Logical Meme

Stefan Molyneux’s take on The Last Jedi contains some pretty good interpretations. SM appears to approach films from a Jungian perspective, an approach I favor, where art and creativity is seen as a negotiation between the conscious mind and the unconscious. The artist (in this case, Rian Johnson) is sometimes not fully conscious of the trajectory of his characters nor the arc of his story’s narrative, lest the artwork become a fully-controlled, pedagogical failure. (To the degree The Last Jedi fails, methinx it can be attributed to the heavy-handedness of its creator: e.g., pointless digressions about animal rights, child labor, war profiteering, mansplaining, the higher wisdom of cat ladies, etc.)

SM sees the depiction of an embittered and alone Luke Skywalker, who has turned his back on society and any higher sense of purpose, as an allegory for the plight of the white male today (and the slow death of white civilization itself.) Unlike previous Jedi masters, Luke has no ‘lineage’. The Jedi Order is near extinction. Luke’s behavior on the island is only missing an addiction to opiates.

SM makes the nice observation that the planet Crait has a white salt surface (i.e., white skin) that is red underneath the surface, just like a white body. It is interesting that this is the locale where an unbridled fury and firepower is collectively aimed at the ‘image’ of Luke Skywalker (i.e., a projection which the self-loathing Kylo Ren thinks is the ‘reality’ of this white man.)

Kylo Ren’s admonition that “you have to break from the past, and kill it if you have to” is something aimed only at whites. One doesn’t hear today, for example, blacks being told they must “break from their past” and kill it if necessary. Ditto for Muslim refugees coming to Europe today. No, this advice is only for whites.

The increasingly and almost fetishistically diversified Resistance fails throughout the entire film. Their ‘successes’ are to barely escape total destruction by The First Order. SM sees this as an unconscious acknowledgement by RJ that more diversity equals more failure.