, since WWII, we’ve entered several conflicts where we (the U.S.) weren’t always in the right and the enemy wasn’t always in the wrong. There’s a TON of gray area in our conflicts now.

Anyway, this is all a very long way of saying that the OT’s understanding of the Light Side and the Dark Side isn’t well managed. As we saw with Luke at the end of VI, he let his anger, hatred and rage against Vader flow, but he didn’t become evil. He stopped himself, and realized that Vader was much more like him than he previously wanted to admit.

But, then in the PT, we see that the Jedi’s belief system is very lop-sided. They can NEVER let their emotions get the better of them. They have to be stoic, mindful, “celibate” (more or less), and detached from the world around them. They are encouraged to be compassionate, but not to love or become attached to people. This is a philosophy that isn’t going to fly well among modern audiences.

(There’s a really great video Pop Culture Detective did on this very topic today. Linking to it here.)

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Like with the War side, the answer is that we (the audience) are something in between. We do sometimes let our emotions get the better of us, which CAN be a bad thing sometimes, but not always (as Inside Out taught us, it’s unhealthy to lock certain feelings away). But, at the same time, most people aren’t so evil that they want to destroy others.

So, the answer for The Force side of Star Wars is a balance: a coexisting of the extremes and the meeting of the two halves (Kylo and Rey). In TLJ, Luke’s big thing is that the Light Side WILL exist without the Jedi; and that the Force is ALL ABOUT A BALANCE: life/death, light/dark, heat/cold, peace/violence, etc. The Jedi is a RELIGION that used the Force, but there are plenty of other Force-users in this universe who aren’t Jedi or Sith (like Ahsoka Tano or Chirrut from Rogue One). The Gray Jedi can be the religious practice (the way of life) of Kylo/Ben and Rey. They can use both sides of the Force without being overcome by one or the other, by keeping them in a balance. I don’t know exactly how this would work, as I haven’t read TOO extensively into this topic, but I know it’s possible as I believe there were some Gray Jedi in the Legends Universe. I suppose it might be a bit like the Guardians of the Galaxy (another popular Disney property) — Kylo/Ben and Rey wouldn’t be all bad (because then they’d be evil) or all good (because then they’d be boring), but a little bit of both or something in between.

The happy ending to this entire saga isn’t about the Light snuffing out the Dark, the good guys killing all the bad guys, because the whole idea is that the Force and the world needs to be brought into balance. As much as we want the heroes to win, we also want the ending to be reflective of our human nature — both how we succeed and how we fail. This Gray Jedi ending would be reflective of that and bring the whole saga to a nice end.

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I mean they wouldn’t have put a fucking YIN-YANG SYMBOL in the Meditation Pool on Ach-To if the idea behind the trilogy wasn’t about bringing the Force into balance. I wonder if it’s a good thing Rey took those ancient Jedi texts, because maybe they hint at if/how the Ancient Jedi (not the ones in the PT) were more in balance in the Force than our PT Jedi were.

We see this nicely encapsulated into Rey and Kylo as characters. Rey who embodies the Light, but has plenty of darker tendencies (like getting mad, charging at Snoke in a fit of rage and aggression); and Kylo who embodies the Dark, but has plenty of lighter tendencies (like telling Rey to detach herself from her past and let it go). They are a literal fucking YIN-YANG SYMBOL as people, side by side. But combined and intertwined… if you put a Yin-Yang symbol in wet paint on paper, and then mixed it together, what would you get? A gray circle.

Gray Jedi is the answer, people. No question about it in my mind.

Now, about the fight. Why do I think Rey and Kylo will have to wound one another and kiss?

Well, the draw/wound thing is something I stole from the Naruto universe.

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For those of you who are unfamiliar… the main character Naruto (on the left) is very much the “light side” of his universe. His rival Sasuke (on the right, and who has a redemption arc similar to what we’ve seen of Kylo’s so far) is very much the “dark side.” There’s a point where they get sun and moon symbols on their respective hands, and each holds half of the same power source, although they manifest it differently based on their respective abilities/personalities.

Now, the entire series builds up to this final showdown between the two. Naruto is not trying to kill Sasuke, but needs to stop him, because Sasuke IS trying to kill Naruto and bring an end to things/people Naruto loves. And, it physically ends in a draw. The two lose their dominant arms: Naruto loses his right; Sasuke, his left. Their wounds are a literal mirror of each other (see below). And in that shared pain, they find an understanding, and Sasuke decides not to kill Naruto but to come back over to the “good” side (more or less), to stop being a murderous asshole, and to start atoning for his crimes. (So, in a way, Naruto wins the fight on an emotional level, as he brings Sasuke over to his side.)

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That’s very much where I see this Rey/Kylo thing going. There are so many parallels between these four characters and their respective arcs, it’s ridiculous.

With Kylo and Rey, each of them will be trying to kill the other so their respective side will win the War. A draw (with a major non-fatal injury) is the only way I see this fight ending in a way that will bring them into balance with each other and the Force at large.

Also, we’ve never had a movie lightsaber fight end in a draw before, to my recollection: Darth Maul killed Qui-Gon; Obi-Wan killed Darth Maul; Count Dooku injured/beat Obi-Wan and Anakin (I guess he ran away from Yoda, so you might count that); Count Dooku injured/beat Obi-Wan in the rematch and then Anakin killed Count Dooku; Obi-Wan injured/beat Anakin; the Emperor forced Yoda to run away; Obi-Wan allowed Vader to kill him; Vader beat/injured Luke; Luke beat/injured Vader in their rematch; Rey injured/beat Kylo; and there wasn’t really an actual lightsaber fight in TLJ.

It would fit the whole “balance” motif for neither to win or lose the fight, but instead the two come to an understanding and compromise.

Now. The Kiss.

Why do these two little fuckers have to kiss, IMO?

Well, do you all remember the Disney Channel show That’s So Raven? The main character (Raven) is a psychic; and there’s an episode where she meets a male psychic. And, while they have 0 romantic interest in each other, there’s a point where they continue escalating their physical proximity/touching, because it allows them to better use their powers. There’s a point where they have to kiss in order to find Raven’s BFF and some other people, who are trapped in a closet.

And, as we saw with Rey and Kylo in TLJ, these two are oozing with sexual chemistry and Force power. I mean if they see each other’s futures whenever they touch hands, what the hell are they going to see when they kiss?

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I mean, c’mon you guys… everything we saw in TLJ is building up to them kissing and the Force coming into balance as a result of their combined lives/knowledge/destinies or whatever.

Also, as others have pointed out, they’re not going to kill off Ben Solo. The Skywalker family is too much of a commodity, and there’s so much possibility in leaving him alive and with Rey. I mean think of all the spinoff movies and TV shows we could have of them and their kids??? (Just like how the Legends Universe was partly about the kids of Luke, Han and Leia.) Rey is too well-loved by the fans to kill her off, and Kylo/Ben has gotten too much character development to not get redeemed. His kids with Rey would sell toys and tickets and subscriptions like crazy.

So, why do I think Kylo/Ben will proposition Rey, instead of the other way around (which would seem more natural)?

Well, in TLJ, each saw the other turning over to their side in a vision of the future. Rey says that Kylo won’t bow before Snoke and will turn, and she’ll help him. Kylo says that when the time comes Rey will turn and join him.

Now, from a physical standpoint, these visions were true after the Praetorian Guard fight. Kylo physically turned against Snoke and killed him, but emotionally was still attached to the Dark Side. Rey did physically join Kylo by his side in fighting the Guards but was still emotionally attached to the Light Side, or really, the Resistance. Neither ACTUALLY came over to the other’s side. Kylo didn’t want to join Rey politically, and she didn’t want to join him spiritually.

But now, they’re going to find that compromise where they meet in the middle both politically and spiritually. Kylo was right in TLJ: the old THINGS (political organizations, religious ways) should die, but Rey was right in that the PEOPLE should be saved. The only way to achieve both goals is to end the War, the FO, the Resistance, the Sith and the Jedi… and create something new. A compromise that works for everyone and brings the much-needed balance to the Force and the galaxy.

Each of them WILL join the other. Rey’s vision will have to be right that Kylo will turn from the Dark Side, and Kylo’s vision of her turning from the Light and joining him will have to be true as well.

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So, like any proper proposal of marriage/political alliance/spiritual alignment, I think Ben should be the one to suggest it. That way, we the audience can see the fruition of his redemption arc, etc. Also, we have to come full-circle on the “Space Mr. Darcy” thing, which I’ll have to talk about more in a future post.

Anyway, I’ve now rambled on about this for QUITE long enough. There’s plenty of hints of where the franchise is going, but I’m sure there are some details I will have gotten wrong. [Author’s note: I definitely did. LOL] Which is fine. [Author’s note: But, as I told the Nerds: if you’re not ready to see Kylo and Rey make out in The Rise of Skywalker, you’re going to have a bad time, methinks.]

I guess there’s nothing more to say right now… except… “May the Force be with you. Always.”

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